SAP SuccessFactors HR Connect 2022: HR strategies

Three large Australian businesses discussed their HR policies at SAP SuccessFactors HR Connect 2022 on 30 August. The panel delved into their innovations with data and the importance of listening to your workforce.

ANZ

Richard Howell is the ‘tribe leader’ at ANZ Bank. Mr Howell noted: “People [are] absolutely the heart of our purpose.”

With 51,000 employees to manage, it’s not surprising they place emphasis on their people. According to Mr Howell, this is achieved through data. ANZ utilises data to improve their onboarding process and to create opportunities for employees by building career pathways.

By analysing current processes and results, they’re able to: “make an experience that’s measurable.”

Mr Howell added: “[We are] engaging frequently with our employees and getting feedback… to continue to build [overarching] standards rather than different flavours of solution.”

“Employee experience is very personal. There should be a focus on the human element,” he said.

Laing O’Rourke

Helen Fraser is the general manager of people at global construction company, Laing O’Rourke. Headquartered in England, they’re a family-owned construction business. Sustainability is a key focus for the organisation, as Ms Fraser said: “Everything we do has to leave the world in a better place.”

She added: “Our organisation has set very tangible, measurable sustainability targets. We’ve been very clear that we will be net zero operationally by 2030. We’ll be net zero fully by 2050. People want to work for organisations that are contributing to the solutions in the world. Our challenge in HR is to align [with] that.”

Similar to ANZ, Laing O’Rourke are utilising technology to make work easier for their employees. This begins at the onboarding process to make sure employees know what to expect from the company from the beginning.

Ms Fraser noted that effort is made to provide a consistently good employee experience, “[using] technology to make sure the line manager can have the right information at the right time and the right skills to support employees.”

Although it’s important to use the technology you have, it should not be relied on for everything. So, while there are instances where technology works best, there are others when a manager provides a needed human element.

“Leave them [line manager] to do the relationship [building] and the inspiring, leave the system to give all the tools and resources for our people to learn,” said Ms Fraser.

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is also a goal for the company. Ms Fraser noted that they’re aiming for gender parity across their workplace by 2033.

BHP

Elise Nerone is the global head of people and strategy HR tech and governance at mining company, BHP. With around 80,000 workers to manage, it’s a given that strong HR principals are a necessity.

Ms Nerone outlined: “BHP’s purpose is bringing people and resources together to build a better world.”

“How do we create an environment where people feel empowered, safe and inclusive where they can grow and develop? [We aim to] give people a sense of purpose and have them leave with a sense of accomplishment,” she said.

This is achieved through a focus on leadership. Making sure supervisors and managers know how to keep employees happy.

“Leadership development drives employee experience,” said Ms Nerone.

Listening to feedback is a key aspect of BHP’s HR initiative. Every 90 days, the company engages with their staff for an understanding of what’s going right and what isn’t. This provides continuous feedback that they’re able to work on.

Gaining this feedback from employees as early as the onboarding period is beneficial; using data to improve future experiences. Similarly, BHP has employee segment groups, with engagement surveys focused on each team.

Ms Nerone noted that these systems are “designing with not designing for.” There’s a focus on human-centered design. People want simple, easy processes but it can be difficult in a complex workplace. Leaders need quick and easy solutions to do their job.

She added: “Stop looking at the shiny new toys.” Get as much as you can from the platform you have and optimise it to make it simple and easy to use. Don’t include technology for the sake of it.

Watch the full SAP SuccessFactors HR Connect 2022 event here.