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Does your company have a high turnover rate? Employee turnover can be extremely pricey. So how can your company increase its employee retention rate and keep its turnover rate low? What's the best way to create a culture that helps to retain and engage its talent?

A recent series in Authority Magazine profiled nearly one hundred HR directors from successful companies, asking each one to share their three most effective strategies to retain employees. Here are some of the highlights. 

These interviews have been edited for length and clarity. 

Jo Deal (LogMeIn Chief Human Resources Officer)

My focus tends to be on engaging our employees. If we do that well, then retention should follow, though it is not an easy thing to do. Engagement happens in that sweet spot where an individual’s personal goals, whatever they may be, are being met, and that moment intersects with the company’s goals being achieved. The challenge comes from us all being individuals with very different sets of personal goals. What someone wants from work varies during stages of our careers and personal lives, so it is hard to find the perfect answer for all. However, there are some common themes that help drive engagement for the majority.

1. I believe we each want to know what is expected of us at work, to know how that work fits into the overall company goals and strategy and to receive ongoing feedback on how we are doing. It seems relatively simple to say yet it doesn’t always happen. Leaders need to communicate and share direction, managers need to give feedback (which is hard) and employees need to work with their managers to set sensible and realistic goals, hopefully aligning them to the high-level corporate initiatives. Investing in first-line management development and a robust, companywide mechanism for communications are both critical to this effort.
2. Perks are great, but they won’t substitute for creating a strong culture with good open communication channels and a focus on a positive environment. There is no right set of values or particular winning culture. Authenticity is what matters. Don’t say you value a certain behavior if the reality doesn’t match. Don’t ask people to behave one way and then recognize a different behavior or ignore a leader’s behavior that contradicts the values. Employees are smart. Most will recognize and accept when your culture is a little aspirational and when there is room for improvement; however, all of them will see right through something that is inauthentic or geared towards, "Do as I say, not as I do.” We spend too much time at work to have to fit in somewhere where our values don’t align or where leaders consider themselves apart from the behaviors that matter. That kind of mismatch is likely to lead to low engagement and retention issues.
3. Lastly and most simply, I would suggest actively listening to what your people want. Understand what you are investing time or money in that isn’t working for them, what is missing and what they want more of, whether as an individual or a team. The key, of course, is actively listening, which is another skill many of us have to work on every day. Engagement and retention can be tied back to simple acts if they are meaningful and well-intentioned. With a global workforce representing multiple different demographics, it's hard to keep abreast of what everyone wants, but asking them is a good start. I love the concept of reverse-mentoring, where both parties give and get, and I'm looking to find someone from Gen Z to mentor me so I can be better at social media and understanding a generation that (apparently) would rather have working Wi-Fi than a working bathroom.

Rachel Book (Fidelity Investments Director of Diversity Recruiting Strategies)

A cynic might say, "Throw more money at them.” But that’s rarely the top factor in employee retention metrics. At Fidelity, we’ve found that these three are vitally important factors in employee engagement and satisfaction:

1. Be realistic and transparent throughout the recruiting process. Open, honest dialogue will reduce the likelihood of disappointment or surprise when a new employee joins the company.
2. Welcome them aboard! A robust and welcoming first day — and entire onboarding experience — will ease the transition for any new employee. Don’t throw them into the pool and hope they figure out your firm’s cultural quirks. Connect them with employee resource groups and encourage them to participate right away.
3. Maintain the momentum. Don’t leave the newbie hanging after they show up. Check in often, and ensure they can bring their real self to the office. If they don’t feel comfortable doing so, their stay with you may be short — and you may have larger workplace/culture problems to deal with.

Michelle Murphy (Ingersoll Rand Director of Progressive, Diverse, and Inclusive (PDI) Work Environment)

1. One thing I’m proud of is that we live out our values daily. We respect and value the worth of all people, cultures, viewpoints, and backgrounds and leverage our diverse workforce to drive innovative and imaginative solutions. Retention is important because our success directly correlates to the commitment and dedication of our employees around the world. To retain employees, leaders should know the "why" of their employees. What drives them? What matters most personally and professionally? Leaders should know and try to honor that.
2. In addition, in this constantly connected universe, work should better fit into overall life. It's important to value and celebrate that your employees live and enjoy full lives.
3. Today’s workforce wants to feel valued and invested in. Providing ongoing development and growth opportunities is one way we do that, whether it be formal classroom training, informal peer-to-peer conversation or creating opportunities that bring people together to share, learn and connect. Companies who recognize and act on these things go a lot further in attracting, retaining and cultivating top-tier talent in the long run.

Rose M. Velez-Smith (Pitney Bowes Global Vice President of Human Resources)

I wish it were as simple as just three. Three I have found important are:

1. Stretch assignments.
2. Great career plans that provide a roadmap on how to help an individual grow.
3. Continuous inclusiveness.

