According to Pam Dew, CEO of the Bayside Group, “most people leave their manager, not their employer.”   As a retention strategy, it is equally important, if not more, for managers to have leadership skills as well as technical competence. Yet promotions are commonly based on technical competence.

Having spent more than twenty five years in the recruitment industry, Dew believes it is more often the little things that make people leave their jobs, which means turnover can be reduced significantly through effective leadership.

“When our candidates are asked what they are looking for in their ideal job/employer, money is not their first or even second priority. Candidates will talk about alignment of values, career development, being challenged, being inspired, working in a good team and being allowed to contribute using existing and newly acquired skills,” says Dew.

While most experts agree that some level of employee turnover is inevitable and even essential in order to attract new ideas, energy and enthusiasm, consistently high levels of staff turnover have a negative impact on both the bottom-line and staff morale. Employees have high expectations of their manager and start to lose respect if poor behaviour/performance is tolerated or progress is blocked because a manager is unable to delegate, make decisions or perform well.

Becoming an effective manager requires ongoing learning and development and does not always come naturally to people. Employers therefore need to provide consistent and ongoing training and development for their managers, and ensure managers allocate the time to focus on their people. “Middle managers in particular often have extensive implementation functions in addition to their managerial responsibilities and may not have the skill or resources to shift this balance,” Dew explains. “It is therefore essential to balance their functional workload and provide time for people management and future planning.”

In an environment where professional development and progression opportunities are offered, attraction and retention of high performing employees is easier, as high achievers seek advancement and new opportunities to learn. Employers therefore need to create a work environment that fosters opportunity and advancement, which can only happen if managers are effective.

From a poll we conducted of scientists in 2011, over 40% of respondents indicated they were planning to move within the next year, reflecting similar polls conducted in other sectors. “Every manager should be focused on engaging their employees, as people who are inspired in the workplace contribute significantly more and have no interest in looking elsewhere,” says Dew.

According to a recent article by Human Capital, it was found that entry level employees through to senior staff ranked remuneration last among reasons for moving companies. The more senior the position of the employee, the less important remuneration is to them, and the less likely a counter offer will be considered. In reality, most people don’t start looking for a new job because they want more money; it is often triggered by dissatisfaction in their job and a lack of recognition.

Dissatisfaction will get a soon-to-be ex-employee started on a job search; hence it is critical to invest the time in finding out what your talented employees value before it’s too late. It is the employer’s responsibility to understand why people are leaving and make changes to prevent current employees from leaving for the same reasons.

This business confidence appears tentative when considering other key trends which emerged from the data obtained including:

• A strong indication by businesses to stagnate recruitment and workforce planning amidst a volatile economic climate
• Suggestion that wages look to remain unchanged, despite continued feedback that market rates still fail to adequately reflect skills and experience
• An overwhelming belief that global economic conditions are impacting science and technical hiring trends

Respondents did highlight gaps with regard to skills shortages – particularly in acquiring niche skills in QA & QC.  This may all go some way to explaining feedback gathered at a recent convention attended by science and technology professionals within the food industry, highlighting skilled technicians are on the move.

Despite the Australian dollar enjoying strength in the market in recent times, people are still struggling to meet increased costs of living and are looking to redeploy their skills in other disciplines, hoping to attract higher salaries and career progression.  Over 40 percent of those surveyed indicated they would look to other opportunities within the next year, with nearly half hoping to change roles within the next three months, and a further 19 percent within two years.

Amidst stagnant recruitment drives and an intended freeze on wages, it would appear that in order to minimise the high costs associated with staff turnover, employers may need to turn their attention to the ongoing investment of their employees by way of improved workforce planning, employee skill development, and providing, where possible, avenues for career advancement.

October 28 will see us trading our suits for runners in support of a very important cause. Funds raised from the FOXTEL Lap play a vital role in helping the Murdoch Childrens research team find answers to the big child health issues.

