HR leaders from Michael Hill, Costa Group share transformation stories at recent conference
Businesses that integrate HR software systems with data from third-party platforms can engineer a boost to bottom lines while maintaining hiring at flat levels, according to jewellery group Michael Hill.
In a recent presentation, HRIS manager Ming Koh explained how the firm is using foot-traffic data to optimise rostering in retail outlets for its five brands.
The company operates more than 300 stores, with about 3,000 employees in three countries on the payroll. Around 1,000 hires are added during seasonal peaks.
Leverage customer data
Faced with the challenge of softer trading conditions, management sought an edge in profits from better workforce efficiency, Koh said at a recent event in Sydney hosted by Dayforce.
“We need to be able to run real-time reports on scheduling to be sure of coming within budget,” he said. “It’s about labour optimisation that optimises productivity.”
The Michael Hill solution calls on integration of foot-traffic data with optimal customer ratio criteria to deliver a roster for store managers to allocate staff during targeted trading hours.
“Floor managers can check they are scheduling within a budget,” Koh said. “We use foot-traffic data to drive efficiency by making sure there are people on the floor at the right time to drive demand.”
The method can predict overscheduling of staff in a pre-peak lull so that a store manager might move shifts to overlap with anticipated under-scheduling in the busy half of the trading day, he said at the presentation. Another fix might mean shifting meal breaks for some of the crew.
Analytics in the toolbox with HCM
Workforce analytics are effective tools that management need to understand to utilise to their maximum potential, Koh said. Michael Hill rolled out the full suite of Dayforce in early 2021, across its businesses in Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
When the group bought jewellery retailer Bevilles last year, 400 staff were onboarded in two weeks, he said.
Koh credited capabilities in the HCM platform with an increase in productivity at the company while keeping the labour budget flat over the past two years.
“Businesses need to think about integration strategies to drive efficiencies and outcomes and make more conversions,” he said.
Strategy for growth at Costa Group
Transformation can be a challenging emotional journey, and not all businesses admit to getting it right. Fruit and vegetable company Costa Group is on a five-year growth plan after it was purchased by a private equity group in 2023. Its ambitions hinge on a transformation that will see it attempt a deeper engagement with thousands of workers who speak more than 100 languages.
“Horticulture is one of the most labour-intensive areas of the economy,” Costa Group chief people officer Carl Phillips told attendees at the Dayforce Daybreak event. “Being able to decide which technology to engage is fundamental to how we deploy the right people in the right position.”
As part of its plan to become a global operator in fresh produce, Costa will enter new markets such as Laos and India, additional to farms in Australia, China and Morocco.
“If we can harness thousands of people and their ideas, we know we can drive our organisation,” Phillips said. “We have to think how we are supporting those people through the change and how often are we getting people engaged in the process.”
Companies should not be afraid to feel vulnerable when testing new ideas, he said. “At the same time, they should use data to see where there are key things that can be put in place and for the best result.”
Human capital management
Speaking to HRD as the conference wrapped, Brian Donn, Dayforce managing director Asia Pacific and Japan, said boards can’t afford to not be engaged with human capital management.
The “wage theft” changes to the Fair Work Act, for example, can result in criminal convictions in cases where underpayment is shown to be deliberate and dishonest. But the complexity of award structures and rostering mean mistakes happen.
“[Payroll teams] very often don’t know they are underpaying people,” Donn said. “It’s due to outdated systems and processes, and overworked payroll staff. People are really taking this seriously.”
He said a continuous calculation payroll engine that is “tightly interlocked with time management” offers an automated solution. “When you get to the end of the month and want to pay someone, the hard work’s already done. It doesn’t put the stress on your team.”
Technology solution to workforce scheduling
Workforce scheduling places a strain on managers when they must respond to volatile business conditions and laddered pay grades. Donn cites the example of high-volume retail, which often employs a diverse and young workforce.
“They want to swap shifts frequently, so you’ve got to give them technology on the mobile device to allow them to do that quickly,” he said. “You need to do it within the framework of compliance around how much time can somebody work in a week, for example, and make sure you know when you are scheduling people on as they swap shifts.”
A water utility company, however, will need to make sure the right individuals are deployed to an emergency situation.
Various sectors of the economy are quicker to adapt to the latest software solutions for HR management and payroll than others, Donn said. “You can’t do all of that with spreadsheets. Quite honestly, a lot of people have not been down the pathway of transformation.”
