Moir Recruitment News

Many Australian industries are doing it tough and Australian retail is no exception.

Imagine, however, we could fast forward and retail had become one of Australia’s defining industries - a significant number and variety of local organisations were thriving, the industry had regained its old entrepreneurial courage, and new tools and tricks were helping Australian companies and their leaders to navigate and shape the global industry.

Anita’s presentation will consider the gap between where we stand today and the future we want for the industry.  She will explore the challenges for leaders to reduce the gap at both an organisational and industry level.  Her presentation will draw from and compare her work and experience in both retail and in high growth organisations, and intend to leave leaders with practical solutions as well as more to consider. 

For more details head to our Events Page

It was a pleasure to welcome back Trent Duvall, National Leader - Consumer Products from KPMG Australia for a second year to discuss trends and review the performance of the retail market over the past year. Its no doubt an extremely challenging and complex time for retail leaders due to so much change, social media input, diversification and interruptions.

Key points:

Consumer sentiment showed an uplift since July 2015 but still remains volatile.

Hardware, gardening, clothing, recreational goods, Take away food, liquor all remain relatively strong. Department stores face the greatest challenges.

In the last 3 months recreational goods have had the strongest growth, whilst department stores are showing negative growth.

The grocery market will continue to grow but its competitive and the likes of Aldi are now moving into fresh foods so it will be interesting to see what happens in this space.

We shop 24/7 and are always connected. We need to tap into all the generations and provide a strong service directed and targeted to the way they work and live. It's a real shifting market, gone are the days of “going shopping”. 

The 5 trends consumers are drawn to are imperfection and authenticity, creativity, mindfulness, accessibility and convenience.

Innovation and technology are driving so much change and transformation. Many retailers are striving to provide a seamless experience across channels. He gave some good examples of UK companies that are achieving in this area.

Retailers are using analytics wisely and reacting to change immediately and pricing goods according to these changes.

Analytics can deliver customer data on buying habits, allowing staff to make smarter product recommendations.

There is always some interesting slides on the future look of supermarkets, retailers are embracing innovation, technology to create interactive and seamless shopping experiences. 

It will of much interest to see how the landscape changes over the next year.

Thank you to everyone who came along to this event, if you would like more information on upcoming events please head to our Events Page and join our community by liking us on Facebook, following us on Twitter and connect with us on LinkedIn to stay up to date.

Last month, Moir Group hosted Richard Grupetta, Partner for the Asia Practice at Grant Thornton Australia.  Richard addressed the very popular question many businesses are currently asking “How To Successfully Expand Into The Asia Region” and the steps you need to take to best ensure a positive result.

Richard addressed the reasons for the attraction to Asia and how the global economic “centre of gravity is “irresistibly” shifting to the Asian region. This dramatic acceleration of growth is predicted to continue well into the future seeing a significant decrease in business interest in Europe occurring at the same time.

Richard focussed predominantly on Japan, China, Korea, India and Indonesia with the most attention based on China as it is:-

• Australia’s largest export market

• Has a population of 1,368 million people

• GDP growth rate around 6.8%

• It is a transitioning market – growth in consumer, manufacturing and services markets

• Growing online business

• ChAFTA (China-Australia Free Trade Agreement)

• Growth in Food/Beverages, consumer goods and education sectors

Richard then explained his 5 step approach when approaching the Asian market.

1. The best fit approach – Are you Asia ready?? Define your product/service, who are your competitors etc

2. Market review and ‘What if’ development – what is the market? Research!

3. Best options to decision

4. Budgeting and preparing for success

5. Roadmap development

Richard explained his strategy for market entry, expressed the importance of the people you involve and where to get financial support both at a State and Federal level as well as in-market support. There are also useful contacts within the Australian Alumni such as the NSW Business Chambers who can provide support and advice and of course the expert services provided by Grant Thornton. 

