Creating high-performance team culture, on and off the field
We spoke with Sec Maljanek, GM of HR and Kat Stevenson, People & Culture Coordinator at Richmond Football Club about enabling an elite performance culture.
The HR team at Richmond Football Club are kicking goals, on and off the field. Their digital-first approach to employee onboarding & induction is giving them a competitive edge and helping them create a Premiership winning club culture.
Getting induction right from the start
At Richmond, the team supporting the players includes everyone, from executives, to medical staff, to human resources.
According to Sec Maljanek, it’s critical that the HR team create an efficient process, right from the very beginning. “In HR we need to onboard people quickly because they have critical roles to play,” and Sec’s approach is echoed by her team.
“Induction is so crucial because we are an elite performance team. We don’t just expect that from our players on the field, we expect it from all of our employees. We have to model and demonstrate that from the first point of connection,” – Kat Stevenson, People & Culture Coordinator.
Kicking goals with digital
The HR team’s number one priority is to create a space of connection, where everyone in the club can connect to their purpose. Face-to-face conversations are important, but using technology to facilitate the process to then enable more meaningful interactions, is critical.
“Having a digital solution for onboarding & induction shows that being at the forefront of the industry is important to us. We’ve had a lot of positive feedback from new starters about how smooth the process is and it sets a standard and a tone for the whole organisation.”
– Kat Stevenson
Human resources has evolved and while it’s always been a people industry, the processes are extremely transactional and process-driven.
The goal is to move away from that methodology.
“Privacy and following up can be a real barrier to a smooth onboarding with a paper-based process. The technology really is a game changer for us in HR. Now our focus is on the induction and embedding people into our team culture and having HROnboard really helps us do this.”
– Sec Maljanek
A vision for the future
With an AFLW team starting next year, the team needs to be bigger and stronger to support the new players as they come onboard. As more people join the team, having a smooth experience will help enable a better long-term employee experience.
“Lots of other teams look to us to see what we do with our culture and our induction” – Sec Maljanek
The strength of the brand is incredibly helpful in sourcing candidates, but filtering through to find people who share their values is critically important.
By using HROnboard, Richmond Football Club ensures that new starters see the values put into action from their very first day.
That makes a huge difference to the culture of the entire business.