These all help keep employees on their toes as well as learning and getting better at what they do. Everyone wants to feel like they are adding value, so including employees in important decisions and initiatives is key. Helping them feel confident in their skills and keeping them current is essential.

Another way to increase the value provided to employees is to provide wellness perks. We have a history of providing and encouraging a healthy work environment and are widely regarded as an innovator in employee health. To help our workforce stay proactive with their health, free programs are available throughout the year focused on preventive care and cancer screenings, nutrition and weight management, fitness, stress management and behavioral health, smoking cessation, back pain prevention and flu vaccinations. Providing a healthy work environment has been central to our culture for nearly 100 years.

Kelly Williams (Blue Cross Blue Shield Association Vice President)

My most effective strategies to retain employees are as follows:

1. Inspired leadership. Position your best people managers — those who love to support others in being brilliant, into positions that play on their strengths. There is a lot of research out there that highlights the immense value of hiring/promoting leaders who amplify others. From a personal standpoint, it has always been more important to me who I work with than what I work on.
2. Context and connection. In my experience, most of us thrive when we have context and can see/feel/understand a connection or possibility. Engagement comes from within and is tethered to connectivity. Every day we are working to connect dots and model what’s possible — one conversation at a time.
3. Human-centric design. We are focusing on human centric design, and while we are in the early stages of the conversations, I love that we are focusing together on what truly matters — from the employee lens — the human in human resources.

Faye Tylee (Avaya Global Head of Human Resources)

There is a lot of noise and competition out there to attract, hire and engage the best talent across all industries. I believe the best ways to accomplish this goal are to:

1. Understand from a qualitative and quantitative standpoint what fundamentally drives, motivates, inspires and engages your employees. You have to truly know what makes your workplace work well and make the right investments to find this information out.
2. Put employees first — even before customers. That feels like a bold statement to many at first glance but the reality is that when you put your employees first, you are essentially putting the customer first in the long run. Employees are the face to your customers. They’re your brand. Treat them poorly and they, in turn, will treat your customers poorly but treat them well and they become the biggest asset to your business.
3. I think about successful employee engagement as having five core pillars that work in unison. If you’re not addressing the whole, you will not solve your engagement problem. Leaders from the top down must commit to making each pillar part of the employee experience, and that commitment must be evident in every action, interaction, transaction and reaction across the organization.

In a people-first company, employees experience the following:

• Purpose: "My company and the work I do have meaning and impact."
• Connection: "My leaders listen, understand, and care about my needs and challenges."
• Trust: "I feel trusted, empowered and supported to make the right decisions."
• Learning: "My company is invested in my personal and professional development."
• Gratitude: "I feel recognized and appreciated for my contributions."

By evolving to this people-first model, leaders will create a culture that combines customer experience and employee engagement in a way that helps strengthen the brand, attract top talent and inspire innovation, continuous learning, collaboration, creativity and inclusion across the company.

Jen Warne (Lincoln Financial Group SVP and Chief Talent Officer)

The most effective way to retain talent is to really listen to your employees and target what they want from the workplace. No, I don’t necessarily mean free sushi or bean bag chairs (although those can be fun and exciting). I mean what employees truly value: career, community and cause. There is an excellent Harvard Business Reviewarticle that explores this concept.

Our people are our most valuable asset, so we target these three values and continuously listen to our people to make sure we are hitting the mark.

1. Career. We offer resources to help our people discover, assess, plan and invest in their careers. Whether it’s formal training programs, on-the-job learning, mentoring, continued education benefits, a job transfer, a stretch assignment or simply building a professional network, Lincoln invests in the success of our employees.
2. Community. This is about feeling connected to the people and culture of an organization. We believe diversity of thought, background, experience and people drive innovation. An inclusive culture helps attract the best employees, empower cutomers and allow communities to achieve great things. We aim to offer our employees opportunities to connect and collaborate through business working groups, employee action committees and more.
3. Cause. Purpose is the motivation that drives your employees toward a satisfying future. It is important to help your employees understand and connect what they do every day to a driving force for good. For example, at Lincoln, we empower Americans to take charge of their financial futures and our employees can see how their work helps the lives of so many Americans. We also encourage connectedness within your community through the Lincoln Financial Foundation and other volunteerism opportunities.

Lastly, but most importantly, if you want to retain your employees you have to ensure you have the best managers. Managers have a day-to-day impact on employees and their environment. For example, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) found 58 percent of employees say that their relationship with their manager is very important.

Amelia Ransom (Avalara Senior Director of Engagement and Diversity)

I think we underestimate our employees when we think all of their needs and expectations cost millions of dollars. You know what employees want more than ping pong tables and fully catered meals? Leadership transparency and to know that they have the ability to do their best work for an ethical company that knows they matter. Those things don’t cost a dime.

My three employees retention strategies are to:

1. Solicit and encourage honest feedback.
2. Don’t shoot the messenger when you receive the feedback.
3. Determine whether or not you’re going to change, communicate that decision and do the work.

