The Top 10 takeaways from #AHRINC

by | Sep 1, 2015 | Employee Onboarding, News

Wow, #AHRINC 2015 was massive. So much took place that it was hard to keep track of everything that was going on. There were international guests, former politicians, and dogs all bidding for your attention. We’ve found this video from Helen Blunden to help you get your bearings after the conference:

We also decided to hit up the twittersphere to give you the top 10 takeaways from AHRINC 2015:

 

Dr Tomas Chamorro- competence and confidence

Dr Chamorro brought an important message on confidence to AHRINC. He says that we’re generally over-confident in our opinions of ourselves, and narcissism is on the increase.

 

Dr Chamorro says men are traditionally more confident than women and more willing to chase larger roles, which is why there are traditionally more males in management positions. The counterpoint to that is women are traditionally more cautious, and that is why stock companies with more women perform better over long periods.

 

The solution to overconfidence is more training in leadership, greater communication, and greater collaboration. Encouraging employees to collaborate breaks down the assumption they must do things on their own. Engagement is also vital for leaders to be able to reach their direct reports, and encourage them to perform at their best.

Jon Ingham- HR and new human relationships

Jon told AHRINC the importance of building relationship and networks in the future. HR needs to walk the walk when it comes to collaboration and relationships.

 

Our workplace is defined by the relationships we make. The way we engage with work, the way we are challenged, and the way we innovate are all influenced by our relationships.

 

It is time for HR to have a more active involvement in workplace relationships. HR can facilitate and influence who employees engage with, to create a workplace free of politics and full of innovative ideas.

 

Gary Pert, Collingwood CEO- Dreams and ambitions in the workplace

Gary Pert did not come to AHRINC to convert everyone to Collingwood supporters. Gary presented on the importance of creating vision and purpose for an organisation.       Gary did more than grow the club membership of Collingwood, he also gave the players purpose to win AFL Premierships. Defining your stakeholders and separating them from your business partners is the first step to creating your vision.   Your vision must be aligned with the needs of your stakeholders, and goals need to be in excess of your current people’s capability.     Vision and values must be embedded in the organisation from the top down. Execs must be able to clearly define your vision and values before you can expect the rest of the organisation to adopt them.  

Nicholas Barnett, CEO of InSync- Leaders need to get REAL

Nicholas Barnett started his presentation at AHRINC outlining the presence of disruption in business. He says that companies such as Uber and Airbnb are just the start of a larger trend. He says organisations, and HR, need to be more outward looking.       More focus must be put on the customer experience to stave off future disruption. Part of the outward movement involves changing employee perceptions through leadership. HR can be involved in organisational leadership change, but HR must make changes to itself first. To be effective leaders, HR needs to get REAL:

        • Relationships

 

 

        • Exemplar

 

 

        • Ambitious

 

 

        • Live an inspiring vision

 

 

Ram Charan- HR delivering business value

Ram Charan addressed AHRINC on how HR needs to move from a support role to a value creation department. Human resources will become the defining competitive advantage in the future of business.   Talent is the strongest lever of value creation, and HR is the trustee of talent. Fostering the best talent is the most effective means to create value for an organisation. Shifting the business priority focus to people is the first step to creating value in HR.

Dave Ulrich- Controlling the future of HR

Dave Ulrich was by far one of the star attractions of the AHRI conference. His talk on how HR can influence the future of businesses was a strong social talking point.     Ulrich says HR is the department best suited to influence change around workplace culture. The first move is to think in terms of relationships rather than roles. Forging long-term relationships in the workplace is more effective than thinking in terms of job descriptions.

Julia Gillard- Managing Abroad

Offboarded prime minister, Julia Gillard, discussed the opportunities present to Australia moving into the Asian century. Australia’s distance from the rest of the world has now become it’s biggest advantage.     Our location isolates us from macro-environmental factors that impact the rest of the world. Technology allows us to stay connected despite our growing independence. HR’s role will be facilitating relationships in this technology driven world. Technology improves communication but reduces the personal touch of relationships. It will be up to HR to build connections between international teams.

KFC- Winning with heart

Tony Lowings and Rob Phipps talked to AHRINC about how people drive their brand. KFC has long understood that engaged employees leads to engaged customers. KFC makes a point of empowering employees.     They encourage their staff to be themselves, make a difference, and let them know it’s ok to have fun at work. Part of KFC’s plan to engage staff is to develop great leaders. $15 million on training means employees are no small investment for the fast food chain.     Growing staff encourages them to do the right thing; from people, to food, to the environment. This engagement leads to greater autonomy of staff, allowing KFC to spend more time developing than managing. In the end, KFC’s employee initiatives all build towards greater customer satisfaction.

Ange Postecoglou, former Socceroos coach- communication and purpose in management.

Ange Pstecoglou brings valuable insights to AHRINC from his background with a world-class soccer team. His most important points revolve around effective communication and defining purpose:

        • Give employees a higher purpose above their position to motivate them to achieve their goals. The Socceroos aimed at being more than a soccer team, they wanted to be the best soccer team in the world.

 

 

        • Communicate with employees in their language. Makes sure your employees understand you in their own terms. Listening to employees and communicating with them in terms they understand is the most important aspect of communication. The Socceroos are always comprised of the freshest, young talent. Reaching them in a way they understand is vital.

 

 

Puppies!

 Of course we can’t forget our lovely puppy onboarding specialists, Ariel and Sparky. These lovely pooches sent AHRI in a stir as people came by to visit our stand. Ariel and Sparky were happy to ‘guide’ people through the onboarding process amongst all the other attractions vying for their short attention spans.     Anyone who did miss out on a demo of HROnboard can click here for your own experience of the onboarding process made simple. 

Ariel is ready to meet everyone at #AHRINC meet her at stand 139 #dogsofinstagram A photo posted by HRonboard (@hronboard) on

If you would like to keep Ariel and Sparky in a job as onboarding specialists, click here to donate to Guide Dogs Victoria.

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