What’s it all about?
We’ll be competing against other corporate teams to run as many 100 metre ‘laps’ as we can during the 10 hour challenge, in turn raising as much money as possible for live-saving child health research.

Why are we doing it?
A child’s life is priceless, which is why Murdoch Childrens is dedicated to finding innovative ways to help children live happier, healthier lives.

With your support, Murdoch Childrens can further their research to discover ways to treat and prevent conditions such as diabetes, obesity, cancer, depression and premature birth.

We raised a significance amount last year, and we’re hoping to rise even more this year.

What can you do to help?
We’d love your support – spur us on with a message of encouragement, a donation or both!  Every dollar makes a difference and all donations over $2 are tax deductible.

Bayside Group | Partnering in the future of people.

When are you hoping to make your next career move?

The next 3 months – 17%
The next 12 months  – 24%
The next 2 years – 19%
The next 5 years – 17%
Never -  22%

Scientists play such an integral role in the success of food companies through innovation, research, development, quality and leadership, that employers need to be heavily focussed in assisting them achieve their career goals and in return, retaining their skills.

So what makes a cover letter effective?  The three key components are purpose, personalisation and promotion.  A good cover (or application) letter will provide you with the opportunity to introduce yourself, convince the reader of your suitability for the role and demonstrate your attention to detail.

Purpose
While your resume outlines experiences and achievements, a cover letter can be a little less formal and should entice the reader to review your resume. It should clearly identify what job you are applying for and describe a little about your relevant experience (bullet points can be used), making sure you address the selection criteria written in the job advertisement.

Put yourself in the mindset of an employer reviewing multiple applications.  They will have a limited time to devote to each cover letter/resume and do now want to read pages and pages of waffle. What do they need to know about you that will potentially benefit their company?  A cover letter allows you to express your suitability, experience, enthusiasm and your interest in the employer.

Personalisation
By addressing your letter to a specific person, it demonstrates you have made an effort to read the instructions.  If this information is not in the job advertisement, you can usually find out by contacting the employer and asking who you should address your application to.  Always try to avoid “To whom it may concern” where possible.

It is important to provide or refer to any information specifically requested in a job advertisement that might not be covered in your resume, such as your availability date or location if different to where the job is being advertised. An example of this is:

“As I will be moving from Melbourne to Sydney in August this year, I am currently looking for an employment opportunity…”

This information may be part of the selection criteria, which means you won’t advance to the interview stage if you are unclear.  Your cover letter should be tailored to the criteria and therefore should change with every application.

Promotion
With only pertinent information included, a cover letter will ideally be no more than one page in length unless specified by the employer. It needs to be easy to read and clearly promote your strengths and assets in a way that would interest those reviewing it.  Avoid using clichés such as “I have excellent communication and interpersonal skills” or “I am a team player”. It is best to provide specific examples that demonstrate these assertions.

Remember to use the actual employer name and avoid spelling errors. Your high level management experience will lose credibility if you write ‘manger’ by mistake!

For more information on tips click here

In her session, Dr Frankel provided the following tips to play and win in managing your career…

1. Continually build strong 360 degree relationships
2. Build your emotional intelligence (EQ)
3. Speak in headlines
4. Choose a role to play in team meetings
5. Learn the rules, strategies and boundaries of playing in your field
6. Be a relationship broker
7. Make your management goals your goals
8. Be a change agent
9. Deliver consistently excellent customer/client service
10. Create your ‘professional’ brand

Pam Dew, CEO of Bridge Consulting, believes this advice would have had a significant impact earlier in her career, and continues to resonate.  The reaction following the session reinforced this, with discussions afterwards suggesting many would make considerably changes based on Dr Frankel’s advice.

Delegates at the AHRI Convention were also honoured to hear Dr Kjell A. Nordström present.  Dr Nordström stated that significantly more women than men are now enrolling in university, and this global trend is expected to increase.

