blog.ployme.com.au

This post comes from MX Magazine, syndicated around Australia

By Debra Bela
It’s Monday afternoon. Exams are looming. The credit card is maxed out and you desperately want to go out with the guys on the weekend. You’d get a job, but you don’t want to commit to anything long term.

There was a time when this scenario would lead to an un happy ending. But in an Australian first, potential casual workers can now hook up with employers in minutes to find one-off shifts using a new employment utility called www.PloyMe.com.au. All you need is a mobile phone and a computer.

The Brisbane-based initiative, created by former restratuer Matt Kesby, is a direct response to casualisation of Generation Y workforce. “Industries really are struggling.” Kesby says.
“Changing jobs more frequently is kind of what our lifestyle is all about. So it begs us to find a new way to work with this shift. Rather than seeing people leaving a job forever, let’s stay connected and view human resources exactly as they are – a resource.”

“It’s like water in a drought. There’s water in this dam, none in that dam. We have to pump water between to two. Essentially, that’s what we do. We allow people to stay connected to more than one employer with their availability, so at any time they can pick up extra work.
You simply log into the site, outline your skills, the type of work you’d like and your availability over the next four weeks or more. In minutes, you’re connected to up to six employers looking for your talents.”

The first person to email or text YES when a shift is available gets it, no questions asked.
Since launching in August, the record stands at two minutes between registering an interest and being offered a shift.

Make no mistake – this is work not a career, that’s being offered. It is not a career hob board or temp agency that is seeking a long term commitment from its casual entourage. Work can vary from packing shelves, delivering pizza and selling clothes to working as a roadie or theatre usher.
“It’s for students supplementing their income, who can only work at certain time of the day; for people whoa are unemployed and have found it difficult to get their foot in the door, for mums looking to find infrequent work from time to time,” Kesby says.

“We even had an article clerk who picked up work sending out flyers in the city in the mornings, because if you want to live the lifestyle but don’t have the budget, you need some options.”

PloyMe has 20,000 workers online and employers from 14 industries in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne with smaller representations in Adelaide and Perth.

Minimum award rates must up held and people with greater experience can quoting closer to award rates tend to get more work, because employers are trying to save money where they can.” Kesby says. “But those who really need people appreciate that paying $2 or $3 more an hour for a more experienced person saves them money in the long term.”

With the number of new employees entering the Australian marketplace in decline as the population ages, and the average worker expected to have 10 to 14 jobs by the time they hit 38, Kesby says building relationships could be a better investment than working towards retaining an existing workforce.

Great article written by my friend Louise Broekman Managing Director of the Australian HR Coach Network.

Keeping the doors open in your business just got a whole lot more difficult in this tight labour market. The signs are, quite literally, everywhere. Just last week my local bakery was closed with a note on the door that said “Shop Closed- Can’t Find Staff”. Don’t laugh, it could happen to you. Just think of the impact on your business if you were to lose a staff member and struggled to find a quality replacement.

Most business owners are overwhelmed with buzzwords and jargon like “Skills Shortage”, “Labour Crisis”, “Attraction and Retention Strategies”, “Employer Branding”, “Employer of Choice” and the list goes on. The old adage used to be that a business can’t survive without sales. I’d argue that the 2008 sentiment is that most businesses cannot survive without employees.

Labour Shortage is here to stay
Media outlets have been running hot with topics like labour shortages, low unemployment rates and increasing wages. Although the market dropped approximately 20,000 jobs in May 08, the consensus is that this is merely a blip on the radar and not a sign of an easing of the market pressures.

Quite simply, we have passed the tipping point. More people are now leaving the labour market than entering it. The demand for talent and skills outstrips supply. Employees are more choosy and more demanding than ever before.

The real question is – what do businesses do about it? More importantly, how can your business compete against big, attractive corporate companies with deep pockets and heaps of perks?

Are you Attractive?
This is not a personal question! But are you attractive to a prospective employee? Would they want to come and work with you? Remember, it’s a buyer’s market and employees are in high demand! So how can you make your business attractive? Well, as the saying goes, beauty comes from within.

Implement systems to make your business a great place to work and achieve your strategy. Make sure that you look after your staff, measure their satisfaction, look for ways to continually improve, increase motivation and productivity, invest in your people and focus on retention. It sounds like a lot but the most important thing is to start somewhere. One strategy is to benchmark where you are now to determine where you need to focus your energy. A Staff Satisfaction survey and Employer Satisfaction survey are a great starting point.

Hire for Attitude, Train for Skill
The smaller the business, the greater the teamwork and flexibility required within roles. This was identified in organisational behaviour research conducted on growing businesses by the HR Coach Research Institute. Businesses valued staff with the right attitude and would prefer to teach them the skills for the job.

Promote your Employer Brand
The more attractive you are in the market, the more likely you are to draw high quality applicants to you. It’s not as difficult as you think. Focus on the way you promote your business to your clients and use the same message for your recruitment process. One way to draw quality candidates to you is to highlight your employee focussed business culture. You can participate in programs like the STAR Workplace program from HR Coach. Prospective employees will look for the logo and instantly know that your business is a great place to work.

How Professionals Can Help
You don’t have to wing it and your time is too important to waste. Look for a qualified HR Coach who understands the changing labour market, your future business needs and can assist you with implementing solutions that create a positive impact on your business.

One quote that speaks to me in my business is, “a bend in the road does not mean the end of the road… … unless you fail to make the turn.” Don’t wait until it is too late for your business. There are dangerous curves ahead.

About the Author
Louise Broekman is the Founder and Managing Director of the Australian HR Coach Network. Louise also leads the HR Coach Research Institute which focuses on researching issues that affect the SME sector. Contact: 1300 550 674, www.hrcoach.com.au; business@hrcoach.com.au