covid19 Archives - 51��Australia & New Zealand News Center

How Coles Group Is Transforming HR During The Global Pandemic

51��News — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 00:55:32 +0000

In early 2020 Coles Group, one of Australia’s most trusted retailers and iconic brands, was in the midst of completing a bold, far-reaching HR transformation when it had to undertake a huge, unforeseen hiring surge to support customers during the COVID-19 crisis.

In facing into this challenge, the Coles HR team was able to draw upon the shared Coles Group values of customer obsession, passion and pace, responsibility, health and happiness. As Tammy Ryder, General Manager, People and Culture at Coles, put it, “The wellbeing of our team and customer is always at the heart of what we do.”

Coles knows how to do things in a big way. It’s a large-scale operation, with 120,000 team members, processing more than 21 million customer transactions each week, and providing its customers with products from thousands of farmers and suppliers. The Group has more than 2,400 outlets across its portfolio of Australian supermarkets, liquor and convenience stores.

“During the COVID crisis of 2020, Coles team members moved mountains to ensure a constant supply of goods during the pandemic, ensuring we could supply essential goods to our customers in a time of uncertainty” said Ryder.

Despite the truly unprecedented times, Coles was able to recruit for jobs and mobilise team members in a quick and agile manner.

“We started to see shopping behavior at the same levels we see during Christmas peak, as people started panic buying,” said Ryder. “Our supply chain was in overdrive, implementing innovative health and safety controls at lightning speed. We realised we needed a lot more team members, right away. And almost oversight, we went from a steady flow of recruitment activity into unprecedented, large-scale COVID-19 recruitment response mode.”

Ryder’s team made an initial ask for an additional 5,000 team members across the country to help with replenishing shelves, servicing customers and additional cleaning. To make this happen, the Coles team redesigned their recruitment and onboarding processes. They called it FastTrack, which removed manual store-based process steps by centralising recruitment activity.

For example, to enable speed and safety, as well as to expedite the hiring process, Coles immediately switched to implementing video interviews. The company also connected with businesses such as airlines, that were pausing operations due to the pandemic. Being able to communicate directly with these external workforces enabled Coles to scale team members quickly. After just six weeks, they’d been able to recruit 12,000 additional team members into the business.

Coles has also brought this level of passion and innovation to making progress towards diversity and inclusion (D&I) in the workplace. Coles sees difference as a good thing. Because they know that the differences of their team member’s background, experiences and perspectives can set them apart. But also bring them together.

Their differences help them spark ideas, create connections and discover commonality. Just as they have done for over a century, they’re focused more so than ever before on making Coles somewhere everyone feels like they belong.

From the very outset, this vision has transcended the kind of box-checking trap that can affect such initiatives.

“We recognise that the value of attracting and retaining diverse teams enhances our decision making and ability to innovate,” said Ryder. “Diversity teams and an inclusive culture are critical to the success of our overall business strategy.”

To progress gender equity, Coles has set gender targets to reach 40% women in leadership roles at an organisational level, as well as to improve male and female representation in each function to 30% of each gender. Setting targets at management levels ensure the company brings valuable diversity of thought into its leadership teams. They have also delivered inclusive leadership and unconscious bias training for senior leaders as part of their diversity and inclusion strategy, known as “Better Together.”

“In regard to Indigenous employment at Coles, the focus is on providing more opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, suppliers, customers and communities to engage with our business,” said Ryder. “The aim is to increase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander team member representation to 5% of our workforce and 3% of trade and management roles by providing great careers at Coles.”

Coles also recently finished a major HR transformation with 51��SuccessFactors within 18 months. The HR team then made the bold choice to deploy all modules at once, versus taking an incremental approach. It was not a simple nor straight-forward decision, but as Ryder explained, it made sense because retail is such a fast-paced business.

“Passion and Pace are two of our core values, so after going through 18 months of design and development of what we call myhub at Coles, we made the decision to go for it and cut over altogether,” said Ryder. “A ‘big bang,’ if you will. Our HR team believed it was the right approach for the business in the current climate.”

The technology itself was suitable for rapid adoption. The user experience is akin to an iPhone. And there’s no manual. Employees can simply start using it. Coles did carry out team training for which 90% of their people opted in. And it worked. Coles team members liked the new systems, which are intuitive and mobile enabled.

As with any big tech launch, there were some expected bumps and bugs at first. However. They resolved all the issues with a lot of support and collaboration between the Coles IT and HR teams, enabling them to exit hyper care within six weeks of launch.

The company had over 100,000 team members log in during the first week, updating details, engaging with the new interface, and checking pay slips. The new system gives Coles a great foundation to leverage now as it customises further builds to the system for its needs.

Moving to HR cloud solutions was not the only digital transformation Coles Group experienced in this short time frame. It was just one of several major projects that aimed to change the way the whole company uses digital technology to run the business. A big part of this is an overall move to becoming a “51��House.”

To this end, Coles has implemented Ariba for procurement, 51��S/4HANA for Finance and Fieldglass for contingent workers. By aligning its 51��systems, the company can integrate seamlessly to deliver a great user experience and drive positive, progressive business outcomes.

Now that Coles has the 51��SuccessFactors system deployed, their P&C Digital Roadmap comprises a five-year vision that truly reimagines the role of P&C at Coles and how the department can elevate its partnership with the business to enable its corporate strategy.