Marcy Hamrick (Publix Talent Acquisition Manager)

Our founder, George W. Jenkins, encouraged a spirit of openness, dignity, and respect across all of our associates — regardless of job class — and that philosophy stays firmly intact today. It is a large part of what continues to make Publix a great place to work. Organizations can put this in play by striving to:

1. Define clear career paths at all job levels. Mr. George sought to create a place where anyone could be successful and build a long-term career for themselves. He showed his associates the opportunities they had for a future at the company and rewarded the talent that instilled his cultural values. Today, approximately more than 12,000 of our associates have been with the company for more than 20 years. Our very own CEO at Publix, Todd Jones, started his career with the company in the 1980s as a front service clerk. 
2. Create a culture of service. Employees crave an employer that builds connection between people and communities. When teams are able to engage in activities that do good for a greater cause they feel a sense of purpose and belonging. Publix hosts an annual Publix Serves Day where associates across our company, all on the same day, take time from their day to serve their communities. 
3. Constantly show the employee their impact. We aim to make sure that every Publix associate clearly understands our culture and knows the role they play in delivering it to our customers. We have a recognition program called My Publix, My Part where managers award an associate they observe reinforcing one of our core values with a card. The card describes the action observed and the outcome achieved, and it entitles the associate to a free Publix product.

Kelli Dragovich (Looker Chief People Officer)

We need to change our mindset on “retention.” It’s changing as fast as the high-tech industry. Here are the three strategies I’ll share:

1. Create a culture of transparency — it’s the new retention tool.
2. Develop a mission-oriented company that is dedicated to doing meaningful things, and makes decisions based on when the rubber hits the road.
3. Help your talent evolve. It’s hard, but as much as a company can hire talent for a journey versus a job, the longer they will stay with you.

Regarding increasing the value you add to your employees, it's simple — be real and connect with everyone. At the end of the day, we as people want to feel valued, connected and included in any community we're part of. To truly connect with talent and make their career, experience or even their day better, as well as to help them succeed (whatever that means in their minds), adds a ton of value. I’ve seen more value added in an intimate roundtable where a leader unpacks their career, failures and fears than at a $200,000 event. 

There are seven areas leaders and managers need to focus on to increase employee engagement and enhance workplace performance, according to the head of HR for global recruitment firm Talent International.

The firm, which was recently recognised in Gallup's global 2019 Great Workplace Awards (the only recruitment company in the world and one of only two Australian-based companies to be recognised in the group of winners), has achieved consistently high levels of employee engagement through investing in its people to create a positive, supportive employee experience.

This has had a direct impact on business performance, with Talent jumping from position 96 last year to 87 this year in Australia's 500 Top Private Companies list, with a reported group turnover of $640 million for FY19 and a year-on-year growth of 16 per cent.

Talent was recognised by Gallup for a number of key initiatives, including increased communication at all levels of the business, a new online training program, a real-time recognition tool, and a reinvention of the company’s values (with input from all employees in every region).

April Marcot, head of people & culture at Talent, explained that the firm has focused on creating a culture that thrives on high performance, embraces difference, and embodies its values.

“Our teams feel connected to, and deeply passionate about our vision and purpose,” she said.

“Our management team understands the intrinsic relationship between performance and engagement.”

Marcot explained that there have been seven areas that leaders and managers across the business focus on to drive employee engagement and performance.

1. Establish your baseline
Marcot explained that it is important to start with understanding the current level of employee engagement within your organisation.

“It’s not where you start but where you go from there that matters,” she said.

An engagement survey can help establish a baseline to work from, and this can provide facts, figures and anecdotes to assist in measuring the different areas of engagement.

“Our management team understands the intrinsic relationship between performance and engagement”

“If your company measures well in areas relating to social engagement but low in relation to training and development – you will know which areas to focus on and plan around for improvement,” said Marcot, who added that this will also help make qualitative work more measurable later in the process.

“Listen to your people, they will give you the answers you need, and, at the same time, they will appreciate being asked,” she said.

“They might even offer much simpler and more intuitive solutions than grand corporate schemes.”

2. Impact of managers
While initiatives, incentives and programs from head office are important to increase employee engagement, Marcot said it’s the relationship between team members and the manager that is responsible for 70 per cent of employee engagement and, therefore, productivity.

“This has been quantified in an enormous amount workplace research including Gallup studies, and from my own experience, I have found it to be the most important factor in creating an engaged team,” she said.

“Start with giving your managers the tools and support they need to get it right. Give them the autonomy to lead, encourage them to communicate and listen, set clear goals, and give feedback regularly.”

3. Play to their strengths
It is also important to help connect people with the right positions within the company, as Marcot said this helps them progress in their career by allowing and encouraging them to do what they are good at.

“Develop people in their roles individually, and help them become leaders in their field, within their strengths and interests,” she said.

“You don’t need to be a manager to be a leader, as career progression means different things to different people.”

