attracting talent to rail industry

Attracting talent to the rail industry

Tony WigginsAHRI Queensland Vice President and

Convenor Attraction, Recruitment and Retention Forum

HR Manager Queensland Health

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My contribution today

… analyse the current strategies used by the rail industry, rail HR practitioners and possibly your organisation to attract skilled staff

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OutlineAnalyzing the current strategies in place to

attract skilled staff to railWhat is working well and lessons learnt for 3

organisationsAttraction, Branding and Gen Y

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Current situation• Ambitious agenda• Skills shortages - performance• Certain skills shortages remain critical• Competition • International pool • Australia - skilled trades, engineers and

technicians - ranked 1st, 3rd, 6th • Little research - attraction and branding

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Rail and ageing workforce

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FTE

David Ellwood (Dean of Harvard University`s Kennedy School of Government) in J. Barrett "An impending work crisis" ( Newsweek, 2002) Source: BCG analysis

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Demography poses an risk for many companies Loss of competence Declining productivity Lower motivation Increasing costs Less innovation

"If there is a crisis, it will be too late“ Mindset cause the talent shortage Little bit of imagination - beat the skills shortage

Rail and ageing workforce

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A tale of 3 organisations

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2009 - Privatisation Westrail Granted 49 year lease Controls 5100 km rail infrastructure - SW W

AustAccess management, signalling, controls,

communications, rail construction ...240 employees500 million tonnes hauled per annum

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Challenge - 2008Skills crisis, labour shortage, resources boom - GFC

Poor image

Strategies – Critical Workforce AreasElectricians

National training qualifications

Train controllers

Training, meaningful work, recruitment (cultural fit), multi-users

Engineers

Graduates +5, lifestyle (not $), supernumeraries, opportunities to ‘mix and match’,

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2000 - Merger Clyde Engineering + Walkers 2001 - Merger Downer Group with EDI Provides rolling stock services to the A/Asia 1,900 people (rail) 25,000 (group) 30 facilities centres – A/Asia

ChallengesBranding – 1 EDI Downer groupNot seen as a sexy career

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Strategies

Graduates Structured, strong robust programOngoing coaching and developmentTransitioned into the business

ApprenticeshipsLinkages with schools – cadets (Newcastle)Manufacture Sydney trainsSponsorship local football teams

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Location - Queensland based/national entityAssets - $12 billion People - 5,000 Revenue - >$3.5 BFreight - 238 M tonnes p.a.Locations – delivery 500 Capital works portfolio - $1.5 billion144km of new track - next 20 years

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Challenge Male, pale and staleOil, gas and mining Poaching - Australian marketInternational projects - impactQR/Rail not sexy - not EOC – first contactDoes not feature on the radar - job hunters

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Strategies – Critical Workforce AreasRebranding QR 2000

“QR more than I’d imagined” It is not trains, it’s logisticsFresh look - going places, new opportunitiesFemale, graduate and fresh

InternationalRecruitment – expat engineersBowen Basin projects

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Strategies – Critical Workforce AreasAustralia

Social Media Thinking outside square/

transferable skillsDesigning job familiesRecruitment - cultural fit“Not just a job, a lifestyle”

Financial, career, work and lifestyle benefits

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Different problems, similar strategies Recruitment + cultural fitOn-boardingLearning and developmentLifestyleJob varietyCareer development

Employer of Choice

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Link between Attraction and Branding

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Townsville Hospital

Tired of living to work, rather than working to live?Fed up with traffic slowing you down?Interested in professional development &

achievement?Want to be an integral member of a

service dedicated to caring for the community?Then why not consider a rewarding career

working in tropical North Queensland?

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Attraction and Branding

Critical to talent acquisition and retentionBlend - culture, reputation, products and

services, and the way it deals with and values its workers.

Difference - place to work - potential and current employees.

Challenge - the way rail currently thinks and behaves.

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It’s talking about the basics …

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Where is rail at the moment?Has a low brand awarenessPoor brand imagePotential recruits - see rail as little value Seen as

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Employer brand - critical questions

What are the major factors that are influencing rail to develop and maintain employer brands?

How will an effective rail brand assist in the attraction and retention of quality staff, particularly Generation Y?

How does the rail industry/individual rail entities undertake research and develop an employer brand that delivers results?

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Asking critical questions leads to …Culture and valuesEmployees are passionate about, and fit in. More than recruitment Focus - candidate marketLiving the brand values internally - build the

brand externally – attract high demand recruitsDraw people in, right people in & with the right

fit.Less time to hireObjective - employer of choice (EOC)

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Gen Y, branding + recruitment

“If you're not willing to have good leadership, challenging work, not willing to mentor me, then I’m not coming to work for you”

Avril Henry , Executive Director, AH Revelation

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EOC

Traditional strategies - not any more!Identify and establish key points of difference 4 most important EOC attributes

Excel in people leadershipCreate a compelling employment offer for employeesFast track development of peopleCulture and values are viewed as critically important.

Hewitt Associates

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EOC - Bottom Line ResultsJob applications – x2.5 Staff turnover - 15% compared to 20%Sector share prices - higher Revenue growth – 2 times higher Profit growth – x4 higherLong-term investment of 5-7 years

Sourcing - Cultural Fit

Involve Everyone

Onboarding

Leadership and Culture

Recognition andRewards

Source: BCG Creating People Advantage 2008

HR strategic partners in business

Interesting and Fun

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Where to from here?

Past and Current

Restraints

Future Solutions

Harmonisation of Rail Industries

Cultural Change

Whole of Industry Approach -Rebranding

Ageing workforce

Fluctuating global financial markets

Global and national skills shortage

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Many thanks for your attention