Global Tour

2011 New Zealand Employer Branding & Engagement Summit

We had a fantastic time in Auckland, New Zealand in early May for the 2011 New Zealand Employer Branding & Engagement Summit. We had 8 excellent speakers including Linda Halse GM HR AWRI who spoke on building an international talent pipeline to fill mission critical roles and Richard Long, Manager, Talent Acquisition, Deloitte NZ who presented "Up Close & Personal on the Social Web." John Charlesworth provided insights in how Air New Zealand transformed their culture suffering 30% engagement in 2003 to one of the world's highly acclaimed airlines, renowned for it's engaging culture and great customer service, it was an excellent case of what's possible using employer branding to build engagement that transforms a culture.

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TURKEY: 2011 Employer Brand Global Tour

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Some interesting stats about Turkey

• population of 73+ million
• 60% of the population under the age of 35
• approx 450,000 students graduatd from around 150 universities and other higher education institutions in 2009
• 30+ million internet users
• 43 airports
• 63 million mobile phone subscribers
• between 2002 and 2009 GDP increased 169%
• average of 6 days to start a business

Day 5 Sunday 27 March 2011

• Feeling much better today, over the worst of the man flu! Just in time for the 24hr flight home :)
• Another sunny day in Istanbul. Have been blessed with great weather this trip.
• Headed to the area where the famous mosques, the St Sophia and Blue Mosque are located.
• Jumped in a cab to come back to the hotel and taxi driver tried to tell me a road was closed and it would cost around 50 TR to drive me back to the hotel. Nice try, given it was on 20 TR to get here! So I jumped out and took another cab back!
• I think daylight savings was suppose to start today here, it says so when I google it! but just found out that it has been pushed back 1 day! Let's hope my plane tonight is on the same timezone!
• Heading out now for a boat trip down the Bosphorus which I'm really looking forward to. I walked about 2kms along it last night but much easier by boat!
• What an amazing trip down the Bosphorus, took a 1hr boat trip, beautiful sunny, blue skies, some nice real estate along the waterway and many restaurants, Something to explore next trip!
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Paris 2010 Employer Branding & Reputation Summit - Tour Blog

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Monday 15 November - Tuesday16 November 2010

• Headed out to Paris via Melbourne, Doha and Milan
• It’s been 4 months since my last oversees trip which in the meantime, I’ve spent finalising my new book and launching it back in September, I’ve enjoyed the break but really looking forward to arriving back in Europe, will be interesting to how people feel about the state of the economy, there’s been alot in the media recently that Ireland may also need a EU bailout. We’ve been fortunate back in the Asia-Pacific region to escape the worst of the GFC and recessions which have affect many European countries, the world is so connected these days and with the US economy also stagnant and unemployment 9%+ the next 1-2 years will be interesting to see how the world’s government’s and business sector responds next.
• I think I’ve just flown the world’s best airline (right next to Singapore Airlines) Qatar Airways, a very pleasant journey, great service, great staff and first class food. Plane seemed brand new.
• Stopover in Doha was nice, looks a little like Bahrain, alot of development and if they are successful with their world cup bid it will take the city to the next level. Another example of why the Middle East looks likely to become a key global hub in the future. A big issue will be their access to expat talent.
• Arrived in Paris feeling well around 7pm, felt like I’d been travelling for 2 hrs, not 26! Must be those new Qatar Airway planes. Taxi to hotel took forever in peak hour!
• Took a quick visit to the Eiffel Tower to get my bearings and then crashed for a decent night’s sleep!

2010 USA Tour Diary

USA 2010 Tour

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Reflections of the USA Tour -

Employer branding in USA v Rest of World

I find around the world people are looking for similar propositions in their employment experience. Whilst there is some variance based on their stage in the employment lifecycle, people needs can be grouped into five key areas. Employees are seeking:

1. Fair pay for fair work – there is an imbalance of this in developed v developing nations and my concern is that developed nations have built their business models reliant upon continued access to lower wages in developing nations. We are seeing wage increases in countries such as China and India which are forcing companies to re-think their labor allocations and practices or face increasing pressure on margins.
2. Recognition for performance – relationships play a key role in how performance is rewarded – it’s not always a case based on merit! My concern is that workplaces around the world are becoming much more self-centered as a result and this will make it increasingly difficult for companies to build employee loyalty to drive employer brand equity,
3. Personal development – employees want to leave in a better stage of personal and professional development than when they arrived,
4. Respect - no matter the industry type or nature of work, employees want respect from managers and fellow workers, and
5. Friendly working environment - for many people around the world they spend more time at work than with family and friends which they care most about! So if leaders can somehow create a working environment which contributes to an employee’s sense of belonging that is good for employers and good for society!

The key differences I find in the USA compared to other regions I travel around the world can be grouped into 3 key areas:

1. Connectedness – Americans have been quick to embrace technology and trends such as social media to the point where I feel they have one of the most (if not the most!) collegiate workforces in the world, they are on 24/7! The challenge will be how to balance this speed with productivity and employee and customer engagement.
2. Pace - the rate of innovation and change – I find American companies are very focused on innovation and growth to drive increasing shareholder returns, sometimes at the expense of their most valuable asset, their people! This is at odds with how value is created in companies today – it’s the intangibles such as brand, people, IP, etc which contribute most to company value and if companies can’t keep employees engaged, they’re at risk of having a workforce which is not fully optimised.
3. Competitiveness – I find America is by far the most competitive country on the planet, it’s win at all costs. The U.S has a reputation outside its borders as being focused on hard, rational performance measures with less focus on intangibles such as people. My concern is this focus may continue to drive innovation where people are replaced by robots leading to a whole range of social and health issues.

I thoroughly enjoy my visits to America and connections with my American colleagues. Their approach to business is refreshing and they always seem to find a way to overcome adversity.  American patriotism is a wonderful part of its character!

22 June 2010

• Another day at the USA office in the morning before the long trip back to Australia.
• I've bought two new books to read on the trip home: 'A Colossal Failure of Common Sense: The Inside Story of the Collapse of Lehman Brothers' and 'Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion.'
• Sad to leave the USA, I've had an amazing week here, was great to meet up with many of the people I collaborate with in the virtual world during the year. No matter how many relationships I form in the virtual world, nothing comes close to the learnings and relationships I develop during face-face connections during my global tour.

21 June 2010

• Finally a great nights sleep and over the jetlag. Just in time for the 28 hr trip back to Australia tomorrow! grrrr
• Into the Greer offices today. Great office set up, the film studios are excellent and it's great to watch it at play whilst I'm writing from here today.
• We'e also launching the findings of the Employer Brand International 'Influencers of employment choice' global research study today so looking over final copy of the press release before we push out.
• Experiencing the best coffees I've had in USA from a great little cafe in Minneapolis, talk about 'great employer brands are everywhere', this staff at this cafe seem to know everyone's name, looks like a place where people call their second home, and the food is great too!