Sisu HR

03/04/2024

Did you know Sisu HR specialises in proactive HR solutions? What does this even mean as a service?

Well here's an example!

We just completed another HR Health Check🩺on a growing business to pick up any red flags or gaps before those things become HR issues down the track. From 165 data points, Sisu HR were able to provide a comprehensive report with 15 concrete and practical actions the management team can implement in the coming weeks.

What's great is they also learned about some of the great things they're already doing well that their employees really value🥰.

Together with a bit of extra support and guidance, they are now well on their way to becoming a "growing business with solid future-proofed HR practices" and avoid costly and messy HR issues down the line.

If you know of any growing businesses out there who could do with a proactive HR Health Check Sisu HR is your go-to.

31/05/2023

Latest update!

We have been getting into the spirit of EOFY with some number crunching and budget preparations underway.

We have just finalised a compensation and benefits decision framework for a client. What is this…?

This client needed some direction in how their management team makes decisions going forward for determining new starter salary negotiations, existing employee pay increases, and other financial reward / incentive payment structures.

We have been able to bring about consistency, equity considerations, fairness, risk and cost controls for the client without being too cumbersome and arduous - after all, they are a small business with growth plans. Our framework allows the scalability in terms of how the framework is applied in real life contexts.

Staying proactive, as always!

10/04/2023

This week Sisu HR will be having fun facilitating an Employee Value Proposition (EVP) Workshop with a virtual client, in preparation for their ambitious expansion plans. A strong EVP for them will flow into the way they attract, engage and develop their people as they grow as a business. Even if you have 1 person or 1000 people, getting clear on a compelling EVP is one of the top ways to drive business performance.

This workshop is a first step to proactively creating a workforce with highly talented and loyal employees. Sisu HR offers this facilitated 1-2 hour workshop to small business owners and their teams, and delivers a tangible EVP Strategy and Roadmap within a week of the workshop. The next available spaces are from June. Get in touch!

Send a message to learn more

21/03/2023

We have been quiet on the socials! A few updates on Sisu HR and all of the fun being had lately:

1. Recruitment support has been constant for quite a few clients as the war on talent continues to deepen in some industries – this is interestingly mixed with economic pressures tightening budgets.

2. Though we generally service business clients and not individual employees themselves, recently have helped with a very challenging unfair dismissal lodgment to Fair Work which we truly believe will be favourable. The key thing here was procedural fairness – always the kicker! (tip for employers: the HOW sometimes trumps the WHY)

3. In other news, Sisu HR finished a significant HR audit for a global tech client in January, The client had accepted all 26 audit recommendations listed in the final audit report, and requested Sisu HR to implement them all. Finishing in September, this will establish a baseline standard of maturity for their HR function from which the client will be fully equipped to self-measure and continuously improve for years to come.

4. Lastly, a specific HR service offering is due to be available for businesses looking to be supported through mergers and acquisitions. We've done this before and have learned the lessons! If M&A activity applies to anyone you know in business - get in touch.

11/01/2023

Employee Lifecycle Moments - Tips from the "hi" moments to the "bye" moments.

REWARD and RECOGNITION TIP #3 - Thank you notes!

If we had a dollar for every time we heard an employee say "you know what, I would actually just appreciate a handwritten thank you note. they are the best" - then we would have.... a lot of money.

Today's tip is super quick and simple but can make a difference!

Step 1: Create a Thank You Note postcard, about the same size as a postcard (double-sided). Don't get one off the internet, but instead use your company logo, your company colours, add in different images on the other side of the postcard, so they're not all the same. Get creative! Then on the blank side, write "To ..." (blank space) "Thank you for..." and then "from..."

Step 2: Get copies of these printed on some really nice cardboard, cut them out.

Step 3: Put them for all to use around the office, with a pen nearby.

Step 4: See what happens!

10/01/2023

Employee Lifecycle Moments - Tips from "hi" moments to the "bye" moments.
REWARD and RECOGNITION TIP #1 - Satisfiers vs Motivators

Many believe money is a motivator.

However, some strong schools of thought on motivation theory from the past 3 decades suggests money is actually a SATISFIER instead of a motivator. As in, if someone feels their salary is favourable or "good", then this serves to simply satisfy the current effort-to-reward equation and make them stay with the company, rather than motivate future increased performance.

So if money doesn't motivate increased performance, why are financial incentives are so popular?

The argument of satisfiers vs motivators is an art and a science in itself - we could talk about it for days! Our view is holistic: the amount of money, its frequency and cadence, its strategic connection to future effort and stretch goals, and communication around it all makes a difference. As do other more entrenched motivational factors such as leadership, employee connection, contribution, inclusion, and career progression.

Businesses can spend a LOT of money in efforts to motivate their team members, but may simply only be satisfying their willingness to stay (not to perform better). These businesses who aren't factoring in a strategic reward and compensation structure are missing out.

The best bet is to have a chat to SisuHR. We love this topic!

09/01/2023

Employee Lifecycle Moments - Tips from the "hi" moments to the "bye" moments.

REWARD and RECOGNITION TIP #1 - Customise!

As diverse as your team is, so too are their preferences on how they are recognised for their efforts.

Taking the time to reward and recognise each single individual differently, and just the way THEY like it, can be seen as time consuming, inefficient, and a little bit over-engineered, right? Well, at SisuHR we tend to disagree.

Imagine taking your team to a fancy coffee shop telling them you're shouting them a coffee! But then you order them all a short black shot of espresso. Because that is coffee! And then you hope that the outcome is satisfied, motivated and grateful staff. That's just not how it works. And you've probably wasted a bunch of money on coffees only 1 person will actually drink.

