Good afternoon, everyone.
I'm really delighted to be able to
spend some time with you this afternoon
and share some of our insights
into talent and resourcing
in telco and technology.
Now, I won't claim that we have all of the answers, by any stretch,
so I hope that you'll treat this
as sharing amongst professional friends
and that what we talk about today will complement the work that you do
with your own teams.
I'm gonna take quite a broad lens
to this topic of talent in our industry.
Firstly, thinking about the global talent context,
as Jill said, there is a mounting war for talent,
so we need to be very mindful, as leaders, about what this means.
Secondly, we'll talk a little bit about candidate drivers
and our thoughts and our research
about what's driving candidates at the moment.
And then, finally, probably a little bit more editorial,
but some points of view about what's important
for organisations in our industry,
and for each of us as leaders.
So, if we think about the global context...
And in technology, if you've had Hugh and Vish here this morning,
maybe one of the themes that you talked about is automation.
And in our industry, we talk about automation
and how eventually we will need less human beings, in theory,
to do lots of the tasks and the thinking
that we do at the moment.
And that will continue to be the case,
but overall, as the population ages across the world,
then we're going to continue to need replacement workers,
and particularly in industries such as agriculture, resources,
manufacturing, textiles and trades.
And as you can see in that first dot point,
it's estimated that the US and the EU
will need 70 million extra workers, in a replacement sense.
Last week, China announced the relaxing of the one-child policy.
Some of you will have heard that.
For certain segments of the organisation.
So, the number of workers supporting each senior citizen in China
is expected to go from 10, which it is now, down to 2.5.
So you can see, there's just gonna be continuing requirement for labour
right round the world.
A topic that I think is really close to our own hearts
is the declining number of people
who are studying technical... or undertaking technical learning,
particularly in the West -
in the UK and Australian, New Zealand and the US.
I think it's something for us to be very mindful about
and more and more multinational corporations
are turning to both Russia and India for quality technical talent.
At the moment, we're finding - and you'll each have your own experience about this -
but professional jobseekers are pretty bunkered down at the moment,
so there's not a lot of people on the market.
The market in Asia is quite hot in technology.
But otherwise, particularly in the US -
and I think this is an overhang from the global financial crisis still -
that good-quality talent are bunkered down.
They're staying where they're working at the moment
and most employers are making it part of their business
to ensure they retain top talent.
So extracting talent is quite difficult.
And that final point there,
we call this a switching premium,
But where you're trying to extract talent from other organisations,
particularly in technology,
we're seeing that talent is attracting switching premiums
of up to 15%.
So they're asking premiums to move to other organisations
and across the world.
So, important that we're mindful of that
and I think the thing that's not stated
but is obvious there
is that if the quality talent is bunkered down,
then those who are mobile and who are moving
are not necessarily of the highest quality,
or they might be the B and Cs, rather than the As.
So, what's the impact of this?
That's some global context, but, of course...
And I'm sure we have some CEOs and managing directors
and business owners in this room.
And I'm very aware of the importance of quality talent
as a differentiator in our businesses.
Vacancies are being hard to fill at the moment.
Many organisations are finding it hard
to fill their vacancies
and also are concerned about their pipelines.
I'm sharing this not to create concern
but more to encourage informed choices and investment.
And we must have a lot of respect for the labour market,
and we also need to intervene when it's not delivering us what we need.
I think the good news is that, um,
the quality tech leaders that we're seeing coming through the ranks,
and particularly out of the US,
but also in Asia and India and in Australia,
are some of the best talent I think we've...
They really are the new breed,
who have the combination of the technical
and the technology capability and expertise,
but, um, as young entrepreneurs are being forced to understand
how to lead people and get things done through others as well.
So I think it's quite exciting, the new breed that are coming through.
They're hard to access at the moment.
There's lots of talk in, um... in the talent industry, so to speak,
about the potential for a Silicon Valley bubble burst with...