This Roadmap is aligned to the Coles “Winning Together” people strategy. They have projects in flight that are focused on recruitment at the store level. The goals are to evolve the candidate experience, reduce the time to hire, automate and digitalise the experience.

The plan includes multichannel communications, along with job matching based on AI. For high volume processes, the HR team is looking at robotic process automation (RPA) and automation of high volume/ low value core HR transactions. Ryder’s group envisions using AI for query management and line manager support. They have projects focused on knowledge and content management, too. Analytics is a big play for HR at Coles. The goal is to use people insights from its 120,000 team member workforce to improve its services and performance to support the business.

Looking ahead, Coles HR is building on an excellent foundation that enables the department to chart its own course and really leverage technology. “The future is what we make it and I’m excited by what we’re working towards,” said Ryder.

This article also featured on

The post How Coles Group Is Transforming HR During The Global Pandemic appeared first on 51��Australia & New Zealand News Center.

Collaboration Breeds New Innovation with DXC, SAP, and Microsoft

Murali Shanmugham — Thu, 06 May 2021 00:48:55 +0000

Towards the end of last year, to launch their inaugural ANZ hackathon, aimed at encouraging greater collaboration and innovation between the two brands, their diverse solution suites, and their developer communities.

This event was a way to build on an existing partnership, product innovation and to tackle shared challenges at a time when many were feeling isolated, uncertain, and our mutual customers and end users were ever-more dependent on technology.

The winner of the first hackathon in 2020 was Team Gone Viral from , which comprised of Analytics Practice Lead, Martin Green, and Principal Consultants, Thomas Yuan, and Galvin Gunawan. The team developed BusIntelligence – an app providing real-time insights and solutions for bus passengers and operators alike.

“We wanted to focus on something relevant to the COVID pandemic we were in,” Martin explained. “Looking at a technology solution that would benefit communities on different levels, particularly within the transport industry. We recognised that COVID had shifted not only usage patterns through remote working, but capacity changes due to social distancing.

“The way we saw the application supporting that was during COVID and as life normalises, this will give bus operators the means to respond quickly, aligning the bus network and routes, optimising for commuters as a key driver. The app essentially supports the analysis of real time and historical data around bus routes – such as common causes of delays or average travel speed of an area – a lot of information to support the optimisation of routes and timetables.”

According to Thomas, the key was to address traditional issues in the hopes of setting reference architecture for future developments. “It’s the app – but it doesn’t stop as a single app. In the future, people can also continue with their own innovations to extend this application into endless possibilities.”

Thomas noted that one common challenge within this area is disparate datasets, noting that the process for converting large multi-source systems and multi-form datasets is very complicated. This issue is compounded by public-facing data and internal systems – such as HR, rostering, and financial data – struggling to match or integrate seamlessly.

“We wanted to showcase how to balance long-term trend analysis and a dashboard, Thomas said. “We also wanted to address something we call, non-intrusive real-time analyses. Going to the industry and talking to our clients about real-time analysis, the first question we get from operational-system architects is, ‘will it impact my system performance?’ Our response to that, in this case, is we source our data from a public API, which means the data ingest site is safe, optimised, and won’t affect operational performance.”

Thomas expressed the value in having access to two open-data sets from Transport NSW and TransLink Queensland. Since both follow the universal standard of GTFS, this helped ensure consistency and accuracy while setting a template for architecting potential extensions into other public and private sector applications.

“We architected our solution to five high-level layers,” explained Galvin. “First, the source layer, then the ingestion, storage, data processing in the data warehouse layer, and finally the presentation layer. In the ingestion layer, we utilised Azure Functions, which is a python friendly tool for retrieving GFTS files from Transport NSW. And then we used that to ingest it into Azure Data Lake gen 2 surface.

“Data is then picked up Azure Stream Analytics for the real time dashboard, and we use Azure Data Factory to aggregate many of the file storage in Azure Data Lake. We then utilise 51��Data Warehouse within the data processing layer, as the high-performance platform to harmonise, further transform, and aggregate the data into a meaningful format for analytic purposes.”

In supporting the various development teams preparing , 51��and Microsoft experts provided training sessions to address questions and offer guidance. “Those mentor-training half-hour sessions have become collectibles for me. Whenever I need information about certain products, I just watch back those videos. The mentors were very knowledgeable and all our understood questions, coming up with clear and creative solutions – often able to predict our next move.”

Everyone at Team Gone Viral were excited about future applications for BusIntelligence and hope to continue showcasing its possibilities to wider audiences, such as local councils, town planners, and other public transport operators. They noted how this hackathon has demonstrated the value of combining different datasets, solutions, and development skills to create flexible and scalable solution that address common challenges we all face.

Furthermore, the ability to connect and collaborate with different experts from 51��and Microsoft isn’t just breaking down traditional silos but furthering the possibility to innovate and provide more hybrid solutions to market. To learn more about the next 51��and Microsoft hackathon in May 2021,

The post Collaboration Breeds New Innovation with DXC, SAP, and Microsoft appeared first on 51��Australia & New Zealand News Center.

How Industries Are Inspired To Innovate

Eamon Fenwick — Thu, 22 Apr 2021 23:14:31 +0000

When we think of innovation, most often we start to envisage brand new technologies and products that have been developed from first principles – most recently, exciting new bio-technologies developed to provide the raft of vaccines being used to fight the ongoing spread of Covid-19.

But much of innovation stems from finding exciting new applications of existing, and in some cases ancient, concepts to provide new sources of value.

