Since August we’ve had around 300 conversations with HR people and hiring leaders, welcomed new clients across construction, insurance and higher education and hosted our latest roundtable. Here’s what those calls are telling us, what’s live and what’s worth knowing.
Around the table
You can ask people to change, or you can make it hard to stay the same.
That line from Ben Bars and Dr Joel Davies of We Are Unity stuck with everyone at our roundtable earlier this month. Put organisational, operational and financial data side by side and you can see exactly where behaviour is costing the business, so culture change goes there first. It led to a sharp conversation about where HR teams should focus their effort and how data can make that case to the CEO. Thank you to Ben, Joel and everyone around the table.
How's the HR market?
Spring has kept the HR market busy. By our own tracking, Sydney has had 700 to 800 HR roles live at any one time this year, up from 500 to 600 last year. Demand is strongest for business partners and ER, L&D and OD specialists, and a good share of these roles are newly created.
A few things we’re picking up behind the scenes. Strategic individual contributor roles are now paying on par with team leadership, and in-house talent acquisition is making a comeback as some businesses bring recruitment back from outsourced models. In final rounds, clients are leaning towards candidates who think on their feet and bring a real point of view, over polished, rehearsed answers.
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Commercial HR is what clients ask for first
The question we hear most from hiring leaders is whether someone understands how the business makes money and which HR levers move the numbers. It has come up in briefings across FMCG, higher education, construction and insurance, at every level from business partner to CPO. The people landing these roles talk about their work in the language of the business. They know the margin pressures, the cost of the workforce and what changed because of them, and they can explain it to a CFO as easily as to a line manager.
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Talent and succession shape the HRBP brief
Clients are passing on ER-heavy shortlists and asking for partners who can lead talent, succession and workforce planning, with complex cases going to a specialist. Candidates want exactly that work too, so partnering roles set up this way are attracting the strongest people. Our report shows why the demand is there: only 21% of HR people rate their own organisation’s bench strength and succession as strong.
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The right leader beats a bigger title
Senior candidates are choosing carefully. On our calls they weigh up the leader they’d work for, the scope of the role and the stability of the business ahead of the title, and several have moved sideways for a stronger leader and more strategic work. For hiring teams that’s good news, because a clear remit and a leader who shows up in the process count for more than a few extra thousand dollars. Plenty of these people aren’t on job boards either, which is why so many of our senior shortlists this year have been built through our network and direct approach.
Treat your final interview as your first strategy conversation. Come in with a point of view on your first 90 days: the priorities you’ve heard across the process, the question you’d want answered before changing anything and where you see an early win for the business.
At every level, a final round tests judgement as much as experience. A considered 90-day view shows how you read a business, what you’d prioritise and where you’d hold back, and in a close race it can be what tips the decision your way.
What one CPO told us every candidate had to demonstrate:
Do I really understand how businesses make money... and what levers I can pull in the HR space to provide value-add?
Two numbers, one big opportunity.
Progression is one of the biggest reasons HR people move, yet most can't see their next step. Visible pathways are one of the simplest ways to keep good people, and for anyone weighing up a move, the next step is worth asking about in every interview.
Download the reportWhat we're working on
Click through for the detail and to apply. Roles as they stood when this edition went out.
Senior People Partner
Advise three C-suite executives across finance, revenue and risk at a large Australian financial services organisation.
Now closedHR Systems & Transformation Lead
A six-month contract leading the implementation of a new workforce management system, based in the Sydney CBD.
View roleHR Business Partner
A 13-month role focused on talent, succession, leadership coaching and change, with specialist ER support behind you.
Now closedHR Lead
Lead a small HR team, reshape the partnering model and set the direction for a business in the middle of real transformation.
Now closedRoundtables and catch-ups
We run roundtables and networking catch-ups a couple of times a year, across different levels and specialisms. If you’d like to be on the list for future events, reach out and we’ll make sure you hear about the ones that fit.
Most recentRewired: HR in the era of AI, with We Are Unity
Let's talk.
Whether you're thinking about your next move, looking to hire or just want an honest read on the HR market, we'd love to chat with you. Grab a time below for a phone chat with either of us.