“With this in mind, it is critical that women are more proactive in developing their careers,” says Dew, who has seen careers sabotaged based on all the behaviours described by Dr Frankel over the years.  “So many people don’t understand that their reputation is built on behaviour, not intent,” Dew explains, and this is why Dr Frankel’s tips are beneficial.

For further information on the AHRI Convention 2011 and its speakers click here, or visit Dr Frankel’s website: www.drloisfrankel.com

Pam Dew, CEO of the Bayside Group, believes manager avoidance and a lack of training commonly result in poorly managed salary reviews, as do processes that are not transparent.  With Australia in the fortunate position of having a relatively strong and stable economy, employee expectations will undoubtedly increase. However, research suggests that monetary rewards alone are far from sufficient to facilitate an engaged workforce.

It is not difficult for employees to indiscriminately find remuneration surveys online, many of which are too general, too narrow or not relevant to a business to lack credibility.  This can lead to a perceived lack of parity amongst employees and/or the marketplace.  With hype surrounding salaries in skill short areas such as leadership, engineering and mining, it is no wonder that stress levels increase for managers who are generally forced to make recommendations within the confines of allocated budgets.

“As a result, leaders face a constant juggle between employee expectations and organisational financial performance,” says Dew.  Nearly every organisation has the same issue – their cost model affects their pricing model.  Where fixed cost agreements exist, a company has even less room to negotiate salaries.  It is therefore useful to provide credible information to employees to counteract the hype.   If you are unable to find credible salary sources, ask your recruiter to help you gain a general understanding of where your organisation sits in comparison to competitors, both in terms of salary package and remuneration structure.

“While many organisations use bonuses and commission based remuneration to ensure costs relate to sales, it is important for salary structures to align with the organisation’s purpose and core values,” explains Dew.

“Commission and bonuses linked to financial performance may create behaviours that benefit the individual rather than the organisation or its customers, which can be detrimental to the ethical integrity of the business.”

Although companies have different approaches to reviewing and remunerating employees, simple considerations can help an organisation and its leaders become more effective.

These principles could also be used in working with longer term contractors, as retention is often critical to project deadlines.

“Whether an organisation has stringent or informal salary review processes, leaders should take responsibility for effective communication and planning to achieve better outcomes,” says Dew.

Bayside Group Chief Executive Office, Pam Dew, has twenty five years experience in the recruitment industry as a consultant, trainer and manager. “Understanding selection criteria and effectively preparing for an interview is critical to making a good impression,” explains Dew.

Preparation

Preparation may seem like obvious advice, yet it is surprising how few people attend interviews fully prepared. As most interviewers will expect you to know about their organisation, it is useful to research the company, their history, values, future strategies and market position.

Furthermore, reviewing your strengths in relation to the selection criteria and listing specific examples to demonstrate them will enable you to more effectively answer a range of questions. However, an interview works both ways and provides you with the opportunity to gather as much information as possible in order to make an informed decision.

“While the interviewer is making their assessment, you should be determining your interest in the role, the organisation and how it fits with your career goals,” says Dew.

Here are questions you might ask:

• What does a standard day in this role involve?
• Ideally what skills/attributes are you looking for in the successful applicant?
• Where is the organisation heading over the next 12 months?
• What is the next step in the recruitment process?

It is important to understand the recruitment criteria and identify what employers are actually looking for. Behavioural questions are commonly used by interviewers to gain well rounded information. They require you to draw on past experiences and provide specific examples in order to demonstrate key competencies and attributes.

“Many candidates will explain their experience, but fail to take this opportunity to promote their specific strengths through examples of behaviours and achievements,” says Dew.

Figure 1 illustrates examples of common behavioural questions in relation to competencies and attributes.

Figure 1

For further information, request a copy of the Bayside Group’s Interview Guide by emailing enquiry@baysidegrp.com.au.

Over the next 12 months and beyond, the organisation’s engineering, science and trades recruitment brands in particular will face new challenges.