Take a product that (until 2020 and the decline in business travel) many of us used on a regular basis – the roller suitcase. We’ve all had to transport these up and downstairs or from the overhead bin, wondering how anyone managed to carry suitcases without wheels any reasonable distance – but that must have been a long time ago, right?

In fact, the “rollaboard” travel bag was only invented in 1987, by a pilot who saw the opportunity to improve luggage for airline staff & frequent flyers. The oldest “technology” – wheels, being added to a suitcase seems obvious now, but it was only a few decades ago that it was applied by someone who saw the design issue and business opportunity in adding these to luggage.

In a more recent example, technologies such as GPS location, first developed for military use, have been fused with power management technologies to now power mapping and exercise tracking applications for everyday consumers.

If we look at even older “technology” being applied to solve new design challenges, the topic of biomimicry emerges – the field of leveraging solutions that have evolved in the natural world and applying these to new design challenges. A famous example is modeling bullet train noses on the shape of bird beaks, reducing noise and potential damage at high speeds by borrowing aerodynamic designs which evolved over millions of years.

In the digital transformation space, the application of concepts from one industry to another is a great source of innovation.

In the case of SAP, our work with the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies in ensuring vaccine production is tracked throughout the cold chain is being considered for how grocery chains may track and communicate the source of different produce types to customers.

Innovations in the eXtended Reality space are leveraging smartphone technology to assist in industrial training processes, while our supply chain and business network solutions are being leveraged to help with bridging online product searches and bricks and mortar pickup locations.

Our Industry4.Now strategy supports the development of intelligent processes & products, initially for the discrete and process industries with respect to supply chains and manufacturing operations. Many of these concepts are also highly relevant to industries such as mining and power utilities, with 51��taking learnings and reapplying these to work with our customers to solve new business issues.

By having deep business process expertise across all major industries, 51��has developed solutions for specific business and technical challenges that can be applied in different contexts for our customers.

Through leveraging offerings such as the , companies can deploy these different solutions, tailored to their processes, incredibly quickly yet in a secure and compliant manner.

Our innovation teams are available and ready to work with your business to explore these exciting new applications, and how different technologies can be used to address different business issues.

The post How Industries Are Inspired To Innovate appeared first on 51��Australia & New Zealand News Center.

Smoother Sailing – How to Build Resilience and Teamwork

Rushenka Perera — Wed, 16 Sep 2020 04:23:47 +0000

For our , I spoke with New Zealander sailors Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, who’ve been sailing together for the past 12 years and have both been awarded New Zealand Orders of Merit, Olympic gold medals, and just prior to COVID-19 lockdowns, the in February.

“That was probably a great indicator of how our campaign was going in the 49er,” Peter explained. “We were really looking forward to the final build up through to Tokyo and we literally would have been finishing the final race in the Olympics yesterday or a few days ago with the closing ceremony of the Games coming up tomorrow. It’s amazing to look back and see how much COVID has changed things – it has thrown around the sporting calendar a lot.

“That’s something that sailing has taught us – you’ve just got to deal with the cards that are on the table play the best hand that you can. It’s a similar thing in sailing and dealing with what you get in the winds, since the winds are a pretty fickle thing, so you’ve just got to play what you see and try to make the best out of it.”

https://player.whooshkaa.com/episode?id=733165

According to Peter, the pair are currently working towards America’s Cup in March next year. “We’ve also got an ocean charity that we’ve founded about ten months ago now, which we’ve enjoyed putting a little more time into than we perhaps could have,” he added.

“We’re also in the background planning as to how we think the next year is going to unfold and trying to account for a few scenarios – when borders are going to open up, if there is a second wave of COVID, etc. Right now, we’re really working hard for team New Zealand in America’s Cup commitments, but it’s really good to have those balancing items in your life that give a bit of diversity to what you’re doing.”

Blair noted that he and Peter have been using for with their day-to-day debriefs. “The boats are tracked so you can see the tracks, the speed, and see how different situations play out in the racetrack, because you might not catch all of that while you’re head down in your own boat,” Blair said.

“That really helps from day to day and we use it to change or adapt our strategy for the remainder of the competition. Generally, these sailing competitions like the world championships go for five days, so you really have to be on from the first day to the last.”

“It’s a great tool and we’ve enjoyed it through the , but now, when you can’t get to high-level competition, we’ve had some time to look back on some historic races and learn that way too. It’s an absolutely amazing tool and we’re lucky to have access to it.”

Peter added that he and Blair have seen trials for an 51��sailing app that is in development and shows great promise for the sport. “I think it could change the way sailing is, from a club level right through to an Olympic level,” Peter noted. “Just making it easier for more mainstream sailing to really track and learn and make it easier. We’re really excited to see that unfold.”

According to Blair, COVID-19 has provided a great chance to unwind, reflect, and plan. “We have had an incredibly busy time over probably the last ten years – hardly stopped – so this was the first real chance to do that, so we’re probably in a little bit of a different situation than other people.

“People’s values, what they wanted, and the direction they’re headed probably became a lot clearer during lockdown period. Also, going into it, everyone was pretty frightened by the unknown, but for us in New Zealand, but to get through that and be out the other side, hopefully, is something that gives you a lot of confidence going forward.”