Marcot explained that not everyone wants to be (or can be a manager of people) but everyone can be a leader, given the right opportunity.

4. Connect culture and performance
Clearly communicated values that resonate with employees will go a long way in shaping behaviour and identifying behavioural expectations, Marcot added.

These values need to be communicated and reinforced constantly, in various ways to reach everyone.

“Showing support and caring for your team members does not come at the expense of performance, it actually improves it”

“If you don’t already have clearly defined values, or they need a refresh, get everyone involved in helping to define them,” she said.

“Give them a sense of ownership and accountability in creating and living them.”

Leaders and managers need to be prepared to make some hard calls to show they not only support but also live by these values.

5. Communicate and have meaningful conversations
The importance of communication in employee engagement should not be underestimated, according to Marcot, who said to “overcommunicate with everyone all the time”.

“Make communications global, local, in writing, in person and in teams,” she said.

“Share the vision, the plans and the progress, celebrate the wins, and share learnings for improvement.”

This helps people feel involved and connected to the purpose of the company.

“Taking the time to genuinely listen is one of the most effective ways to understand the people in your organisation; it’s also a great way to learn from them in order to be a better leader.”

6. Celebrate success
Within Talent, teams are motivated by helping them understand what success looks like, and by helping them understand how it was achieved.

“Start with recognising good behaviour, catch people doing a great job and acknowledge it,” said Marcot.

“By sharing the highs and lows of their own journey, leaders and managers can help their team members to see that success comes from sustained hard work, not by having the magic touch.”

7. Kindness is not a weakness
Treating people with respect and kindness does not mean there cannot be a strong focus on performance, added Marcot, who said this can strongly influence employee engagement.

“Celebrating people’s differences and opinions, respecting social and emotional needs, will result in an engaged team wanting to push harder and go the extra mile,” she said.

“Showing support and caring for your team members does not come at the expense of performance, it actually improves it.

“Allowing people to bring their whole selves to work will ensure they continue to come to work, and love being there.”

Jobs platform SEEK has boosted the percentage of women in its technology graduate recruitment program from zero, five years ago, to 83 per cent by pushing coding down its selection criteria  and not making it a barrier in the recruitment progression.

The company is preparing to take on its next batch of recruits for its 2020 program, but to improve the diversity of graduates SEEK Group HR director Kathleen McCudden said the company had to change up its testing.

"For other skills like team building, problem solving and translating user requirements into technical requirements, our previous selection criteria was not letting us find the best people to choose," Ms McCudden said.

The company also runs programs like Camp SEEK, which is targeted at school-aged girls and teaches them about what a career in tech could look like, in the hopes of building up the talent pipeline by encouraging more women to study STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) skills.

Across the company, 48 per cent of SEEK's employees are women, but this percentage drops to 28 per cent of executives and senior managers and again to 17 per cent of group executives.

While Camp SEEK and changing up its selection criteria were deemed successful initiatives by Ms McCudden, she said not all of its attempts to attract more women to tech roles were successful.

"One thing we did with the talent acquisition team was advertise all tech roles as part-time and we were explicitly accommodating for workplace flexibility ... we thought that would be a great way to attract more women but it didn't work," she said.

An agreement introducing higher pay, penalty rates and new leave entitlements for more than 6000 Officeworks employees has been approved by the Fair Work Commission.

More than 80 per cent of Officeworks staff voted on the agreement in July, with more than 97 per cent voting in favour.

“Being able to provide our team members certainty about their pay and conditions so that they can plan their work and life more effectively is so important to us,” Officeworks managing director Sarah Hunter said. 

“They supported the new agreement wholeheartedly with their vote back in July, so we are rapt with today’s result. It’s such an exciting time at Officeworks and creating more sustainability for our team will help us make bigger things happen together moving forward.”

The new agreement will award eligible team members with a two per cent wage increase for the first two years, and a three per cent increase for the last two years; higher penalty rates on weekends and evenings; two days of paid domestic and family violence leave, should they ever need it; and their choice of superannuation fund.

The agreement will remain in operation until 2023.

The initial vote came on the heels of Officeworks’ implementation of its 'growing families' policy in March, which offers 12 weeks of primary carers leave – double what was previously offered – and two weeks of secondary carers leave, where none was offered before. 

It also entitles primary carers to 52 weeks of superannuation contributions and long-service-leave accrual, and secondary carers to two weeks of superannuation contributions.

Domino’s Pizza Enterprises is facing a class action from in-store staff and delivery drivers who say they were underpaid over a nearly five-year period. 

The class action, which was filed in Federal Court on Monday, is being brought by specialist law firm Phi Finney McDonald and is being funded by Therium Litigation Finance. 

According to the claim, over the period from at least June 24, 2013 to January 2018, Domino’s told franchisees to pay delivery drivers and in-store workers under a series of incorrect employment agreements, even though they should have been paid under the Fast Food Industry Award 2010. 

