Resourcing the pipeline*
Jody Elliott A and Mike Beeley BA The Resource Channel PO Box 1070, Cloverdale, Western Australia, 6104. Email: jody@theresourcechannel.com.au
B Re-Agent The Penthouse, 107 Walker Street, North Sydney, NSW, 2060. Email: mike@reagent.com.au
The APPEA Journal 50(2) 714-714 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ09078
Published: 2010
Abstract
With more than 80 major projects in planning or already underway across the Australian resource sector, demanding some 70,000 new employees, Jody Elliott, Director of Australian resource sector careers website TheResourceChannel.com.au, will provide an overview of key projects, the number of people required and the timelines for peak people demand. Industry will be challenged to consider if enough has been done to prepare the skills required to meet this demand. Jody will discuss what is currently being done by government and industry to address the skills gap and will provide her views on what still needs to be done.
Mike Beeley, CEO of Reagent Employer Marketing, will discuss why the job of engaging talent does not just belong with the HR department—it is everyone’s role in the organisation. With the demand for top mining and exploration staff about to dramatically outstrip supply, talented professionals will become far more discerning and cynical in their examination of future employers. It will not be enough to look at a few highly-scripted staff testimonials on the website, prospective staff will want to talk privately to existing company employees to see whether promises were kept and expectations met. The future of your employer brand lies in the sum of your decisions and actions as a company, not just in your HR team. The success of your operation lies in getting this balance of promise and delivery to your staff, right.
Keywords: skills shortages, major resource projects, direct and indirect jobs, National Skills Taskforce, employee value proposition, branding, candidates, talent, sourcing channels
With 15 years in senior and management roles across human resources, recruitment, career and organisational development, Jody Elliott has held positions at WMC Resources, CSR, Australian Rail Track Corporation, Santos and BHP Billiton. In 2009, Jody launched The Resource Channel (www.theresourcechannel.com.au), an employment information website and dedicated job board for the total Australian resource sector. Jody is an Associate Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, a member of APPEA’s Skill Set Committee, and has a Bachelor of Public Relations and Human Resources. In January 2010, Jody was nominated for the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of WA’s ‘Outstanding Woman in the WA Resources Sector’ Award. |
Mike has spent the last 20 years helping global and local organisations understand their EVP and how to market their employment proposition to their target audiences through traditional and emerging media. In 1992 Mike started Beeley Callan Advertising, selling it to the global ad agency Euro RSCG in 1997 and then helping them build the operation for 10 years in Australia. In 2007 Mike started ReAgent Employer Marketing. With offices in Brisbane and Sydney, the agency boasts clients such as IBM, Bankwest, Transfield Services, Origin Energy and Leighton International. Mike has helped organisations across all industries in the private and public sectors, showing them how to build the skills and resources to ‘farm’ talent through employer branding and talent experience management. He is a regular speaker in Australia and overseas on how talent acquisition and retention can form the backbone of a good workforce plan. |
References
1. Approximately 1.5 per cent of total Australian employment in November 2009 (ABS, 2010a).2. The resource sector is defined as mining, oil and gas operations including operating mines, quarries, oil and gas wells, as well as constructing those operations.
3. ABARE defines advanced major projects as either committed or under construction and may also include projects that are at relatively advanced stages of planning. Less advanced projects are those that may be undergoing a feasibility study, or that have not yet been subject to a final investment decision (ABARE, 2009a). Note that ABARE’s total capital expenditure figure for advanced projects includes some projects that are already underway or near completion. In addition, the timing of some of these projects remains highly uncertain and some will occur beyond the five-year horizon.
4. Independent research undertaken by ReAgent.
5. Resourcing the Future, National Resources Sector Employment Taskforce Discussion Paper, March 2010.
6. Summary of people requirements, The Resource Channel. Available from: http://www.theresourcechannel.com.au/blog/summary-people-requirements-2010-2016.