Peter affirms that it has been a challenging time for everyone globally, but it has provided opportunities to support each other. “It shows you that everyone in New Zealand has managed to take a step back, really evaluate what’s important, and put their best foot forward. That’s something that a lot of Kiwis who normally would have been overseas during this period are starting to love being at home a little bit more. There are a lot of people down in the South Island enjoying the snow and around the country doing things with domestic tourism.

“Obviously, we can’t travel to where you are but from where we are but it’s great to see Kiwis supporting Kiwi business and helping other people that are struggling during this time. I think it’s definitely a time to look after your friends and family, and make sure that people who are struggling get helped out – definitely acknowledging that it’s a tough time and being able to support the people around you that need it is a pretty key thing to do.”

Blair expressed the importance of having clear goals and directions in terms of what you want to achieve and get through challenging periods. “I think you need to have something like that where you’re in business or whatever you want to achieve, you need to know where you’re heading. Then you’ve got to have some good values in your team and who you are as people.

“From there, you’re working towards your goals, you’re trying to learn and improve as a person in everything you do. You’re trying to find more efficient ways to tackle the problem. Through that, you’ve got to push yourself and go outside your comfort zone and be prepared to fail a little bit. As long as you’re learning and improving the whole time, then you get there – that’s how we’ve approached things.”

To hear more from my conversation with these two sailing heros, .

If you’re a sailing fan and you’d like to see more of the specific analytics tool in action you can view the 49ers race .

This article originally published on

The post Smoother Sailing – How to Build Resilience and Teamwork appeared first on 51��Australia & New Zealand News Center.

Turning Isolation into Innovation

51��News — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 05:18:47 +0000

Physically distanced from their staff and customers, businesses have found new ways to connect and create during the COVID-19 crisis.

In normal times, innovation is about doing things differently to achieve a better outcome but in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, innovation has more often been about survival. “Most businesses – including ours – had to innovate just to carry on,” says Des Fisher, innovation principal at 51��Australia & New Zealand.

The most profound change for the enterprise software company was an immediate pivot to all-digital communications with its clients. Ideation is the bedrock of innovation and most of its key tools, such as sticky notes, whiteboards, meetings and workshops, vanished overnight. “No face-to-face – that struck fear into my heart,” says Fisher.

“Chemistry is so useful when you’re innovating; if you’re not engaging properly with people it’s unlikely to amount to much.”

Fisher says that some 51��clients were initially slower to embrace ideation with digital tools because they were in pure survival mode. “We had to rescue the concept of digital ideation and apply humanity to the technology,” he says. “Engagement is still vital, we just deliver it in a different way.”

Companies also needed to find ways to support their staff who were working from home. In a worldwide COVID-19 initiative, 51��made its freely available, allowing businesses to do fast and frequent “pulse” surveys of their employees and customers. Australia Post, for example, coping with weeks of Christmas Eve-level parcel volumes, did regular employee pulse surveys to gauge morale and fatigue.

on how its workforce was feeling and how the management team could help. “Organisations are communicating a lot more frequently with their staff and customers, which improves engagement and trust,” says Fisher.

“A data-driven means of understanding how people feel is crucial.” A third major innovation has been using data and digital capabilities to monitor critical infrastructure in hospitals, such as air-conditioner operating pressures and filtration units that keep staff and patients safe. “Most organisations collect a vast variety and volume of data.

Listening to what that data has to tell us can help to improve safety and operate assets more reliably and sustainably,” says Fisher. “This is the next wave – to make better decisions using the wealth of data available to us and reinvent the way that businesses run.”

The post Turning Isolation into Innovation appeared first on 51��Australia & New Zealand News Center.

People and Processes Remain Critical to Business Recovery

Marcus Lim — Tue, 25 Aug 2020 01:35:03 +0000

The world continues to respond to the rate of new coronavirus infections and work towards defining what a COVID-normal world would look like; Australian and New Zealand enterprises face new challenges and uncertainty as with the rest of the world.

As part of SAP’s commitment to helping business become more resilient and agile in today’s challenging environment, the recent Forum provided free industry-specific webinars that explored how governments, business and the community can work together to drive a faster economic recovery.

The Forum was a follow-up to the inaugural Adaptive Strategies event in May, where industry advisors and executives shared their perspectives on the strategies that Australian and New Zealand organisations were taking in response to some of the challenges we have faced this year – from the bushfires to the global pandemic. Regardless of industry, common themes that emerged were; digital preparedness, the importance of collaboration, business continuity, keeping customers and employees safe, safeguarding supply chains, mitigating risks, and building resilience for future events. Members of our team in the Digital Transformation Office at 51��Australia & New Zealand participated in these sessions and here are some highlights.

Adaptive Strategies in a Changed World ACCELERATED

Small and medium enterprise (SME) will play a pivotal role in getting Australia back to work, which according to the 2019 Small Business Ombudsman Report accounts for 35% of our national GDP and 44% of Australia’s workforce. The SME sector, much like larger enterprises, has been hit by three primary challenges – cashflow management, employee engagement/availability, and supply chain disruption.

To further understand how innovation and increasing productivity can foster growth in this sector, Hannah Baudert, Federal Government Director at 51��spoke with the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO), Kate Carnell in the dedicated

For the , Anton Kroger, Director of Energy and Natural Resources at 51��hosted a discussion with Angela Williamson, Partner at Integral Supply Networks Advisory, Sanjiv Manchanda, CEO for Atlas Iron, and Robert McCarthy, GM at Dyflex Solutions.