The agreements did not include certain entitlements – such as 25 per cent loading for casual workers; additional penalty rates for working after-hours, on weekends and on public holidays; and a laundry allowance to assist with uniform cleaning – and most in-store workers and delivery drivers were underpaid as a result.

“It’s nothing short of a disgrace,” said Josh Cullinan, secretary of the
Retail Fast Food Workers’ Union (RAFFWU), which spearheaded an investigation that uncovered the misconduct detailed in the class action.

“The scale of the Domino’s misconduct is unprecedented, and we believe that tens of thousands of workers were never paid for casual loading, penalty rates, travel costs and laundry allowances,” Cullinan said in a statement released on Tuesday.

The class action alleges that workers are owed the difference between what they received and the amount they should have been paid.

“Delivery drivers and fast-food workers are some of the most vulnerable in Australia,” Cullinan said.

“Domino’s CEO Don Meij took home a multi-million dollar pay packet every year, while drivers and store employees never saw a lot of the money they earned. Some workers are owed tens of thousands of dollars.”

Former Domino’s delivery driver Riley Gall is leading the action on behalf of all other affected employees. Having worked for Domino’s franchisees for two years, he said “it’s only fair” the pizza giant pay workers what they are owed.

Domino’s confirmed on Tuesday that it has been served with a statement of claim and said it plans to defend the proceeding. 

According to Phi Finney McDonald’s principal lawyer Brett Spiegel, the court will set a case management hearing, after which Domino’s will be ordered to file its defense, which could include a discovery stage.

The firm is urging every person who worked at a Domino’s franchise during the nearly five-year period to register with the class action. 

Editor’s note: This story was updated on June 25th at 18:25 AEST to include Domino’s most recent statement on the issue.

Heather McIlvaine

The ATO is strongly encouraging all employers with 19 employees or less to get on board and start reporting through Single Touch Payroll (STP) from 1 July 2019.

Most employers with 20 or more employees should have already started reporting their employees’ salaries and wages, pay as you go withholding and superannuation information to the ATO each payday.

More than 120,000 employers have already started reporting through STP. More than half of these are small employers who have voluntarily transitioned ahead of 1 July.

The ATO understands the move to digital reporting may be a big change for some small employers.

They can start reporting any time from 1 July to 30 September 2019 and still be reporting on time. There’s also help and support for employers that might need more time beyond that.

ATO Assistant Commissioner, Jason Lucchese said “Single Touch Payroll is an important change that will deliver benefits for both employers and employees by streamlining payroll processes and providing greater visibility for the ATO in regards to unpaid super or late payments.”

Tim Hoopmann, Founder of Spinn Business Solutions, recently transitioned to STP and said employers shouldn’t put it off.

“My advice to other businesses out there is that they should look at STP as an opportunity, it makes life easier by automating as much of the payroll process as possible and helps you keep on top of your cash flow,” Mr Hoopmann said.

Single Touch Payroll is part of the ATO’s plan to digitise and streamline tax and super reporting and make it part of doing business, while providing greater visibility of your employee’s super.

“There will be no penalties for mistakes or late reports for the first year, and if you are experiencing hardship or operate in an area with limited internet capabilities, there will be exemptions available,” Jason Lucchese said.

For micro employers with one-to-four employees, there are low-cost and no-cost solutions available. You can view the list of registered products at ato.gov.au/stpsolutions Employers with 1-4 employees will also have the option for their registered tax or BAS agent to report their STP information quarterly, rather than each time they run payroll. This option will be available until 30 June 2021.

Small employers who haven’t yet transitioned to STP can follow these steps: 

Visit ato.gov.au/stp for information.

If you have payroll software, speak to your provider to find out if your product is ready or when it will be.

If you don’t have software, choose a product that offers STP. You can ask your registered tax or BAS agent for advice on choosing a product that suits your business needs.

Update your payroll software when it’s ready.

Start reporting to the ATO through STP.

Visit ato.gov.au/stp for information, resources, news and detailed guidelines.

The ATO is strongly encouraging all employers with 19 employees or less to get on board and start reporting through Single Touch Payroll from 1 July 2019.

Browse the full list of pay guides to access the one that applies to you.

The pay guides have the current minimum pay rates for full-time, part-time and casual employees in an award. They apply from 1 July 2019. They also include all the monetary allowances and the most frequently used penalty rates for each classification.

Pay guides don’t apply when a business has a registered agreement and the employee is covered by it. 

You can also find current pay rates, and pay rates from past years, by using our Pay Calculator.

Every award has information about who is covered by it. You can visit the Awards page if you’re not sure which one applies to you.

A – Z list of awards

Go to:  A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

Is it offering worthwhile training opportunity or has it found a clever way to skirt around workplace law?

Burger chain Grill’d has come under scrutiny for its government-subsidised training program, which some workers say is being strategically used to get around paying staff award wage rates.

