News and Media

Feature - Becoming an Employer of Choice

June 2007

A number of Australian industries are currently experiencing the effects of a nationwide skills shortage in the hunt for new employees. With recruiting and retaining talent being directly linked to business performance, many companies are beginning to rethink traditional Human Resources (HR) practices to deliver an employment experience that can be marketed in a similar way to other products and services.

The term an Employer of Choice (EOC) is one of the current 'buzzwords' being touted in Australia by a number of companies that are hoping to attract new staff.  However, according to Chandler Macleod, one of Australia's leading HR consultancies, over 52% of job candidates reported that they are rarely or never attracted to a company by their claims of being an EOC - yet 93% of employers believe being an EOC is key to attracting candidates. 

Cutting through the noise

Like all of us, a potential job candidate is a consumer who is bombarded by approximately 1,500 advertising messages each day, so it's feasible to believe that these candidates are becoming numb to the claims made by employers.  This presents a challenge for HR and Management teams hoping to attract talented employees, while ensuring current staff are still finding their roles rewarding.  Cement Australia is one progressive employer that realised the need for a new approach to recruitment and retainment, while building upon the already positive experience of being employed by the company.

With a number of factors put into place, from a new website to enhanced communication tools and interview processes, Cement Australia quickly identified the role that technology can play in enhancing their internal HR processes. 

Merging technology with business processes

For businesses who have invested in IT technology, one of the main options in reducing manual processes has been to use a web-based portal to provide the 'chassis' for integrating HR software applications, processes and functionality.  Another option has been to purchase Human Capital Management (HCM) software, which in some cases can become a multi-million dollar project to get up and running.  But what if a business has no plans to move toward an enterprise portal or HCM system?

Cement Australia is a great example of a business that wanted to leverage its existing investment in IBM's Lotus software and build a fully functional HR portal development without moving to a new system.  By utilising existing IT investments Cement Australia avoided the 'rip-and-replace' approach, building upon current IT assets and in turn leading to a better overall return on investment.

Cement Australia partnered with Certus to create the custom-built HR RAFT (Renumeration, Automated Functions and Transactions) solution.  The system uses IBM Web Content Management to provide employee and management 'self-service' facilities, enhancing the HR function and eliminating around 20,000 pieces of HR related paper processes from the business.  As the solution is web-based, it allows HR staff to easily access the content and update information, serving up static content to employees such as HR policies and handbooks. 

As well as eliminating paper-based processes, HR RAFT's library of policies and training equipment has reduced the number of documents the company needs to print and distribute. Cement Australia has also extended access to a range of HR service providers such as recruiting companies and legal advisers to further reduce printing and distribution costs.

With SAP implemented as the company's Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, administering the company's payroll and accounting data involved a complex process.  This is common area for a lot of businesses, where an ERP is too rigid to adapt to the specific workflow and business processes that are required.  Certus have found that ERP system usage increases when the user interface (UI) is improved and becomes better related to the day-to-day requirements of the business.  In this case, HR RAFT automates the SAP functionality and presents it into a visual appealing UI that makes it more accessible to a range of users.

To provide the link between Lotus and SAP, corporate data from the SAP system is pulled into HR RAFT by IBM Lotus Enterprise Integrator, providing an instant display of SAP data and payroll transactions.  These developments have given the company a better vision of its future and the day to day operations of the various elements of the business.

Using technology to remove manual processes and automate HR functions has given the company's HR team more time to focus on their role in ensuring Cement Australia continues to be an EOC - now and in the future.

A custom approach to business improvement

Many 'out of the box' HR solutions didn't allow the level of customisation that was possible through the use of Lotus technology.  Ian Norvock, the Collaboration and Development Manager from Cement Australia commented that "having a custom-built approach allows us to virtually do anything we want and make it look any way we like.  There's no off-the-shelf product in the marketplace that comes close to offering the HR RAFT solution. 

Once office based employees are comfortable using the portal as a focal point for interaction with the company, Cement Australia will roll out 'information kiosks' at its plants and shipping facilities, further reducing the number of paper payslips and the reliance on noticeboards and other unreliable forms of staff communication.

Looking forward to the future

One of the important elements about this solution, is that it is flexible enough to be continually built upon, providing new intranet functionality to different areas of the business when required.  With the HR department now an advocate for the new system, other areas of the business have begun looking into what is possible for their area through the use of this technology.  With the framework already built, business units such as Marketing & Communications, Sales, Purchasing and Operations are looking to the portal to help automate their processes. This solution is a great example of management working with technology to enhance business performance.

IBM have recently commissioned a case study that takes a closer look at the Cement Australia story.  You can read the full case study here.  Image and Data Manager (IDM) Magazine have also taken interest in the development and have featured the HR RAFT solution in their April/May issue.  You can read the IDM article here.