attracting talent to rail industry
DESCRIPTION
Analyse the current strategies used by the rail industry, rail HR practitioners and possibly your organisation to attract skilled staffTRANSCRIPT
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
2005
0
50
100
150
200
250
20 23 26 29 32 35 38 41 44 47 50 53 56 59 62
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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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