As we meet the mid point in what will probably prove to be the most challenging commercial environment in 50 years, we at HR Partners are delighted that following a good second quarter there are strong signs of life in the HR recruitment market. We are observing different patterns of activity with demand varied in different cities for different types of HR Professionals. We anticipate the market conditions to persist for at least another 2 quarters and probably 3 but the sense on the ground is that there has been some easing in the last 2 months loosely translated as more jobs.

As ever HR Partners continues to support the recognition of Excellence in HR and this month acknowledge high achievement in Queensland University of Technology’s HR units. We also look forward to the annual HR Leader Magazine HR Awards which will be held in mid October.

Regards,

David Owens
Managing Director

Annual membership registrations have now been pro-rated for HR Network Groups 2009. To become a member or for more information including a full breakdown of pricing simply visit www.hrnetworkgroup.com.au.

Upcoming confirmed dates, topics and speakers for 2009:

Sydney City
Topic: Building an EVP
Date: Wednesday 5th August 2009
Presenter: Adrian Lovney
Company: CUSCAL

Norwest
Topic: Health & Safety
Date: Tuesday 11th August 2009
Presenter: Helen Brogan
Company: Schneider Electric

North Ryde
Topic: IR Changes and How They Will Affect HR
Date: Tuesday 25th August 2009
Presenter: Bronwyn Maynard
Company: Harmers Workplace Lawyers

Melbourne
Topic: The role of HR in Transforming a Global Business
Date: Wednesday 26th August 2009
Presenter: Mark Thomas
Company: Aurecon

Brisbane
Topic: IR under the Labor Government - What you need to know in the new industrial landscape
Date: Wednesday 9th September 2009
Presenter: Samantha Betzien
Company: Minter Ellison

The HR Leadership Awards recognise excellence across the entire spectrum of HR, with categories ranging from strategic planning and innovation in recruitment, through to the Award for best HR Leader sponsored by HR Partners.

If you know of a HR professional or practice that has changed an organisation or the industry for the better over the past year, don’t let those achievements go unrewarded.

Nominations for the HR Leadership Awards 2009 are now open. Closing date 28 August 2009.

Visit www.hrleadershipawards.com.au

I am an experienced HR professional, having been with my current organisation for more that 12 years. In line with the current market, my role is looking quite volatile and as such I was wondering what I should do to prepare myself for the job market?

It is certainly an interesting time in the wider employment market, however there are a few things you can do to ready yourself in the unfortunate event that you are facing redundancy/unemployment. Below are some key points to keep in mind when preparing yourself for the current market.

Start Networking
As much as it may not seem like it at the time, having an awareness of when you will/might be finishing with an organisation is a gift that should be taken advantage of.
If you have been formally advised or just have a feeling that you have a defined period of time left in your current role you should be taking advantage of this lead time to meet with as many people as possible. This includes Recruitment Agencies, Industry Bodies/Groups and probably most importantly (where possible) internal recruitment teams/consultants of organisation that you have identified as target organisations.

Be flexible
The key word throughout this calendar year and beyond is ‘flexibility’. With the market having moved in favour of the employer it is in the best interest of candidates to be flexible in three key criteria, which are:

• Permanent Vs Contract – Don’t always be fixed on permanent roles as the only source of opportunity. In the current market a great number of employers are attempting to ‘try before they buy’ with many contracts being extended or converted to permanent once the candidate has proven themselves. Contracts are also a great way to diversify your skill set and experience, to put you in a much better position when the market does pick up again.
• Salary – Not that we are asking you to cut your salary in half, but based on the simple principle of supply and demand it is a natural assumption that employers are likely to get the quality of candidate they are looking for and be able to pay less for them. Simply being willing to look at roles at a slightly lower base salary can open you up to a great deal more opportunities.
• Role Responsibility – With an ever increasing need for organisation to squeeze more out of every dollar, there are many more instances of the responsibilities of two or more roles being merged into one. As such there are many roles (especially senior ones) that will encompass the full gammett of both Strategic and Operational support, potentially requiring candidates to perform tasks which may be perceived as junior to their current capability. This is a reality of an ever increasing number of roles/organisations but in actual fact presents a great opportunity for new employees to experience and understand an organisation at all levels.

Be prepared
This is an old adage but true now more than ever. In the current market one of the most consistent pieces of feedback that I receive from prospective employers is that they question the candidates commitment to the opportunity due to the seniority/complexity of their experience, this stems from the prospective employer having the view that you are potentially settling for an opportunity or looking at the role as a ‘stop gap’ until something better comes along.

You can read the full article here.

Despite being a relatively small sample group of OH&S professionals it is interesting to see that there are some considerable differences in the median salary packages for OH&S Managers in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The Sydney median is just under $102K, in Melbourne $109K but in Brisbane the median recorded among the survey participants was $121,535.

Participation rates in bonus schemes is also varied with Melbourne the lowest (again) at 18%, whilst Brisbane was 30% and Sydney 32%. Brisbane is obviously home to the best rewarded OH&S Managers. This could be because of industry mix, one has to deduce that the resources sector is well represented in Queensland and that there may be a correlation between riskier workplaces and the rate of reward offered to those given responsibility for managing them.

Visit www.hrsalarysurvey.com.au for detailed salary data from like-minded Australian HR professionals. It's free and anonymous.

HR Partners proudly sponsors 2 awards at QUT, one at the undergraduate level and one in the post graduate school. Both awards recognise excellence in the Business school at QUT focussing on the HR discipline.

Tim Newham the General Manager for HR Partners Brisbane presented the awards on the 2nd July 2009 at a function held in the Gardens Point Campus at QUT.

WINNER – Kathryn Bellion

The MGSM Leadership Development Program is aimed at high potential managers seeking to enhance their strategic thinking, leadership and influencing skills.

Kathryn Bellion was awarded the HR Partners’ scholarship and attended a program through MGSM recently. Kathryn has graciously offered to share her experiences of the program.

You can read Kathryn Bellion’s full story here.

Please can you tell us a little about your career in Human Resource Management and Consulting?
It's been 20 years of variety. I've worked in consulting on organisational effectiveness and rewards for 13 of those years, and have been based in many places, including Hong Kong, New York, Seoul, Istanbul, Baku and Kosovo. I've had in-house generalist and reward roles in manufacturing and financial services, and done quite a bit of work on M&A in that time.

How do you describe your current role?
I look after reward (remuneration, benefits and our super fund) and HR systems and reporting for the Commonwealth Bank. I have a fabulous team who are working together very well in these challenging times.

How, if at all, do you think your role will evolve in the next 3 years?
I think the increased focus on executive remuneration means we will need to spend time ensuring our stakeholders really understand the issues so they can make informed decisions. Many people find executive remuneration too complex - and this complexity can cause suspicion.

We will need to really ensure our (internal) customers understand the compliance issues but avoid the trap of being so frightened of breaking any rules that we forget that what we spend on our staff is our greatest investment, and should have a key strategic focus.

Do you believe anything other than pure Free Market forces will ever drive executive Remuneration ?
I question the concept of "pure free" market forces because it implies that market participants have equal access to information. Pay negotiations and reward plan design will always have to take account of the regulatory and social environment - particularly in Australia where we have a relatively egalitarian society. But scarcity of talent will always drive pay up.

Balancing the needs of our executives, employees, shareholders, customers and the community at large is a perennial challenge. There is no clear consensus, for example, on how we define performance, let alone pay for performance. Performance pay may be warranted for executives who are working 16 hour days 7 days a week to reduce losses in hard times, but shareholders may believe the executive should experience the same pain as them.