..with all of the unicorn businesses and the entrepreneurs up there.
And as much as it wouldn't be good for the market,
and I don't think it would be great for Telstra either,
if the bubble burst,
but from a talent perspective, the possibility that we could unleash
some of that Silicon Valley talent,
um...and I think they will be great leaders of the future,
a lot of those young people working in that industry at the moment.
So, there's the good news.
So, importantly, in all of this, I think,
if that's the global context,
the net of all of that is to say, um,
labour is not going to be easily available,
and particularly specialist labour.
And so it's worth having a quick look
at what's important to candidates at the moment.
What's driving them?
So, across the world, globally,
the top two candidate drivers are work/life balance -
and as a Victorian, that's probably a good thing to be saying
after the long weekend for Cup Day -
work/life balance and compensation.
This really varies a lot across the globe.
I've put those two up,
which are Australia/New Zealand and China,
comparing the two of those,
but you can look at that across the globe as well.
In Australia, clearly, we're valuing work/life balance,
and I think that's...
..I could say anecdotally that's also my experience
in spending a lot of my life interviewing people.
That's important in Australia.
And by way of comparison, in China, it's quite different.
Compensation is by far and away the biggest driver
in the Chinese market at the moment.
And so I think that it's important -
and certainly we have been learning this in the last two years -
that we must pay attention to what these different drivers are
in each country
and in the markets and talent pools that we're trying to extract.
It's very important, and you can go with recruitment campaigns
and resourcing campaigns that miss the mark.
Just because people are seeking work/life balance in Australia,
it's certainly not the case in all the other markets.
Um...
So, that's important and we really need to be,
as leaders and particularly for HR teams,
paying attention to that.
Some thoughts about what matters
and the way that we can, I guess, address this
as, um, leaders of organisations.
It's all very interesting to say it's a tough labour market
and candidates have a little bit more power than they used to
and, um...
But what do we do about that?
And again, we don't have all the answers, I don't think,
but we do have...
..but we do have some thoughts and a point of view.
I think, firstly, um...
..leadership commitment is the most important thing that we have learnt.
So we are very fortunate in our company
that we have a chairman, a board, a CEO and a senior leadership team
that are very focused on talent.
And, so, as the company's Chief Talent Officer, I've never, um...
I've been very well supported in undertaking the initiatives
that we need to in creating talent pools for the organisation.
But I think it's critical in the industry and across all organisations
that boards and senior teams, um, understand how important this is.
So, that's the first thing.
I think understanding, um, the capability
that you require as an organisation...
And we sometimes find this difficult to pinpoint specifically in Telstra.
And as leaders, we always want the best of the best.
I always want the best HR people to come and work in my team.
There's no doubt about that.
But there's something to be...
That can become overwhelming
if you think about everything you do as an organisation
and you want to have the best person
for doing every single one of those things.
So, I think what I've learnt in the last...
..particularly in the last two years,
is to be pretty sharp about the capability in your organisation,
um, that is...
..that differentiates you in the market
and helps you win in the marketplace and forming an opinion about that.
So, we've invested quite a lot of time in saying,
"So, what really is the capability that we need
"to be the best, best, best at?
"And in what areas that might be declining capabilities
"or things that we don't need so much of in the future, um...?
"What are the things that we maybe...
"..maybe just good is good enough in some circumstances?"
So, I think understanding, um, capability requirements
is really, really important.
The third thing - and we have it up there -
is to build deep and reliable internal talent pools.
And again, we've not claimed victory on this yet,
but I think some of the comments that I've made earlier
and the data suggests...
..the demographic data and the candidate data
suggests that the external market's not reliable.
It's not reliable.
So, it's appropriate to, um, help you make, um, appointments,
niche appointments or investment in new markets,
where you need a new and different type of talent
to help you be successful in those markets.
But as a general rule, it's not going to be very reliable
to have a talent strategy that relies on the outside.
