Foundation For Human Resources development national HR Conference in review

Malta Independent Sunday, 24 October 2010, 00:00 Last update: about 13 years ago

This month’s Foundation for Human Resources Development annual conference attracted record numbers of organisations and participants, while stands at the HR and Training Fair were all taken up by exhibitors. Over 250 general managers and human resources managers from over 113 organisations and businesses gathered under one roof to discuss the challenges they are facing at the moment due to increased global competition, the impact of the recession, managing cost reduction, and implementing measures to retain high staff motivation. Following is a brief review of the feedback from the organisers, speakers and exhibitors

50 per cent increase

in participating companies

Joe Gerada, Chief Executive Officer, Foundation for Human Resources Development

The challenges that people managers are facing keep increasing and getting more interesting said Mr Gerada. While the pace of change keeps accelerating, so too are the opportunities for companies to excel through people strategies.

As Malta enters a new period and a changed world of how to do business, there is a sense among professionals of taking the Human Resources profession forward. Human Resources Management (HRM) has withstood the test of time by living through and surviving the Great Recession. The role that HRM played in the last two years, walking the tightrope of cost reductions, re-structuring and sometimes downsizing while at the same time ensuring to retain talent in the company, sustain high levels of motivation and nurturing innovation, ready for the upturn, made HRM in Malta come of age quicker than one would have anticipated.

This is reflected in the 50 per cent increase in the number of organisations participating this year over that of last year. It is a loud and clear message about the profession of management in Malta and in particular the HR profession. Mr Gerada said that FHRD is and will increasingly become the focal point and a trendsetter for quality HR practices and people development in Malta.

It’s about people

not processes …

Annika Galea –

HR Director

at Hilton Malta

Ms Galea quoted Gallup Study 2010 that measured employee engagement with critical business outcomes and showed that those with active employee engagement have 3.9 times the earnings per share (EPS) growth. However, other studies show that 75 per cent of workers in the US are not engaged, which translates into 100 million people not putting in their best effort. She described how engagement could be intellectual, effective and social. An employee who is engaged with the organisation will not only think hard about how best to succeed, but is satisfied when he or she is able to make an effective contribution and co-operates with other colleagues to improve and grow the business. Such commitment is demonstrated in feeling proud and passionate about one’s organisation and often has a spontaneous involvement in making things happen and a strong desire to succeed.

Engagement is close to connection, which she described as a powerful force that creates a positive bond between people, based on both rational and emotional factors. In this respect, she emphasised the importance of recognition for achievements and creating a sense of belonging where people are trusted to take initiatives while moving away from control structures that stifle innovation, slow down decision-making and squeeze the life out of the employees. Ms Galea called for a change led by visionary leaders that inspire confidence and project a common purpose that is understood and owned by all. Furthermore, she said that the value each employee creates is extremely important to recognise and reward, while giving a real voice to all the employees whose experience and competencies are free real time consultancy that has no cost but only benefits and accumulated capital in terms of employee engagement and business success.

… and Innovation Management

Joshua Zammit –

Deputy

Vice-President

at Actavis Group

Mr Zammit discussed the need for organisations to transform themselves so that they are better able to face the challenges of tomorrow. Mr Zammit maintained that HR professionals could be the best catalysts for the change that will generate wealth. He said that HR people offer their organisations the competence of aligning the talent and skills of the employees to the business objectives, provided that these managers are in sync with the strategy of the organisation. This approach is critical as the new generation of employees have talent, are independent minded and willing to learn and develop and therefore need an environment where they can feel useful by innovation. What is important is not to manage innovation but to have innovative management that is secure enough to recognise that leadership is about creating wealth and that this function is not the monopoly of senior management but of everyone in the organisation. The role of senior management is to create the right environment and capitalise on the strengths of employees by channelling this energy into business and wealth. With this approach, structures and systems will change from static bureaucratic rule-oriented organizations to dynamic, flexible and innovative-oriented teams. They will be measured by the wealth they generate, the talent they attract and nurture, and the trends they set for their industry. Mr Zammit strongly advocated the concept of “Employees First. Customers Second”. Value will be driven by employees, not customers.