Thank you to everyone who came along to this event, if you would like more information on upcoming events please head to our Events Page and join our community by liking us on Facebook, following us on Twitter and connect with us on LinkedIn to stay up to date.

Last month, we had the privilege to host Peta Bayman, Director Facilitating Results Pty Ltd, presenting on "Working With Unconscious Bias''. Peta talked about the diversity of a workforce and how we all have an “Unconscious Bias” towards many things in life whether it be at home, socially and/ or at work. Although we all may look at the same picture, how we interpret it is completely different and this taps into our unconscious thoughts, assumptions and opinions.

Incorrect assumptions can extend to groups resulting in:

• Prejudice
• Stereotyping
• Discrimination

This can been seen in the workplace upon our choices of hiring staff and can lead to a team of people all with the same background, appearance and views.

The question is "How can we change this?"

• Awareness – I am biased, its OK
• Questions – ask different ones – think about what assumptions I have made
• Perspective taking – how does this look from another, different set of shoes?
• Systems – start seeing the whole system, seeing the interconnections of things

It is human nature to like people like ourselves and seek opinions from those that we know have the same opinion as us. However, diversity creates opportunity and leads to change and a world or workforce of inclusion.

Robots are us, bring back the human .. and Happy Easter! by Karen Ryan, Director Temporary and Contract Recruitment

We are already well into another year with school holidays just around the corner. It’s a great time to reflect on what is already a fast moving 2016 and yes, humanity! 

Sounds a bit dramatic doesn’t it, however sometimes we do need to stop and take a breath. Given the speed of change these days we all need to look up and remember what is at our core and what makes us tick.

With text now overtaking talk, words that once meant one on one communication such as “Connect”, “Like” & “Share” now meaning not having to talk at all, potentially reaching 1000’s in the one “hit”, it is important we remember we are all human and need each other more than ever. Embrace social media because it’s the way of the future and it’s moving faster by the day however, don’t let it steal the essence of the word “social” from it’s true human meaning. 

We at Moir Group, hosted our annual Christmas Party late last year where our clients, candidates, suppliers and others in our community came together. We ate, drank, talked and listened to each other.  We re-connected with people we had placed, or helped make placements with, with speakers from our many events and others who have been a part of our story over our nine-year history. It really was a special event and there was barely a phone in sight.  The reason being it was hard to balance food, drink and a handbag and be tweeting, checking in or looking at what was going on at other gatherings on Facebook! 

We were forced to be in the moment and the atmosphere around the room was one of real engagement and true bonding.  People were actively listening to each other, sharing work and personal stories from the year.  It is so important over this year and as the Easter holidays are upon us, to do this when you are meeting your friends we see so rarely these days, or the family you find hard to catch up with.  Be in the moment! Everyone else is also having drinks, eating wonderful food and catching up with people in nice locations, so there is no real need to show them what you are doing.  We are all doing the same! So just before you post, share or even take a photo for the masses, be in the moment and remember you care about those you are with so listen to them and share first with them.

I am from the generation that remembers the joys of face to face communication and the depth of relationships, so let’s pass this onto the next generation.  Keep the real links and demonstrate why that matters to those you care about and the rest will follow. Communicating with the masses is important and a way of the future, really communicating with people face to face and one on one and caring about them, is so precious and valuable. 

Give a little of yourself – have a laugh and remember no matter how senior in work you are or how little years of experience you have, you have a story to tell and we can all learn from those you meet by truly engaging with them.  Don’t forget to continue to add to your human profile and not just your Linkedin one! 

Have a great Easter holiday break, and I look forward to hearing your stories throughout 2016, not just reading about them with everyone else!  And yes, you can share this if you like!  

 

Moir Group recently hosted Dr Roger Collins who spoke for us on the very popular topic of leadership. Roger asked the very captive audience the question, “Leadership: Where Did We Lose Our Way & How To Get Back On Track”.

