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, 鈥淭he wellbeing of our team and customer is always at the heart of what we do.鈥�

Coles knows how to do things in a big way. It鈥檚 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.

鈥淒uring 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鈥� said Ryder.

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

鈥淲e started to see shopping behavior at the same levels we see during Christmas peak, as people started panic buying,鈥� said Ryder. 鈥淥ur 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.鈥�

Ryder鈥檚 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鈥檇 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鈥檚 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鈥檙e 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.

鈥淲e recognise that the value of attracting and retaining diverse teams enhances our decision making and ability to innovate,鈥� said Ryder. 鈥淒iversity teams and an inclusive culture are critical to the success of our overall business strategy.鈥�

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 鈥淏etter Together.鈥�

鈥淚n 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,鈥� said Ryder. 鈥淭he 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.鈥�

Coles also recently finished a major HR transformation with 51风流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.

鈥淧assion 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,鈥� said Ryder. 鈥淎 鈥榖ig bang,鈥� if you will. Our HR team believed it was the right approach for the business in the current climate.鈥�

The technology itself was suitable for rapid adoption. The user experience is akin to an iPhone. And there鈥檚 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 鈥�51风流House.鈥�

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

Now that Coles has the 51风流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 鈥淲inning Together鈥� 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鈥檚 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. 鈥淭he future is what we make it and I鈥檓 excited by what we鈥檙e working towards,鈥� said Ryder.

This article also featured on

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

The company鈥檚 COVID-19 crisis response team in Australia and New Zealand began using Qualtrics pulse surveys this past year to stay connected with workers and address their challenges.

鈥淚t鈥檚 critical that we constantly communicate with employees to understand their challenges, and act quickly to address their needs,鈥� said Alexandre Moreau, chief people and safety officer at Veolia ANZ. 鈥淲e needed a quick and easy solution to keep people connected, whether it was managers and their teams, or customers. Qualtrics helped us make sure that our people were okay, and receiving the support they needed.鈥�

Sustainability is in Veolia鈥檚 DNA. The company鈥檚 business portfolio includes providing environmental solutions across water, waste management and energy. With operations and treatment facilities nationwide, they serve customers of all sizes 鈥� from local cafes and food chains to industrial facilities. One of their business units helps municipal water customers provide safe drinking water for their communities and industrial clients to more sustainably manage water in their operations, while their energy division helps companies build energy resilience and become carbon neutral.

Listening translates employee feedback into engagement

As a designated essential service during the pandemic, Veolia ANZ provided the same level of support for customers despite significant challenges, including social distancing, schedule disruptions, and lockdowns. During the height of the crisis, they needed even more flexibility to respond to highly changeable situations. For example, workloads increased in the health sector because of pandemic-related activities. Meantime, some employees were working remotely, while others had to be in the field. The company used Qualtrics to stay in touch with employees.

Kate Moonen, head of marketing and digital experience at Veolia ANZ, was part of the company鈥檚 pandemic response team. Speaking during a recent , she discussed how short, but targeted surveys helped the company stay in touch with its diverse workforce that includes truck drivers, machine operators, engineers, lawyers, and sustainability experts in urban and remote locations.

鈥淲e really wanted to understand that our people, particularly essential workers, were feeling supported,鈥� she said. 鈥淒id they have enough PPE equipment to do their jobs safely? What were their concerns about their mental health and well-being鈥ased on that feedback, it helped our team formulate鈥hat we were going to communicate鈥nd what actions we needed to take to continue to support our people.鈥�

Initially, the team was surprised at the high employee engagement levels with the surveys. Over time, the company rolled out new activities based on the feedback. These included regularly scheduled anywhere, any device communications with senior leadership through live webinars and question and answer sessions. In response to employee requests, executives also sent short video messages that employees could watch on their mobile phones, with personalized stories from company leaders about their lives outside of work, and how they adapted to the changed working environment.

鈥淧eople felt they wanted to take the opportunity to be heard,鈥� said Moonen. 鈥淲e would often share regular communications with them about what came out of the latest pulse, and what we were going to do about it. If you鈥檙e asking people for their time, it鈥檚 critical to demonstrate what you鈥檙e doing with that feedback to meet their needs.鈥�

Continuous dialogue through employee surveys

Just like any aspect of sustainable business, employee engagement is not a one and done effort.

鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing strong employee engagement every time we roll out a new survey,鈥� said Moreau. 鈥淚nstead of waiting a year to connect with employees, Qualtrics has given us a more agile response tool with a quick pulse check that our people appreciate, and we can rely on for updated feedback to make better decisions. We want to know how people are feeling in a fast-changing business environment.鈥�

Go digital for fast action

Moreau said companies should be explicit about what employees have shared and how it鈥檚 taking action. Even if there isn鈥檛 an immediate answer, people appreciate the transparency.

Moonen also advised employers not to overthink the survey process.

鈥淪ustainable business is all about agility,鈥� she said. 鈥淐ollecting the feedback and acting quickly is far more valuable than spending months iterating questions. Digital technology gives us the ability to constantly evolve and adapt as customer expectations, market conditions, and employee experiences shift.鈥�

Future of work is in employee experience

In the wake of the pandemic, many employees yearn for a greater sense of belonging. They want more help with their individual career goals, and to have pride in their workplace. Getting the employee experience right is part of every organization鈥檚 transformational journey to sustainable business.

This article also featured on

The post Sustainable Business At Veolia ANZ: We Make Sure Our People Are Okay appeared first on 51风流Australia & New Zealand News Center.

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 鈥� an app providing real-time insights and solutions for bus passengers and operators alike.

鈥淲e wanted to focus on something relevant to the COVID pandemic we were in,鈥� Martin explained. 鈥淟ooking 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.

鈥淭he 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 鈥� such as common causes of delays or average travel speed of an area 鈥� a lot of information to support the optimisation of routes and timetables.鈥�

According to Thomas, the key was to address traditional issues in the hopes of setting reference architecture for future developments. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the app 鈥� but it doesn鈥檛 stop as a single app. In the future, people can also continue with their own innovations to extend this application into endless possibilities.鈥�

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 鈥� such as HR, rostering, and financial data 鈥� struggling to match or integrate seamlessly.

鈥淲e wanted to showcase how to balance long-term trend analysis and a dashboard, Thomas said. 鈥淲e 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, 鈥榳ill it impact my system performance?鈥� 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鈥檛 affect operational performance.鈥�

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.

鈥淲e architected our solution to five high-level layers,鈥� explained Galvin. 鈥淔irst, 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.

鈥淒ata 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风流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.鈥�

In supporting the various development teams preparing , 51风流and Microsoft experts provided training sessions to address questions and offer guidance. 鈥淭hose 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 鈥� often able to predict our next move.鈥�

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风流and Microsoft isn鈥檛 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风流and Microsoft hackathon in May 2021,

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