A key takeaway from this session was the importance of engaging with remote workforces and contractors while managing supply chains during this time of uncertainty. With ever-changing legislation and continued fears around the safety and supply of resources – both human and material, mining operators should utilise technology that helps keep its various stakeholders connected and compliant.

As highlighted in the discussion, it’s not just about reducing costs and maintaining business continuity but ensuring the productivity and wellbeing of various staff members, processes, and equipment throughout the product lifecycle. Miners should use this opportunity to take stock prior to digital transformation, understand business capacities and systems to ensure they’re aligned with overarching strategic goals.

Evan Mantis, General Manager for Consumer and Service Industries at 51��introduced the with Steven Moraitakis, Transformation Lead for Consumer Goods and Retail at SAP, and Jackie Pearson, Executive GM for Business Transformation at Sigma Healthcare.

Ms Pearson which they kick-started due to the legacy ‘technology debt’ created across the organisation. With four separate ERP systems and a host of different applications that were highly customised, disparate, and not providing the necessary insights, Sigma Healthcare needed to optimise its technology and processes to operate more intelligently.

Moving ahead with their digital transformation program not only mitigated risk but broke down structural silos and unified all parts of the organisation, allowing staff to work more efficiently while creating value in multiple business areas. Currently in the process of evolving its ERP ecosystem to integrate all data touchpoints into a single platform with 51��S/4HANA, Sigma Healthcare was able to withstand the COVID-19 disruption by relying on agile technology and its best in class distribution centres. Ms Pearson is fiercely powering through implementation remotely, emphasising the organisation’s ability to quickly adapt to new circumstances.

For the , Jonathan Fogarty, Utilities Lead Architect for 51��hosted a panel discussion with Danica Lawrence, IS Lead Chief Architect for Powerco NZ, Rob Scott, Director and Principal of HR Strategy and Innovation at Deloitte, Aaron Green, Senior VP and Head of 51��SuccessFactors APAC, and Gavin Mooney, Utilities Lead Architect for 51��Australia.

With ongoing challenges and uncertainties, the panel discussed the importance of connecting and collaborating with staff while maintaining company culture. As businesses focus on productivity and safety, the key is facilitating remote work with operational and intelligent technologies – helping staff to work seamlessly and minimising manual, in-field work. For example, Internet of Things (IoT) and machine learning capabilities are facilitating predictive maintenance, optimising asset use and longevity while increasing the efficiency of maintenance crews. By assisting fieldworkers through augmented reality, and reducing the amount of fieldwork required using touchless substations and smart metering, utilities are improving their processes and keeping everyone safe during the pandemic.

In the , Peter Jose, General Manager for Financial Services at 51��introduced a discussion between Darryl Fox, Industry Account Director at 51��and David Earls, Executive GM of Enterprise Services and Technology at IAG. They discussed how IAG are utilising digital technology to empower staff, stay connected to their customers and maintain service continuity. Prior to the lockdown, IAG already had 30% of staff working predominantly from home which helped set a solid foundation in terms of technologies and practices for ensuring productivity.

Evan Mantis opened the with Asha Bisla, GM of Business Applications at Broadspectrum, Shenaz Bilkis, Global Industry Director for Construction and Real Estate at SAP, and Mike Denning, Business Architect for Service & Engineering Industries at SAP.

Asha shared insights into how Broadspectrum are working closely with strategic partners to fast track critical processes. Leveraging technology allowed the business to facilitate remote working at scale, manage the scheduling and safety of projects and people, while using communications and analytics software to forecast and plan for ever-changing circumstances.

Uday Bonu, Regional Industry Lead for Public Sector at 51��, VP of Digital Government Transformation at 51��to explore the impact of COVID-19 on public services and the strategies that can help governments work more efficiently to deal with the increasing demand for social services in the face of declining revenues. By implementing and accelerating digital initiatives, governments and private businesses can help set the industry norms and motivate change for the better in terms of processes and systems.

Taking insights from each of these industry sessions, it is clear that organisations of all sizes, in all industries, are squarely focussed on safeguarding their employees and customers, while maintaining business continuity. Technology and digitisation is playing a vital role in supporting and facilitating rapid change. In polling attendees, 51��found that businesses across industry sectors are reprioritising and/or accelerating digitalisation projects in response to the pandemic – using the global shift to focus more on future-proofing operations.

Access the from the 51��2020 Adaptive Strategies in a Changed World ACCELERATED Forum to gain further insights on specific industry challenges and how 51��solutions are helping organisation to become more adaptive and resilient in this rapidly changing environment.

This blog originally published on .

The post People and Processes Remain Critical to Business Recovery appeared first on 51��Australia & New Zealand News Center.

The Changed Nature of Work Environments and Practices

Rushenka Perera — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 01:40:29 +0000

As media and organisations speak of a ‘new normal’ in workspaces, I spoke with Brad Krauskopf, CEO and Founder of Hub Australia, and Gina McNamara, CFO of 51��ANZ in the of the Best Run Podcast.

We explored how COVID-19 has changed the way we work and how the work environment has shifted more towards people’s health, safety, and wellbeing.

Gina explained how 51��has been offering flexible working options to staff prior to the virus outbreak, making it easy to transition to 100 per cent virtual seamlessly. However, COVID-19 tested our business continuity and the way we support staff remotely.

“We came out with a lot of initiatives such as , ensuring we have the tools in place for our employees and our customers, looking after their mental health. We’re also checking in with them regularly through our own technology – surveys – and then rolling that out to our customers as well so they could have access to that technology at no cost.”

