Brisbane City Council breaks new ground with Career Engagement Program for young professionals
Brisbane City Council, the largest local government in the Asia Pacific, continues to face significant challenges related to the much vaunted “War for Talent”. Like many employers in the public administration sector, BCC found it increasingly difficult to attract and retain (particularly young) professional talent against increasing competition from international and private sector organisations. BCC recognised the need to foster its own talent in hot skill areas to enable it to attract and retain quality people. Young employee focus groups identified career development as an engagement and retention strategy with high potential.
Because this highly visible program would be perceived as an extension of the organisation’s overall attraction and retention strategy, it was particularly important for this organisation to select a partner that would reflect a level of credibility, experience and expertise in the global career management services industry.
Lee Hecht Harrison was chosen to partner with BCC to develop and deliver a pilot Career Engagement program designed to strengthen the relationship between the organisation and under 30 hot skill employees and to connect these employees with internal career opportunities and resources. The program included a series of highly interactive workshops based on the proprietary structure of our Career Management methodology where participants learn about the internal marketplace, career pathways and resources, networking skills and create a tailored career management plan.
Participants also receive one-on-one career coaching with a LHH Career Coach to help understand individual skills, values, reputation, personality and occupational preferences and develop practical career plans for the next one to three years.
Business Result
As a result of its partnership with LHH, BCC broke new ground in using career management to impact on employee engagement and retention. Participants reported a 33% increase in clarity of career direction, an 18% increase in knowledge of internal career pathways and options and a 17% increase in knowledge of internal career resources. Furthermore, participants reported a 5% increase in overall employee engagement. The program is now a powerful new tool for increasing attraction and retention of young professionals by equipping them with the critical skills to effectively navigate the internal marketplace and manage their on-going careers.
“I found the whole process a really positive experience and am really satisfied with the results I personally got from it. [My coach] was great both in group presentations and one-on-one coaching sessions. Thanks!”
- Participant, BCC Hot Careers Program
Codan
Codan is an international leader in the provision of sophisticated remote-area communications, with markets in more than 150 countries. Adelaide-based Codan is a recognised South Australian export success - world famous for its principal business of high-frequency and satellite communications.
Lee Hecht Harrison has a long-term relationship with Codan, supporting the company’s initiatives in a number of sophisticated selection and team development processes.
Recently Richard Branford of Lee Hecht Harrison’s Psychological Services division conducted a teambuilding process with all members of Codan’s Executive Team.
Codan Corporate HR Manager Mr Julian Carne said:
"We found that participation in the Myers Briggs workshop with Richard added tremendous value to the functioning of our team. Being able to gain some insight into why others behaved the way they did aided communication and interaction. An executive management team needs to perform at the highest possible level for sustained periods. The new understanding we have of each other has improved our collective performance particularly at times of stress. I would highly recommend this workshop to other management teams."
DP World (ex P&O Ports)
P&O Ports is a major global and Australian stevedore which handles almost half of all cargo which passes through Australia's ports each year. In the past, stevedoring in Australia has been highly regulated and unionised and change has been difficult to introduce. Since a major waterfront dispute in the late 1990s the industry has begun to change and pressure to allow new entrants into the industry has begun to grow.
Under these conditions P&O Ports has recognised the need to become more competitive by building an organisation which is more customer focused, more innovative and more profit conscious. In addition, safety has been a low priority on Australian wharves in the past but the company is now seeking to achieve world-class safety levels in all its facilities.
To achieve these changes the company recognised the need for a major cultural shift and the importance of developing leaders at all levels of the organisation committed to change. Lee Hecht Harrison in Adelaide was engaged in 2001 to assist the company implement a strategy of cultural change through leadership development designed to create a company culture focused on safety, customer service and innovation.
Grant Mitchell, P&O Ports Manager of Global Learning Strategies has this to say about the Supervisor and Team Leader programs:
“Lee Hecht Harrison have been instrumental in assisting us put in place our global learning and development strategy, including our approach to developing and managing talent within the organisation.
“The Lee Hecht Harrison managed development initiatives such as the Frontline Manager (supervisory level) and Foreman Team Leader Development programs have paid for themselves nearly twice over since implementation in terms of the tangible ‘improvement initiatives’ coming out of the programs. These initiatives have added significant value to our organisation by either reducing operating cost, increasing productivity, improving competitive advantage or reducing risk. It is a factually correct statement to say that ‘the improvement initiatives measured coming out of the Frontline and Foreman Team Leader programs can be directly traced to the teachings within both programs.
“Lee Hecht Harrison do not only develop and deliver training in the traditional sense, in fact, far from it. They are particularly strong at working with the client in partnership to ensure that learnings and desired outcomes of training are absolutely transferred into the workplace and that all learning outcomes are linked to organisational performance.
“Lee Hecht Harrison are to be applauded and congratulated for the results that they have provided for DP World through their modern and innovative approach to organisational training and development. Their customer intimate approach is second to none and I would not hesitate to recommend Lee Hecht Harrison to any enterprise that has similar needs to our own.
“Well done and thank you Lee Hecht Harrison.”
University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide understands the critical role that supervisors, managers and team leaders play in achieving success in an increasingly competitive tertiary education environment. The University chose to join with training provider Lee Hecht Harrison to invest in and train new managers, supervisors and team leaders.
The Lee Hecht Harrison Certificate IV Frontline Management program is helping University managers gain the skills they require to develop individual strengths, team capabilities, to identify areas for development and to develop a customer focus.
Andrew Wright, Laboratory Manager at The University of Adelaide's School of Chemical Engineering had this to say following his attendance at the program:
"Participating in the Lee Hecht Harrison Certificate IV Frontline Management program has profoundly changed me personally and changed the way I look at my contribution to the University's future. A new found confidence has allowed me to create and explore new opportunities that I would have previously never considered possible. I now believe I have a valuable contribution to make to the University on both a local and a strategic level.
I found Lee Hecht Harrison's package of service and support to be of the highest professional standard and our facilitator could not be faulted in her knowledge and presentation of the subject matter. Always keen to develop our potential, the Lee Hecht Harrison facilitator motivated and constantly challenged the course participants to take that next step. The results for me were outstanding.
My Lee Hecht Harrison experience has exceeded my expectations and I would thoroughly recommend their service".