So how can a customised reward and recognition effort be put into practice?
Sometimes we suggest if you already have a performance review process, why not build in an extra question to ask in your 1-on-1 reviews. Ask them, as a human, "how do you prefer to be rewarded and recognised for going above and beyond?" or "what form of recognition do you value most?"

Key tip: it may take a few repetitions or variations of this question for employees to be able to answer this. Perhaps present the question in a variety of options in advance, or ask them to have a think and come back to you the next day.

Then, once this information is clear, encourage your managers to remember this, and bring this to life. That's the job of a manager, to bring out the best performance in people using that person's strengths, satisfiers and motivators.

Just in case you haven't had enough hashtags in your life today, see below for some inspo.

07/12/2022

Employee Lifecycle Moments - Tips from the "hi" moments to the "bye" moments.

ONBOARDING TIP #3 - Change it up!

Don't give them a week of mandatory training 8 hours a day! Also don't give them small easy tasks either - even if you think it's "nice" to give them easy and simple things to ease their way into the 'hard work'. Instead, mix it up!

Consider a few weeks full of varied (and well planned) things! Some mandatory training, systems introductions, meet and greets, coffee catch-ups (even if virtually), 1-on-1's with the CEO, a long term project to start working on, get their favourites and useful hyperlinks set up on their new laptop, provide a full list of stakeholders to introduce themselves to when they have a moment, and have a laugh over some Friday beers.

Our tip here is to allocate a mix of self-service / self-directed vs guided onboarding activities in each day. Giving employees a sense of control over at least some of their day goes a long way to building a great experience.

06/12/2022

Employee Lifecycle Moments - Tips from the "hi" moments to the "bye" moments.

ONBOARDING TIP #2 - Share expectations in a 2-way street

This one seems like a no-brainer. Asking the new recruit what they expect of you, and vice versa. But you'd be surprised at how infrequently this actually happens.

As you may have recalled from Tip 1 yesterday, the "psychological contract" you are developing with the employee starts well before day 1. It also continues for the life of their employment. Setting up this invisible contract really well makes a difference to both short and long term employee retention, so it's super important.

The second point here is, never assume your employees all want the same thing from you as an employer. This may be significantly different between employees, AND it may change during the employee's time with you. So ask, and ask often.

When setting up some short term goals for the employee to achieve during their first 3 or 6 months, why not incorporate a section there that allows the employee to also set their expectations of their manager too!

Ask not what your employee can do for you, but what you can do for your employee!

04/12/2022

Employee Lifecycle Moments - Tips from the "hi" moments to the "bye" moments.

ONBOARDING TIP #1 - Start them before Day 1.

Most organisations have some sort of onboarding plans, thoughts, or general rules of thumb to follow for new starters. However many tend to start these from Day 1 of the new starter's job. The tip for today is to focus more on the pre-start activities, or pre-boarding.

Think about the week leading up to Day 1. What sorts of things can you start to communicate to the employee?
For example:
- have your new starter complete a quick personal Q&A so other existing team members can get to know them before they even start. What's their favourite coffee? What topics do they love to talk about? What's on their bucket list?
- provide the team member with directions to the office, a start time, and a contact person or buddy who they will be meeting.
- provide an overview of their first week on the job - a Plan on a Page. What will they be doing on Monday? What should they expect to be able to achieve on the following few days? This expectation setting is really important and alleviates uncertainty, which for some new starters can be their biggest emotional / stress trigger.

Remember, the psychological contract you create with the employee starts well before Day 1.

04/12/2022

If you're a business owner who employs people, then you do NOT want to miss this!

We are onto Week 2 of our Employee Lifecycle Moments series

Every week we'll be giving away 5 top tips for each critical stage of an employee's journey with a business - from when it's a "hi" moment right through to when it's a "bye" moment.

We'll give you FREE tips every week until the end of the year, curated from a panel of HR experts. We'll cover:

📌recruitment
📌onboarding
📌reward and recognition
📌diversity and inclusion
📌employee wellness
📌learning and development
📌exits

If you know of someone who wants to keep being a great employer, share our page with them. Who couldn't do with some free tips?

Stay tuned - series starts next week!

25/11/2022

Employee Lifecycle Moments - Tips from the "hi" moments to the "bye" moments.

RECRUITMENT TIP #5 - Be proactive in workplace adjustments for people with disability.

Scenario: A candidate turns up for your virtual interview on Zoom, and completely aces the interview. You've found your new hire! Then before they finish up, they advise you they are blind. They advise that they can do the job with some adjustments.

Is your workplace response ready for this scenario? Or is it reactive?

Typically, in this scenario employers have unanswered questions. Here is where workplaces become a little hesitant or stuck. This is a reactive situation in most cases, and is not usually a fluid "we got this" response.

Statistically people living with disability are more motivated and productive than the average worker. But something we hear from employers is whilst they are definitely open and welcoming to people with disability in their workplace, they aren't sure what they might need to do to support them.

People living with disability represents almost 20% of Australia's population. At Sisu HR we want employers to move beyond standard anti-discrimination and compliance towards empowering, championing, and celebrating the value people with disability can bring to workplaces - this requires some proactive measures.

Our last tip of the week for Recruitment: take proactive steps for diversity! This doesn't just include areas of disability, it includes a whole tapestry of people.

- Have a chat with your co-workers, your team, your partners and building managers. Start the accessibility and inclusion discussion.
- Become a People with Disability Australia (BWDA) member, or a Diversity Council Australia (DCA) member - they're all free!
- Build in questions around accessibility or unique personal needs in your recruitment process. Ask candidates whether there's any adjustments you may be able to make during the interview that can them to be their best selves.

https://pwd.org.au/get-involved/membership/
https://www.dca.org.au/membership/why-join