… because organisations are for value not power

John C Grech –

Chairman

EMCS Group

Twenty-first century organisations need to focus on value generation and the structure has to accommodate this, not restrict it. Creativity and fast response are at the core of all business ventures and to do this people need to interact and network with the minimum of rigidity. In this respect, most of the current pyramidal structures, where decisions are taken by virtue of the power vested in the roles as opposed to competencies and teamwork, are redundant. The new structures need to be flat for quick communication, self-regulating built on expertise and ethics as well as having leaders that are able to motivate by involving people in the decision-making process, create teamwork that is clear about its business objectives and each person’s contribution to success. Above all, leaders need to be inspirational, that is they are able to talk clearly, impart credibility, project honesty and provide security, as they know where they are heading and how to get there. Mr Grech said that workers should be viewed as people capable of success and creators of wealth and not cogs in machines. He went further and emphasised that this approach was not restricted only to the place of work, but even to the larger society, as people want to participate actively in how their communities are managed and the impact that this has on their quality of life. So the top down approach is something of the past and public institutions would do well to embrace change and apply a more democratic approach where talent is rewarded and acknowledged, and where decision-making is decentralized to respond better to the emerging demands of an intelligent consumer.

Harnessing the power

of social media in

the workplace

Jon Worth –

Web Designer and Strategist

The subject drew divergent views with regard to the use of social media in the workplace. While Facebook was increasingly being used for communication and corporate branding with both internal and external audiences, some argued that the use of Facebook and other media during working hours is counter-productive and may not be conducive to organisational performance.

Mr Worth sees HR as catalysts of these innovative technological tools, that social media enhances employees engagement and motivation. Mr Worth said that management should trust its employees, but insisted on the development of an internal social media policy. In times of crisis social media can serve as a two-way communication channel to keep employees informed. Companies cannot remain passive at the use of social media as they risk ending up woefully behind their competitors. HR should help in creating a culture that embraces social media such as Twitter/Facebook/Linkedln in order to foster positive and productive communication both internally and externally.

75 per cent of the

time of HR managers

is taken up by legal issues

Patricia Leighton – Professor of Employment Law University of Glamorgan

Professor Leighton said that research suggests that 75 per cent of HR managers’ time is spent dealing with legal issues. In this respect HR managers have to know what the law states, more importantly how cases have been decided and to develop and update their policies to ensure that they are in conformity with EU legislation. The alternative is the road of expensive court cases and possibly hefty compensations. In this respect an HR manager needs to ask whether the company has a legitimate aim for the rule that it establishes, is the rule well explained to the employees, can the company show evidence that the rule was established in good faith and will the company pass the test of credibility by the arguments presented in court. Professor Leighton said that EU legislation regarding the places of work is growing, and whereas previously it concerned itself with mostly pay systems and conditions of work, it has now expanded into equality in recruitment and selection, career management, the provisions of occupational benefits, and health and well being among others. She delved in detail about the implications of fixed terms contracts and the case law surrounding the abuse of such contracts. Part-time employees gained a lot of status in EU legislations and they cannot be accorded any less favourable treatment then full-time employees.

People need to feel

and be on board

David Spiteri Gingell –

Managing Partner

LoQus Business Consulting Ltd

It is very difficult to try and change an organisation with the same resources like when organisational exigencies come along. They take precedence. So an organisation needs to separate the daily operations to the processes required to implement change successfully. The ‘champions’ of change are people who have the vision, are committed to its success, have the competency to get there and are able to inspire their followers to go for it. Such characteristics are in short supply but they are the people who lead by objective, select people on the basis of competence, are sensitive to cost effectiveness, enjoy working in teams and resist red tape. Mr Spiteri Gingell said that often the same person who manages change would also be required to run an operation which is tough to do but possible. The skills needed for one activity may not necessarily be those needed for the other. However, whatever the case may be, change has a cycle to follow and has to be managed well. Mr Spiteri Gingell said that a cycle of change should last some three years. The first year is a thorough understanding of where the organisation wants to head to, the second year should be focused on working in alignment with change targets set, and the third year should be an assessment of outcomes achieved. Subsequent to that is evolution.

