'If they do go, they go as your best brand ambassadors'
When it comes to employee retention, it’s all about choice, according to Amcor’s Asia Pacific Chief People Officer, Anita Walton-Tilly.
Speaking to HRD, she noted that it’s about showing employees the possibilities available to them both inside and outside of your organisation.
“If you want someone to truly believe you’re investing in them, that means you invest in them as a person – not an asset. That means you have to show them what’s around them and let them make that choice. If they choose to stay, you’ve got the right person that’s committed and committed to that transformation journey,” she noted.
If they do go, they should go as your best brand ambassadors, Walton-Tilly said.
“They leave showcasing how good their former workplace was. It’s a small world out there and it never fails to surprise me that wherever I go, I bump into someone I know. Don’t burn bridges and make sure they leave as an ambassador of your culture.”
Walton-Tilly speaks with authority, having worked in people management for over 25 years — though she started her career studying law.
“I came out of that and went into sales and account management, as people do, but I wanted to travel. All I knew is I wanted to travel, and I didn’t care how I did it. By doing that, I progressed through some really great organisations, with DHL and with Capgemini,” she said.
“I ended up getting into consulting and with that, the key to what you’re selling is your people. You’re selling people’s ability to deliver the promise of what you’re articulating to your clients about what they want to buy. In old terms, it’s like a Formula One car – you need all the engine to perform at peak performance.”
During her career, she became more involved in people management and took to it like a duck to water by ‘paying it forward’ at Amcor – which develops and produces responsible packaging for products like food and beverage - thanks to the talented mentorship and sponsorship that did the same for her.
“I'm not a micromanager. I hate being micromanaged. I hated it as a child, and I still hate it now, and I try desperately hard not to micromanage people. I always try and grow my team, and I'm very one of my proudest achievements in my career is I've never left an organization where they needed to recruit behind me, I've left a ready-now successor,” she told HRD.
When asked about her main driving force for managing people, Walton-Tilly said it’s about leaving a legacy and showing your children the difference they’re making to the world and leaving it in the best place they can with the company’s recyclable packaging.
A report from the Australian HR Institute revealed 30% of employers are experiencing recruitment difficulties – remaining at December 2024 levels. It also found that almost two-thirds (64%) of employers intend to hire staff over the next quarter.
Culture is important when it comes to attracting people, she said.
“Lots of people talk about globalisation, but it’s not the answer to everything. It’s about setting a global set of principles that underpins and truly embeds your culture as an organisation – then let local markets represent that in their own way. Local markets will always know about their market better than you,” Walton-Tilly said.
“We employ over 50,000 people across 250 sites globally – and I know European or American cultures don’t work in Asia – but an Asian culture won’t work in the West. Build a solid foundation and then trust local countries to develop and build it in a way that will make them successful. Don’t try and make it fit.”
With Artificial Intelligence (AI) fundamentally changing the way businesses manage their people, Walton-Tilly told us she uses it to better streamline her day-to-day.
“[AI] is a great buzzword at the moment. In the last ten years, the rate of innovation and technological change has been unprecedented. With these changes, it’s not about focusing on a generation shift in the workforce. The 50,000 people we employ are recruited now for the future – they’re not experts but we need to teach them.”
“At the moment, it’s a reporting tool for me. It’s an iteration of a human being going through talent vetting processes five years ago – now it’s just a machine doing it. Fill in what you’re looking for and let AI do the rest. The process still ends in the same way, with an interview and a personal decision about if that person resonates with the values of our company,” she said.