The program has netted Grill’d more than $7 million from the federal government’s Apprenticeships Incentives Program, which is designed to “contribute a highly skilled and relevant Australian workforce that supports economic sustainability and competitiveness”.

Grill’d promotes its program as “12-month training to ensure consistency across all our restaurants in delivering the Grill’d Experience,” which culminates in workers being awarded, depending on their state, a Certificate II or III in Hospitality or a Certificate II Retail.

 The company is permitted to pay workers less — as little as $14.50 an hour — while they are conducting the training.

“The training we provide at Grill’d, including our qualifications, are an essential part of developing our people and providing them with the important knowledge and skills to deliver on our promise,” the company says on its website. “It’s this training that provides our team members with long term career opportunities — here at Grill’d and in the broader community.”

However, workers with the company have told news.com.au that their training was rudimentary and dragged out over a long period of time so workers could continue to be classified as trainees.

They say the company would not roster workers on to particular jobs that they needed to complete the training — keeping them working at the counter, for instance, rather than in the kitchen.

 “[The training] was really, really easy — literally like four hours’ work — (but) it took me almost two years to get it completed,” news.com.au quotes one former employee as saying. She also says the company delayed allowing her to complete the training and qualifying for the award pay rate.

 “I wasn’t able to log onto the system, you would contact the regional guy, he wouldn’t get back to you. There was a lot of blatant stalling from the company.”

Grill’d has denied using its program to underpay staff, telling The New Daily that all the company’s jobs are permanent and the stores seek to commit to their team.

“Our traineeship program is accredited and administered by qualified external training providers and those completing it receive nationally recognised qualifications,” the New Daily quotes a Grill’d spokesperson as saying.

“It enhances the skills of trainees not just for Grill’d but for the trainee generally. Trainee contracts for those under 18 years of age are co-signed by a parent or guardian.”

The criticism of the burger chain comes amid reports that it is being investigated by the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO). An FWO spokesperson confirmed to that it is “conducting inquiries in relation to Grill’d” but would not provide further details.

Damage control

Prior to the news.com.au report, Grill’d founder and managing director Simon Crowe sent staff an email saying that the company was “aware of a pending media story that will wrongly claim we have worked against the interests of our franchise partners, and our restaurant teams, including how we conduct our training.”

The email was posted to Twitter by University of Technology Sydney journalism student Alex Turner-Cohen.

The email also included a video message from Crowe, in which he says the company will “always try and do the right thing by our people, by our franchise partners and the many stakeholders in the Grill’d eco-system”.

“It’s actually come to our attention that there’s a media article about to be released about Grill’d challenging who we are relative to our treatment of franchise partners, the treatment of our teams and even the culture at Grill’d,” Crowe says in the video.

“The intent of this is to give you an insight to what might lie ahead. But I also wanted to point out that our values of passion, leadership, ownership and trust have been part of our fabric since the beginning and they remain. It’s how we will engage with you; we will listen, we will learn, and we will always strive to make Grill’d a better place than she is today.” 

Getting grilled

Whether the Grill’d training program has the legitimacy the company claims for it or whether it is a workaround designed to keep wage costs down, the episode highlights some of the risks involved for businesses that must balance developing their workforce’s skills with taking advantage of the subsidies and savings that are designed to promote such activity.

Grill’d told news.com.au that the government grants are offset by its own costs in providing the training.

“The net cost to Grill’d of running the traineeship program as it relates to government subsidies has averaged in excess of $450,000 each year over the last three years,” a spokesperson said.

“Grill’d appreciates the government’s efforts in providing nationally accredited qualifications and promoting the professionalisation of the hospitality industry. This provides a pathway for young people to establish careers in either hospitality or other industries.”

Presumably, however, Grill’d benefits from having a more skilled workforce operating its restaurants. It is also questionable whether hospitality accreditation is of particular use to staff, many of whom are young workers or students who have no long-term desires to remain in the industry.

This is not the first time Grill’d has been under scrutiny for its employment practises. In 2015, Kahlani Pyrah launched unfair dismissal action against the company, saying she was fired for seeking the award entitlement for her job. She had been paid under a Work Choices-era agreement that include overtime, weekend penalty rates, or meal and uniform allowances.

Grill’d has previously been criticised for dragging out its traineeships. Commenting on this in 2017, law firm Rouse Lawyers published an article noting that, “This incident comes as a timely reminder for employers to regularly consult with employees to identify issues which could intensify or grow if left unresolved”.

It’s yet to be seen to what extent the company will regret choosing to ignore what appears to be a three year old warning sign.  

We look at our final goal as if it’s the first step, leading us to feel overwhelmed and quickly give up on trying to achieve it. The key to progress involves building new, small habits to help you achieve your goals. Go slow. Set smaller milestones and make small incremental changes in the direction of your big goal. This helps make the goal more achievable, rather than too drastic and unachievable, writes Stuart Taylor

For many people, the turn of a new year comes with a new year’s resolution. But despite our best intentions, most of us have already abandoned our resolve as the first month of the year comes to an end. Only 25% of resolution setters stick it out for a full month, and fewer than 8% take their resolution through to the end of the year.