Empowerment is fundamentally intrinsic in the design of an organisation and change managers are able to build strong teams that are motivated and take pride in serving clients well, often self-starters in their own right. They would have no hidden agendas, are able to motivate others and their collective effort transforms an organisation, and people will say we did it and we are proud of it.

Metrics show

the way forward

Bruno Cassar– Senior

Vice-President, FIMBank plc

Mr Cassar said that, traditionally, metrics focused on employee turnover, recruitment, staff retention and training and development. However, they are now more aligned to business strategy and the personal goals set through a Performance Management Strategy such as the 360 degrees feedback and the use of balanced scorecards. The introduction of such systems offer a number of challenges particularly at the design stage when data is collected and operations evaluated. This is particularly difficult where the industry does not offer any benchmarks against which to measure performance. In that case, each organisation has to develop its own measures, deliver a business case for action and highlight the projected outcomes that the company needs to pursue. This is the return on investment of such systems. However, metrics in whatever form need to answer one basic question which identifies the best metric tool that would be most useful at strategic level and which provides the best information for the next corporate decisions.

The participants’ feedback

It was a very interesting and well-organised conference. All speakers excelled in the way they delivered their speeches. They were very interactive and to the audience’s level.” Ruth Farrugia, Executive Director, C. Fino & Sons Ltd.

“The speeches provided a lot of food for thought. They compelled you to do some soul searching to analyse and identify where the problem is.” Francesca Scicluna, HR Executive, Swan Laundry & Dry Cleaning Co. Ltd.

“The speeches themselves provoked questioning. They made you stop and think. Moving out of the office for a day and just think and evaluate, helps you get back on track when you go back to the office.” Jeanette Zammit, HR Executive, Malta International Airport.

“The discussions have given me a lot of energy. They have led me into a new way of thinking. I particularly liked Joshua Zammit’s advice to try and turn things around from the usual way of doing things. It makes you realize how important it is to change in order to grow and compete.” Celia Bartoli, Managing Director HR, C & H Bartoli Ltd.

“The concept in Joshua Zammit’s presentation, ‘Employees first, customers second’ is relatively new to us. It is a lot of food for thought. We still have to absorb this concept and think hard how it can be put into practice in our organization.” Noel Schembri, HR & Administration Manager, Citadel Insurance – Malta.

“The speeches made you realise the need for change. There is a need to change the culture in our organisations if we want to move and act fast in an increasingly challenging and competitive business environment.” Gilbert Camilleri, Assistant Head Administration, Malta Standards Authority.

“The speeches were very interesting. I found the discussions to be very relevant to us as an organisation especially because we are a government entity and it is harder for us to create and instil change.” Charmaine Monsieur, Manager Administration, Grand Harbour Re-Generation Corporation.

The exhibitors’ feedback

“An excellent opportunity for exposure and networking! Would definitely participate again!” William Martin, Operations Manager, Dakar Software Systems

“Very successful turnout indeed! The HR & Training Fair is like a meeting place for us where we have the opportunity to meet our existing as well as our potential clients. Will definitely participate again next year.” Leonard Tanti Bellotti, Product Manager, Shireburn Software.

“Feel very satisfied with the stand! Will consider participating again next year!” Shirley Zammit, Marketing Communications Executive, Computime.

“Very good response from those visiting the stands! Will consider participating again as it is a good opportunity for exposure as well as for networking!” Charlene Delmar, Executive, ETC.

“The HR & Training Fair is a good opportunity for networking as well as to promote our product to those attending the conference!” Danica Fava, Director, Outdoor Living Malta.