Roger discussed tightening our overall leadership terminology and discussed the 3 levels of leadership:

1. Self – this will become more important as individuals need to respond

2. Team/corporate/individual – The is a primary focus and the psychological aspect is very dominant in this field

3. Shared/collective – Roger spoke about the case study of McDonalds and the CEO Charlie Bell and his impact on a collective and a shared leadership approach, backed up by the core values within the McDonalds company

He advised us to consider moving away from a normative and idealized leadership, this is low narcissism with high humility as well as a level of spirituality and authenticity. Then moving to a descriptive approach, which is a much more task orientated and problem solving style, developing relationships, advocating change and always looking externally to network, and successfully and confidently represent your brand. Try not to think of leadership as a single causal factor. Ensure your organization is aligned with your culture, policies and practices with the outcomes that you expect of your leaders.

Overall Roger believes that most leadership behavior can be learnt and although leadership potential and aspiration can be identified early within individuals, your organizational culture plays a big role in the development of your future leaders. As well as this, the timing of their development is significant as results can be short term but development may be longer term. You need to have persistence and also patience in developing your leaders. Leadership is developed more effectively from actual experience rather than formal training and education, think of the 80:20 rule.

Overall, shift your emphasis away from formal development to strategy and issue related at work development with reflexivity. Build a community of strong leadership practice and also increase the robustness of the evaluation of your future leaders.

“Edison didn’t invent the light bulb by upgrading the candle” So whatever you are doing now probably needs a fundamental rethink and change.

Thank you to everyone who came along to this event, if you would like more information on upcoming events please head to our Events Page and join our community by liking us on Facebook, following us on Twitter and connect with us on LinkedIn to stay up to date.

The global and Australian economies are not as bad as they may seem, in fact they are in quite good shape. 

This was the summary from our first event of the year that David McDonald, CFA Chief Investment Strategist Australia, Private Banking and Wealth Management for Credit Suisse AG spoke at last week. For quite a number of years now David has spoken at this event for us, covering all the main economic hubs of the world and summarizing the US, China, Europe and Japan and then focusing on Australia. Each area has its own challenges, however these are manageable and in the main are being dealt with in a reasonable way. Australia continues the transition of its economy away from the resources sector. The oil price will return to more normal levels in time, it is mainly a case of over supply at present. Whilst China is not growing at the very high rates it has done in the past, it is still growing well and transitioning to a more services oriented economy. Australia will benefit in tourism and agriculture amongst other areas from this transition in China. The US has grown well in recent times and Europe continues its slow growth away from the GFC. Japan remains very sluggish.

Australia should see reasonably solid growth in 2016 and there is nothing on the horizon at this stage to knock it off course. 

All in all a much more positive outlook than many of us had thought going into the event. Always a nice way to start a new year, and David will be back again next year so we can see if his predictions were right!

Thank you to everyone who came along to this event, if you would like more information on upcoming events please head to our Events Page and join our community by liking us on Facebook, following us on Twitter and connect with us on LinkedIn to stay up to date.

What is networking?

Networking is the most effective means of accessing the hidden job market. Did you know that 70% of today’s jobs are gained through networking and using your own contacts. Networking is about building relationships, sharing information and finding sources of support, and is an ongoing life skill, not just something you do when you want something. Your best advocates are people who know you, worked with you previously and who can refer you on to new contacts.

Benefits of Networking

The more people you know, the more people you can influence. Always remember your connections will also have connections, giving you an even wider network. You never know who people might know - this is very important! Exchanging information allows new insights you may not have thought of. Expanding your contacts can open doors to new opportunities. Engaging with your contacts, means you sow the seeds for reciprocal assistance when you need help. The most successful people share information. Offer to help others out, people remember this and people will return the favour. Use the principle of 'what goes around comes around'. Ask people: "How can I help you?" and "What can I do for you?" Doing this also lifts your self-esteem and puts you into a more positive mind set.