Despite these glum statistics, the year of 2020 is a golden opportunity for serial resolution setters as it signals the beginning of a new decade and the promise of a clean slate. Bill Gates once said that while people overestimate what they can do in a year, they underestimate what they can do in a decade. What better time to turn over a new leaf and set bigger and better goals for the future?

To avoid finishing before you’ve even begun, here are some tips to help you start the decade strong, achieve your goals and come out the end of it better than ever.

Find your purpose
A lot of people know what they want, but not why they want it. However, you will find it’s much easier to stick to something when it is something that matters to you.

Having a purpose makes it easier to bounce back in challenging times by providing stability, confidence, and determination. To kick off the new decade, take the time to re-evaluate or land on your purpose. This will help you to decide on which goals and activities are important to you and set you up for long-term success.

The Japanese concept of Ikigai could help you land on your purpose for the next decade. Ask yourself the following four questions:

• What do you love?
• What are you good at?
• What does the world need?
• What can you be paid for?

Ikigai believes that your purpose can be condensed into six words (no more, no less). My purpose is, “living, laughing, contributing, with assertive humility”.

It is a combination of these things that can help you understand your priorities and contributes to a more fulfilling life as a whole.

Go slow
We look at our final goal as if it’s the first step, leading us to feel overwhelmed and quickly give up on trying to achieve it. The key to progress involves building new, small habits to help you achieve your goals.

Go slow. Set smaller milestones and make small incremental changes in the direction of your big goal. This helps make the goal more achievable, rather than too drastic and unachievable.

For instance, if you want to lose a certain amount of weight by the end of the decade, don’t start with an unsustainable crash diet or an extreme exercise routine – it won’t last. Start by adding one positive habit to your life at a time. Start by walking your dog twice a week for a month. Once it’s part of your routine, start cutting out soft-drink during the week. Eventually, these tiny positive changes will feel like part of your lifestyle rather than a chore.

For those with a professional goal in mind, start by breaking down the steps into smaller milestones like a promotion or a pay rise. Work out exactly what you need to do to get to the next level – perhaps it’s to exceed sales targets. If it is, commit to reaching out to five next sales leads a week.

Build your resilience
For some people, a minor setback can send them off the rails, while others can bounce back with a spring in their step and even more determination to succeed. What’s the difference? Resilience.

It’s a common misperception that resilience is either a born-with skill or only developed in the wake of major adversity and trauma in a person’s life. In fact, resilience is a skill that can be learned and acts as a psychological buffer against obstacles; enabling you to maintain balance, protect your wellbeing and sustain high cognitive performance.

A few ways to build resilience to help you achieve your goals include:

• Tackle life with a glass half full approach: A positive mindset acts as a launchpad for victory, and it’s important to recognise that every challenge comes an opportunity for growth. This attitude will keep you moving forward.
• Maintain positive lifestyle practices: Exercise regularly, enjoy a healthy and well-balanced diet and get 7-8 hours of sleep a night. These basic lifestyle factors are really important contributors to emotional wellbeing and longevity.
• Be social: Having a strong support network is imperative for building resilience and improving overall life satisfaction. More than that, positive reinforcement from your peers can improve self-respect and confidence

There is no better time to reflect on what the last ten years have delivered and set some goals for what the next ten will bring. But remember that your life won’t change overnight. Take the time to understand your purpose, invest in building your resilience and go slow. Doing this will allow you to keep your head up, navigate setbacks and put you on the path to being the best version of yourself this decade.

As devastating bushfires continue to ravage much of Australia, employers are thinking about how to best support staff.

Catastrophic fires have been burning across Australia since September 2019, so far claiming over 20 human lives and the lives of over a billion animals, destroying over 1,800 homes, and damaging an area of land greater than the size of Scotland.

The destruction is staggering. The national bill has already hit $700 million, according to the Insurance Council of Australia, and is expected to grow.

Many organisations will have staff directly affected by the fires. Others will have staff who know affected people. But really, all Australians are touched by this disaster in some way.

How should workplaces react to this tragedy? HRM spoke with a crisis management expert and looked into relevant research.

For workplaces that are directly affected

For organisations that are already based in the fire/evacuation zones or are at risk of this happening, or for those who might employ staff who live in these regions, there are some important things to consider.

“First off, we have to acknowledge that this is not a bad day or a bit of a rough patch, it’s a catastrophic event for many individuals and businesses,” says Allan Briggs, CEO of Crisis Shield, a crisis management and training organisation.

For workplaces that are directly affected by the fires, Briggs says leaders must communicate effectively with staff and ensure all information is factual and up-to-date.

“There can be a lot of assumptions made [in a crisis]. It’s important that you’re getting information from a trusted source because speculation can spiral out of control.

“People also need clear instructions of what’s expected of them,” Briggs adds.