Since provides flexible workspaces, Brad has noted how managing work environments has fundamentally changed, particularly in terms of cleaning, visibility, and technology.

“We always used to do our cleaning after hours so we did not bother people. Now we’re doing it during the day because people actually want to see it happening.”

“Also, staff training. We’ve also got staff that need to feel healthy and safe coming into work. A huge amount of investment has been around our team. We need to give them very good, clear communication and tools to help all of our customers, which ultimately have their own staff that they’re responsible for.

“We’ve had to invest a lot in the communication for them to use. One of the things that we’re putting in place at the moment are people counters so people can be confident about the density on the floor and will display the number publicly, so there’s real transparency and it gives people confidence right from the get go. We’ll also be displaying air quality. There’s also sanitiser and disinfectant wipes around the workspaces.”

Managing return to work is challenging as people adapt and teams consider their safety. At SAP, Gina says they have been working in split teams to help ensure continuity while mitigating risk for staff and customers.

“We’ve also given 100 per cent flexibility,” Gina said. “Since Victoria is back on lockdown and children are home, back to remote learning, we’re ensuring we support the managers and teams with total flexibility, encouraging them if they need to take more time off or work more flexibility.

“We’ve also looked at what technology we can use to help our teams as they return to the office with visitors, helping them feel safe. 51��has a COVID app.”

“We’ve also used our Qualtrics technology to do our contact tracing in the offices, so that if a situation should arise, we can easily respond and meet all the regulations.”

Gina also expressed the importance of managing virtual fatigue. “We’ve looked at our remote working survey results; while they’re really good and people are as engaged as ever, they’re really telling a strong message around how they’re feeling about virtual fatigue. So we’re ensuring we put in place some initiatives around staycations and different programs they can do should they want to take some time out and not feel like they should be working. Looking at meeting-free days and meeting-free commute times to really help our employees and support them.”

Looking ahead, Brad believes the future of workspaces will be distributed and better suited to people’s needs. “One of the great things to come out as well is there’ll be a much greater focus on workspaces that people love rather than creating workspaces that tick a box on a balance sheet or come in at a certain amount of dollars per square metre. Organisations will need to provide a distributed range of options for their teams and for attracting and retaining the best talent.”

According to Brad, another emerging trend in flexible workspaces is suburban work hubs. “Not all tasks can be done from home, but also they shouldn’t require an hour commute to get into the city. Having work hubs closer to home, ticking security and technology boxes, but not needing to be in the city, we see those emerging. Workspace becomes a choice of options managed in a distributed fashion – how and when you want.”

Hub Australia is a member of the , which recently published an and considerations for business returning to office spaces. Brad also noted that flexibility will remain critical as employees have demonstrated the capacity to work remotely and expect new business environments that provide services that facilitate collaboration in a safe manner.

At SAP, Gina outlined that they are moving to a new office space in North Sydney, which has a future proof design and provides an enticing space for collaboration. As Gina explained, the office’s COVID-19 safety measure are an extension of the existing office’s practices with signage and resources to ensure everyone’s safety and wellbeing. Whether in the office or digitally, 51��is focused on supporting staff to help us maintain or improve on our recent award as 3rd Best Place to Work in Australia.

To hear more about the new nature of workspaces and returning safely, hear the

This blog originally published on .

The post The Changed Nature of Work Environments and Practices appeared first on 51��Australia & New Zealand News Center.

Helping Australians Return to Work Safely and Intelligently

Rushenka Perera — Wed, 22 Jul 2020 04:09:33 +0000

While Australia faces challenges of a second wave and discusses the safe return to work, explored responsive recovery in the public sector.

I spoke with , Public Sector SME at SAP, and , Executive General Manager of Public Services for 51��ANZ, to look at how governments can be more responsive in helping people and businesses recover from COVID-19.

Chris noted the rapid coordination of industry responses throughout the start of this year. “A few of my observations revolve around the speed with which we’ve been able to do things, whether it be businesses or, more importantly, governments,” he said. “A good example is the bushfire recovery agencies breaking down silos and forming a national body to look and manage the bushfire recovery. In relation to that would be the national cabinet – really cutting across those borders and providing a unified and confident front to COVID-19.”

Ryan offered his personal experiences during 2019-2020 bushfire season, which threated the safety of his home and drove his family to seek safety after internet and power were cut. Thankfully, the fire front passed and left his home untouched, but the experience has highlighted the value of real-time data.

“A key area of focus for me is data-driven government, but that experience drove home for me the importance of real-time information to make life-critical decisions,” he explained. “And again, during the COVID-19 crisis, we’re relying on analytics to trace the spread of coronavirus in real time to inform these types of critical policy decisions. We really just need to look for opportunities to embed analytics throughout our business processes and operational systems – make decisions in the moment when it matters most.

“People in crisis really expect all levels of government to work together to provide the leadership and support pretty desperately needed at during these circumstances. I think it’s that realisation that resulted in the creation of the national cabinet, which has really introduced a new level of collaboration in our federal and state governments.”

As our nation faces recession-level unemployment numbers, helping Australians get back to work in response to the Prime Minister’s request for new policy ideas. Chris explained the six themes and recommendations outlined in the paper.