How to build the best network 

Start with people you trust and respect that have similar values to you. This may be current work colleagues, ex-work colleagues, close friends, University friends, family friends, contacts through sports clubs, contacts through your kids schools etc. Approach them for advice, in general most people will be happy to help. Ask your current contacts for referrals, this is an easy way to build your network. Offer to help people, as what you give out will come back. Keep all your contacts on Linkedin then you will never lose their details.

Always let your network know that you are looking for a job. Spread your “feelers” as far as possible and always thank people for their help. You can also ask friends or contacts to refer you into their current employer or ask them for a contact you can approach directly. Be aware that many companies have a monetary referral bonus they pay to internal staff.

It’s all about quality not necessarily quantity. Some of the best-connected entrepreneurs don’t have the biggest networks or the highest number of connections on LinkedIn. Instead, they might work with a smaller, tightly knit groups of connections.

Before you approach people for advice the number one thing is knowing what you want, it is much easier for people to assist you if you know what you want. Always be positive and grateful, thank people for their help and aim to help them in return in some way. If you are unemployed then treat this as a full time job. If you are employed then dedicate at least an hour a day to building your network.

Networking is not always a natural thing to do for many people, but it will help you and is definitely worth making the effort to do consistently.

31 Not Out!”

Last month, Steve Rowe General Manager Human Capital gave us his perspective on 31 years at senior levels in HR. He discussed how the Human Resources function has developed over this time and the challenges and opportunities it faces going forward. Steve has worked both in Australia and the UK and across multi nationals and privately owned businesses as well as his own Consulting business. We also had a really interesting conversation across the room about where HR currently sits and its future. 

There were a number of key themes coming from the session.

• Change is everywhere and HR is and should be a key part in managing this change well
• There is lots to learn from the manufacturing sector, especially around processes
• Always put your hand up to take on new challenges
• HR professionals should be asking themselves what does success mean in their roles? What does it look like?
• When “you are in flow”, HR is the best job in the world”. When not, the opposite probably applies
• If yourself and the business are in flow, things can change very quickly
• In Japan, experienced and high profile people in a business are rotated into HR and this gives HR a very good profile in the business
• It is important to have a finance colleague with you i.e have business partners
• HR can and should be doing really good non finance reviews of the business
• Not all goals fit into a 12 month timeframe
• Don’t spend too much time on budgets, they often get in the way
• The people and cultural piece needs depth and rigour

Finally Steve talked about HR’s mission and he drew the diagram below.

In summary I took away that HR is a critical role in any business, however it is also being fundamentally challenged at present. My personal viewpoint is that it needs to attract outstanding leaders in numbers and that this will make a big difference.

Thank you to everyone who came along to this event, if you would like more information on upcoming events please head to our Events Page and join our community by liking us on Facebook, following us on Twitter and connect with us on LinkedIn to stay up to date.

  

"The Challenges And Opportunities For the Australian and Global Economy” summarised by Heidi Davidson, Senior Consultant, Moir Group

• As mining investment continues to fall, growth has been rebalancing towards housing activity, and now, the services sector

• Although the rebalancing act has been slow - as it has been hindered by further falls in commodity prices, a high AUD and mistimed fiscal tightening

• Household demand is strong and jobs growth is picking up

Australian Economy

Since the end of the mining boom in 2012, the re-balancing act is underway but it is a slow process. If you break it down by the States, WA/QLD/SA are weaker and NSW/VIC are definitely picking up.

How Is This Happening?

Interest rates are low, and the Australian dollar has continued to fall from its peak in 2011 at $1.10 to now sitting at 70c and the knock on effect of this are as follows:

• Our exports therefore become more attractive

• Tourism is rising from overseas visitors and Chinese tourism has risen by 140% with only 4% of the Chinese population currently holding passports. Plus more Australians decide to travel locally instead of overseas

• Education has seen record highs for overseas enrollments into our Universities

• A strong property market with house prices still rising across the nation. Capital cities have seen increases of 27% in the past 3 years, with Sydney’s housing market is up by 42% and Melbourne's up by 32%.