For those who may be unsure about how to communicate with staff during a crisis, Briggs uses the following communication framework.

1. What we know – establish the facts
2. What are the impacts on your organisation? This should involve continuous communication going out to staff – daily/weekly/monthly, whatever best suits the situation.
3. What you don’t know – it’s important to be transparent about this.
4. What you’re doing about it – this could be as simple as saying that you’re donating to bushfire relief.
5. What you want staff to do – again, this can be as simple as saying you’ll match dollar for dollar any staff donations or that you’d like them to join the fundraising event you’ve organised.

The kind of information you might consider conveying:

• The latest information about the fires – locations/severity/damage in the area.
• Workplace issues – what work sites are affected, will they be open, when, what commuting routes are closed, etc.
• Staff concerns – everything from how leave policies or pay policies are changing to where staff should look to for help.
• Sharing information about colleagues living in affected areas (make sure they give consent to have this information shared).
• For those not directly affected, information about how they can help (donations and fundraisers, for example).

While it’s important to keep communication flowing, you also don’t want to overload staff – especially those who may be grieving. It’s all about bite-sized pieces of information.

“Don’t send out a 20 page email. Keep it short and succinct. Regular short communications are better than waiting to say something. A 30 second video from the CEO that’s based around the crisis communication framework [above] is often effective.”

Planning for the unthinkable

For a company in the middle of a crisis, the first instinct might be PR – sending a message out to customers/clients/members. While this is important, it shouldn’t come before HR. Work from the inside out; take care of your people first.

To do this, it’s a good idea to already have a plan in place. These kinds of crisis management plans are sometimes low on an organisation’s to-do lists and events like these bushfires often shock them into action. Briggs says his company’s phones were “running hot on Monday”.

Each business’s emergency plan will differ slightly, depending on the nature of their work, but Briggs has noticed a few things some businesses forget to consider.

“We can’t rely on mobile network coverage. The carriers can go down or they can get overloaded, which is exactly what’s happened. It’s great that we’ve got social media platforms like WhatsApp, but we’ve even lost some of those things. We encourage some of our clients to have satellite phones.”

Another thing you should consider is setting up an email continuity service system, so you can still send out critical communications to staff in the event of a server failure.

“Think about the old fashioned details, like having staff’s home address in case you need to go around door knocking to check that they’re okay, or the details of their next of kin,” he adds.

This seems fairly straightforward, but Briggs is surprised by how often the only details a company has on file are employee mobile numbers and email addresses. He recalled a recent incident where a staff member had been injured at work and all the organisation had was his own mobile number. The accident happened during weekend work, so no one could get into the office to access more details. 

Another mistake he sees a lot of companies make is automatically making their CEO the lead in a crisis. This is a bad idea because often a CEO can be interstate or overseas on business, or they can be the victim or perpetrator of an incident.

“We find it’s better to have the CEO sitting off to the side and acting as a spokesperson with someone else leading the critical incident team.”

Think about the core people who will be responsible for communications, HR functions, operations and action planning and make sure everyone in the business knows who they are.

For workplaces that aren’t directly affected

If you’ve determined that your organisation is not directly affected, Briggs’ communication framework can still be a useful tool for communicating with staff who are experiencing anxiety and sadness.

Briggs suggests holding social events, like a fundraiser, to create a sense of community or offering staff flexible hours if they need time to digest or de-stress about the bushfires.

“It’s also important to celebrate your business’ success. Be clear about your achievements, goals and plans so people have something else to focus on.”

And, perhaps most importantly, if your company doesn’t already have an emergency plan, get one. Research shows the simple act of having a plan in place, and communicating that plan to staff, has immense business benefits.

Employee trust levels and a company’s stock price both rise when an organisation handles a crisis effectively, according to a 2013 research paper from Cornell University.

The authors of the paper, Desiree Thomas and Cindy Zhou, cite various studies showcasing the positive knock on effects of implementing an emergency plan. 

For example, following a two week power outage in Quebec, Canada, a research paper from 2005 found that “perceptions of procedural fairness of the human resource decisions made during a natural disaster predict the later work attitudes of job satisfaction and organisational commitment.” This means not only does the substance of the policy matter, so does the way in which it’s communicated.

Long-term thinking

Drawing on his experience of working through the Black Saturday fires in 2009, Briggs says it’s important to remember the impact the fires will have in six to 12 months time.

“[The fires] are front of mind now, which is terrific, but down the track people start to forget. We go back to work and get on with our lives. But it will take these towns years to recover. It’s worthwhile for employers to put a note in their diary for six or 12 months time to re-evaluate what they’ve done and what else they could do.

“You could encourage staff to take holidays in those towns or to donate again.”

Briggs’ final piece of advice to businesses is to try and remain positive.

“There’s a lot of talk about climate change, business practice and leadership. All of that is important but at the end of the day, it’s important that we roll up our sleeves and do our part to help.”