The culmination of infrastructure works in Australia for mining and resources projects coupled with flood damage in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria is staggering, creating high demand for specific technical skills. Although this will increase job opportunities for technical professionals in Australia, continued training is critical for young professionals to develop into key roles.

“Demand for international talent is increasing rapidly as employers require specialist skill sets that are becoming scarce in Australia,” says Dew.

By contracting overseas technical professionals through Bayside Personnel (the Bayside Group’s specialist engineering and technical recruiter), employers can gain access to ‘hard to find’ skills for specific projects. Dew explains that Bayside Personnel’s ability to sponsor select overseas professionals on 457 visas not only meets flexible skill demands, but provides employers with the opportunity to up skill Australian employees through ‘on the job’ training.

Dew has over twenty years experience as a recruiter, trainer and manager within the recruitment industry and explains why the Bayside Group is unique. “Our recruiters are ‘consultants’ in the true sense of the word unlike other commission based cultures; they are recognised for their ability to meet the specific objectives of jobseekers and employers alike.”

The organisation’s experienced team understand their specialist sectors and are passionate about the company vision of ‘partnering in the future of people’. With varied backgrounds including engineering, drafting, chemistry, food technology, winemaking, nursing, human resources and accounting, they have chosen to recruitment because they love what they do. As a result, the organisation has perhaps the highest consultant retention in the industry.

Dew can provide many examples of consultants assisting individuals through key stages of their career over five, ten or more years. In providing a broad range of long-term contract assignments with Australia’s best employers, many contractors have experienced diverse and rewarding careers through the Bayside Group.

A recent survey of almost two hundred and fifty customers identified the integrity, ethics and professionalism of the Bayside Group’s recruitment team as its greatest strength. Dew explains this is something the business is very proud of, as it reinforces their underlying values and quality systems.

“Out clients value our integrity, understanding of their business and customised services, which is the foundation of any long term relationship,” says Dew. The Bayside Group has been working in partnership with key clients in Australia and overseas for decades.

This partnership service model has extended to industry associations in recent years as global talent shortages of engineering, science and healthcare professionals has made long term solutions critical. Recently, the Bayside Group formed an alliance with the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers, Australia (APESMA). As APESMA’s recruitment partner the Bayside Group assists members to develop their careers.

“We believe that by working together with professionals, employers, universities and industry bodies, we will be able to more effectively meet the requirements of the private, public and not-for-profit sectors in the future,” says Robert Blanche, Joint Founding Director of Bayside Group.

“The number of people who change careers while studying or in their first five years in the workforce is increasing. Therefore, it is critical to Australian industry to encourage and engage young engineers, scientists, healthcare and business professionals.”

The idea for the Bayside Group’s Indigenous Scholarship at RMIT University came from employee suggestions and discussions. According to Blanche, the whole team is very proud of this Scholarship and are eager to support and mentor students in their chosen profession.

“Our vision is about “partnering in the future of people” and this initiative fits in perfectly with this ideal.”

As Bayside Group is committed to partnering with its community and, in particular disadvantaged groups, Joint Founding Director John Wilson said that a scholarship for indigenous students was a natural fit for the company.

“Due to a lack of opportunity, indigenous Australians are under-represented in the specialist fields for which we recruit. Luckily, we are in a position to broaden career opportunities for indigenous Australians by supporting the development of skills sets in areas where critical shortages are evident,” Wilson explains.

Beginning in 2011, the $7,500 scholarship will be awarded to the chosen student at the beginning of their second year of study and will be paid in each of their subsequent years of study.

“Our selection criteria for candidates will include, but not be limited to, the student’s alignment to our company’s values and their commitment to the community,” he said.

Through the scholarship, we hope to partner with a student by providing work placement support within our business, as well as within a client business. At the end of the student’s studies, Bayside Group will assist the graduate to find a position with one of our clients and provide support in the transition from study to full-time work.

This scholarship is a small step towards aligning with individuals who don’t have access to broader career choices.

To find out more information, click here to email.