Um, and so over time, certainly,
we've been very focused at building our talent pools in our company.
Um, and that does require investment
and again, matching with the capabilities that are required,
so building the right types of pools.
Thinking about the graduates that you hire.
Thinking about what their experience is.
Trying to create breadth and stickiness in the organisation
so people come and stay and have their career
and you can rely on them, um, in the future.
So, becoming self-reliant, I think, from a talent perspective,
is a really important thing for an organisation.
It's important from a risk respective,
but it also future-proofs you and takes some anxiety out of leadership
where you know where your next capability is coming from.
I'm sure that I don't have to make the case for you about diversity.
This is a topic that's much discussed, I think, in our industry,
but it must be at the core of how you're thinking, I think, as leaders
that we look at very diverse talent pools,
both from a, um, gender perspective, from a, um...
..an ethnic perspective and all...
..all of the different, um, types of diversity that you can consider.
Firstly, you get access to better talent that way.
Sometimes it takes a bit more effort,
but it's absolutely critical.
And secondly, um, people are more happy.
It's part of an EVP for an organisation,
so a value proposition, about where you want to work
and seeing an organisation that actively embraces diversity
I think will become more and more critical going forward.
And also gives you access to, um, larger...
..larger pools of talent.
So, they're my best advice about
the key areas for companies to be...
..to be focusing on.
And I think emphasising the first one, because it doesn't...
..it doesn't...we can't...
We can't make talent someone else's problem as leaders, you know?
We have to own that and keep it close to ourselves and not...
..not outsource it to HR or the recruiters
to rely on them finding you the best talent.
We really need to own it.
At a personal level, thinking about what each of us can do as leaders
and our own important role in a talent agenda.
So, I guess it's, um, not to...
..to put too much sugar on it,
if we are going to invest properly in talent for the future,
then there's no skimming across the top on that
and there's no easy way to do it.
It does take thought and effort.
So, taking personal accountability for building capability
and definitely for your own succession.
So, I'd be thrilled if you are driving home
or on the train home or catching the plane home
or however you're going to make it home this afternoon, um,
if you're thinking about your own succession.
Thinking about who in your team is going to be the person
that you are nurturing,
or the people that you are nurturing to take over from you,
and I think we encourage, certainly, at Telstra
that it's a very important accountability
for each Telstra leader that they... they are thinking hard and long
about who's going to succeed them into the role,
and I think, as leaders,
we're each personally very deeply accountable for that.
Secondly, to have really good conversations with your people
and be transparent.
Invest in them and have the right conversations with them
about how they're performing, about how the organisation sees them
and what the future is there.
Not having those conversations won't help...won't help in...
Sometimes they're hard. I think that's...that's the thing.
We're not naturally programmed to do that well all the time,
but it's an important part of what we do as...
..as leaders in organisations and it ensures that we, um, have an...
..intimacy with our talent, which will help us, um,
future-proof for the long-term.
And then I've had this... I've mentioned this already, um,
but this idea of actively seeking to build diversity, um,
at all levels in the organisation
and to be, again, taking the extra effort
to, um, and seek out diverse candidates
that bring something different to your team,
I think is critical
in all the things that we consider about talent.
So, in summary, as I've outlined,
the labour market continues to be tough.
Um, and there are some things for us to focus on as an industry,
as a collective, I think,
as we build the capability in the industry.
Invest more in diversity and... and technical education.
At Telstra, we've been quite, um, vocal about continuing investment
in Australia, in technical education.
I think it's something that we need to continue to advocate for
and be prominent in, in all of our organisations.
And then finally, at a very personal...
..level, the important role each leader has
in creating the next generation of talent for this industry,
and I think that's an accountability
that we should all take very personally.
So, thank you.
I hope that's been useful to share those insights
into, um, how we're thinking about the labour outlook and talent
and perhaps a point of view on some of the strategies
that organisations can employ.