Digitalising small and medium businesses, which employ almost half of Australia’s population and are critical to our national economic and social recovery.
Building cross collaboration throughout public service and providing the data and technology necessary for creating a most holistic understanding of business lifecycles.
Improving efficiency across all business operations within government and creating a more digitally skilled and connected public service.
Focusing on investment going into infrastructure projects, particularly at state level, and applying digital engineering.
Utilising smart borders, which was important for keeping skilled people moving across borders, and now paramount in keeping people from moving across state borders during this pandemic.
Using intelligent technologies and data analytics to drive responses to unemployment.

Chris expanded on the last point, “We need to utilise technology better, bring big subsets of data together that government already owns, but applying and combining that with some new insights on sentiments of bush fire victims – and now Jobseekers – to help create jobs, stimulate the right employment opportunities in the right places and times.

“First, we need to improve data access. Second is data quality, ensuring high quality and consistency. Last is fighting through data fog since the sheer amount of data makes it difficult. Designing and deploying ongoing data collection activity for things like Jobseeker and the businesses engaged in the Jobseeker program will assist Australians getting back to work.”

Ryan highlighted the value of combining operational and experience data, particularly as governments manage the social and economic recovery of different industries and regions. 51��has also prepared a responsive government playbook () that is full of scenarios that agencies can use to be more proactive in understanding what’s happening citizens and why.

“Our research tells us that citizen transaction and process transparency were the leading indicators of trust in government,” Ryan said. “Based on that, we set about creating a responsive government playbook that could be used by agencies, firstly for the drivers into customer satisfaction, and then to formulate personalised responses based on what they’ve learned.”

My guests agreed that governments need to work more collaboratively, across departments and with its citizens to be more responsive and communicative during this crisis, particularly as we face the challenges of unemployment, citizen safety, and industry recovery.

To learn more listen to the complete episode of the Best Run Podcast .

The post Helping Australians Return to Work Safely and Intelligently appeared first on 51��Australia & New Zealand News Center.

Retail’s Renaissance – Put Customer Experience First in a Post COVID-19 World

Rushenka Perera — Wed, 10 Jun 2020 01:38:11 +0000

The impact of COVID-19 has been felt across industries but in our most , I during this global crisis.

I spoke with Sally Illingworth, a communications and marketing strategist with previous experience in food retail franchises; Luke Stow, a technology and innovation strategist with a passion for customer experience; and Evan Mantis, Executive General Manager for Consumer and Service Industries at 51��ANZ.

Luke noted how it’s been a challenging time for everyone and how change management has been critical for retail executives during COVID-19. “It has really changed the dynamic around customers in their relationships and experiences are changing based upon a world where communication for work and play are minute-by-minute on any device or application. That experience and the way they shop and engage with retailers is an interesting prospect to explore moving forward.”

Sally noted the importance of digital readiness in providing improved experiences to customers and employees, highlighting the importance of resilient and robust supply chains.

“Many retailers that struggled through COVID-19 were due to a lack of digital preparedness.”

A critical questions Luke put forward was about the importance of customer loyalty programs after this global pandemic. “Retailers should focus on services that can provide customers – regardless of price point – a more seamless customer experience,” he explained.

“It’s about structuring information systems and little data to get the right info to the right people at the right time to tailor experiences and utilise meaningful insights for the customer or employee journey. Retailers need to build around these journeys rather than a simple supply chain or process.”

Sally agreed about the importance of little data for tailoring customer and employee experiences.

“Many businesses don’t understand the volume of data they create or have access to, which can make it seem overwhelming. Retailers should be more proactive and targeted with its data to remove an overwhelming feeling and provide a more specified focus.

Data is an asset, manage it correctly to realise benefit for suppliers, retailers, and employees.

Evan noted how these elements are important for a retailers’ ability to pivot quickly. “We saw two major retailers provide essential boxes, offering a service to society’s most vulnerable. They’ve also provided temporary employment arrangements for most affected industries such as airlines. That ability to simply and rapidly onboard 20-30,000 people is vital considering major retailers have seen four Christmas peaks within last few months.

“Robust HR solutions like offers retailers insights on staff leave balances, reducing liabilities for compulsory leave rather than layoffs, which really helps morale during this time. But even simple initiatives like Docusign, lets staff sign for things like JobKeeper while keeping them safe and engaged with the business.”

Luke expressed an excitement about the retail sector’s opportunities moving forward, tailoring supply chains towards experiences rather than just moving goods. “It’s about being included as part of the value chain in delivery and experience to customers, reshaping retail’s supply chain, distribution, and delivery to customers,” Luke explained.

“However, retailers need more little data to offer its supply chain resources and tailor experience requirements for customers at multiple touchpoints – these are the considerations to get excited about.”

Evan noted the increased focus on an ethical supply chain, particularly considering the Modern Slavery Act 2018 and the wider value of product sustainability, which has become a consumer focus as well. “It’s about the importance of de-risking supply chains,” he said. “We’ve seen this in the fashion industry as delays of supply from China impacted on local wholesalers and consequently on retailers and customers.

“Retailers have also come to understand the economic realities to purchases and will need to be more creative around business models, such as sharing costs through common suppliers, warehousing, or systems. COVID-19 has shown the risks of reliance on import, highlighting the need for more local manufacturing, which can also help ensure more ethical and sustainable supply chains.”

Luke look at the value of omnichannel delivery to customers, ensuring backend systems connect to customer-facing digital touchpoints to help leverage capabilities and provide a more seamless customer experience anywhere, anytime, and through any application that enriches communication and engagement between the brand and its customers.

