Averting a Leadership Crisis
Background
Our client is a privately owned technology business of 35 staff operating in Australia and Asia. The business is highly successful and growing rapidly.
The Challenge
Given the anticipated growth required to meet customer demand, the CEO was keen to ensure that nothing would put the business at risk of that growth.
The Solution
Norgay HR recommended a company wide survey process using our preferred external benchmarking tool. Supporting the survey tool with a comprehensive communication strategy, we achieved an employee participation rate of 90%, well exceeding our target of 75% .
We also benchmarked the results against similar fast growth companies focused in the Technology sector.
Findings
The overall staff engagement score was high relative to the benchmark group. However, when we drilled down, the results told a very different story between the two office locations. It was immediately apparent that unless we took immediate steps to appoint a strong leader in the Asia office staff turnover would rapidly increase, particularly amongst key staff who had been with the business for between 2-4 years. Losing those key staff members This was deemed to be an immediate and high risk to the business.
Another opportunity that was evident was that the team were keen to understand how their performance was evaluated and how their contribution linked to rewards.
Outcomes Achieved
- We immediately commenced the search and successfully appointed a senior leader into the Asian office.
- The recruitment strategy included our pre-hiring assessment tool which gave us the confidence to make the right selection out of 3 short-listed candidates.
- NorgayHR designed and launched the businesses first Review and Career Development Program to align the work efforts of every team member with what was important to the business. The assessment criteria was developed for each role in the business. Staff completed a self-assessment and their manager also completed their assessment.
- We introduced technology to facilitate an on-line process removing the need for a paper-based system.
- We introduced peer reviews to the process to broaden the feedback experience for staff.
- All staff members have had the opportunity to discuss both the performance and career goals with a key member of the management team. Individual goals have been agreed which will be monitored during the next review period.
- Today, the business is clear on their talent pool, on who is contributing at a higher level than others. All reward decisions are based on that differentiated contribution. This ensures a meritocracy approach to rewards which was a key business culture goal.
“It was the best thing we ever did to get Norgay HR on board. HR needs management level attention, and it’s good to have a partner in that area that I can rely on.”
“Throughout our collaboration, you’ve not just been a service provider but a valuable partner. Your expertise in navigating complex situations and providing tailored solutions has been a critical factor in our journey. The professionalism and dedication exhibited by your team have been exemplary, always going above and beyond to assist us.”
“We have been using Norgay HR since early 2021 and they have transformed that aspect of our business. We now have 20 staff across four locations and we very quickly came to rely on Norgay HR’s professionalism, availability, knowledge, and service to ensure very smooth HR systems and management. Now when it comes to – onboarding new staff, renewing contracts, dispute resolution, bulk communications, and legislation updates – Norgay has made it easy and thorough and their advice is considered and comprehensive. I recommend them wholeheartedly.”
“The team at Norgay HR is always on hand to provide us with the HR support needed for any business, big or small. One of the things that I really like about Norgay HR is that not only are they are experts in advising on HR, they also have a strong appreciation for maintaining our culture of informality and innovation. We have recently completed our largest acquisition yet, and the team at Norgay HR did a fantastic job supporting us on the people side of the whole process.”
“Like many businesses in the SME sector, the impact of COVID-19 was felt early on, well before JobKeeper and other government support schemes were announced. With information changing constantly, we came to rely on our new partnership with Norgay HR to steer us through that difficult period when it came to looking after our team.”