Sally said retailers will experience ongoing challenges due to the impact of COVID-19 on traditional business models. “There will be a challenge in pricing for customers on omnichannel; retailers need to be aware of the operating costs of offline versus online to remain competitive. We’ve got more informed customers, so the importance of communication and transparency in terms of unit economics and pricing strategy needs to embraced by retailers to grow out an omnichannel experience.”

Looking at inspiring brands that have adapted well, Evan highlighted Bunnings. “Their e-commerce strategy over 12 months has been very good as they’ve especially ramped up over past few months to provide a consistent experience. That combined with Woolworths’ essential boxes is why those two retailers emerged out of COVID-19 as trusted brands.

“Moving forward, it’s about providing a seamless experience and improved digitalisation of customer services. By offering omnichannel, more choice, and an enhanced digital experience, retailers can deliver on promises and grow.”

Sally also noted the importance of digital readiness and embracing change at a leadership level. “Retailers need a balanced approach to management to adapt and grow from this. They must understand the relationship between costs, investments, employee and customer experience.

“Traditional retail models have changed; we can’t make ad-hoc decisions based on balance sheets. There needs to be longer term decision making, using a learn as you go approach with agility to test and change.”

To understand more about how the retail sector has changed following COVID-19. To learn how retail is adapting to this new environment with greater practices and technologies than ever before, check out SAP’s global webinar, Adaptive Strategies in a Changed World. to see highlights from the retail and consumer products webinar.

To listen to this latest podcast you can visit , and

The post Retail’s Renaissance – Put Customer Experience First in a Post COVID-19 World appeared first on 51��Australia & New Zealand News Center.

Helping People Respond to Disruption and Thrive through Change

Gina McNamara — Tue, 09 Jun 2020 03:23:15 +0000

The world is undergoing unparalleled change; we’ve seen businesses forced into shutdown, limited capacity, or digital transformation – and all within a brief period. Discussions around adaptation often get reduced to the technological elements, the incredible platforms and resources we have readily available to facilitate working from home and staying connected.

But through all these adjustments and challenges, it is people that are leading change, ensuring people’s safety, and developing new ways of working during times of uncertainty.

People’s work-life balances and mental wellbeing have always been critical aspects of human development, but now we are realising its real value in maintaining business continuity and ensuring people adapt to change. How does a person maintain a healthy work-life balance when work and personal lives share the same environment?

COVID-19 has highlighted a fundamentally human need to during this challenging period. We’ve seen 51��customers work closely with staff by being available, responsive, transparent, and communicative. Managers are understanding the less technical needs of employees that still greatly influence their experiences and performance.

At SAP, the of our people is always one of my top priorities and something our leadership works on daily, but during this time of uncertainty, we are dedicated to it now more than ever. Our people are at the frontline of implementing change and ensuring our business can operate safely and seamlessly regardless of circumstance.

Working from home can be challenging, particularly for those with young children, however our finance team have benefited from 51��ANZ’s investment into the to ensure everyone was well set up to work remotely. We wanted to make everyone feel as comfortable and well supported as possible throughout this journey, especially as our team helps the business navigate through this turbulent economy and its varying impact on our customers and partners.

Work-life balance is a struggle at the best of times, but now it’s so important employees find time to pause and recharge.

We want to ensure our team is doing well and provide an open forum for everyone to express concerns, show vulnerability, and collaborate in a way the empowers people. Creating a spirit of openness can be challenging when working remotely, but its easily facilitated through regular communication and by demonstrating a shared sense of empathy – after all, these extraordinary circumstances have touched all our lives.

To keep communication open, honesty, and consistent, I’ve been running 15-minute check-ins throughout the week for the finance team to share updates, manage workloads, and have a bit of a laugh together. We’ve learnt more about some of our teammates in these few months than we have in the past decade, so it’s a simple but powerful tool to ensure we stay connected and encouraged.

Themed dress up check-ins have also been a hit as we recently did the 80’s and 90’s with music to match. Camaraderie remains critical during times of disconnect and oddly enough, our team has felt more comfortable sharing from home.

51��ANZ has also developed a range of initiatives throughout the business to keep people informed, connected, and engaged. I share a cross-company weekly COVID-19 and business update to help staff understand the changes occurring and how it will impact their roles and responsibilities. The 51��innovation team have also developed the Bridge-IT app to provide accurate real-time information on COVID-19 that staff can easily access anywhere, anytime.

We’ve provided work-from-home grants to all employees so they can improve their home-office environment while working comfortably and productively. 51��ANZ are also running weekly fitness classes and entertainment to help staff maintain their health and mental wellbeing. One such example is our weekly ‘tools down’ entertainment session called, which I host with our managing director, Damien Bueno.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RSsjGZM0Ic

Our recent employee pulse surveys across the business point to positive staff morale across our workforce in ANZ, so I’m remain optimistic about our company’s future. Now that restrictions are easing and legislation is undergoing further change, now is the time for businesses to look further down the road – determining what practices can be changed or made more flexible to help staff stay productive and connected, both to the business and one another.

To learn how your business can help ensure continuity while keep your staff well supported and connected, get in touch with your 51��representative and discover the right practices and technologies to get your organisation ready to thrive in a new normal.

The post Helping People Respond to Disruption and Thrive through Change appeared first on 51��Australia & New Zealand News Center.

covid19 Archives - 51����Australia & New Zealand News Center