Employee engagement and work-life balance

Avril Henry is a widely acclaimed keynote speaker, consultant, business and career coach, mentor, author and co-author of several books on leadership and the different generations at work. She will share her thoughts on ‘Quest for Balance – You: Role, Rhetoric and Reality’ at the National Conference of Chartered Accountants – 2011.

 

A widely acclaimed keynote speaker, consultant, business and career coach, mentor, author and co-author of several books on leadership and the different generations at work, Henry is a Fellow of CPA Australia, a Senior Associate of the Australian Institute of Banking & Finance, an Associate Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management, a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and Australian Human Resources Institute.

Following are excerpts of an interview:

Q: Could you provide an overview of your professional background?

A: I graduated from the University of Cape Town in Accounting and Economics, migrating to Australia in 1980. In 2003, after a 23-year career in corporate life in South Africa, Australia, the UK and the US, I established my own management and business consulting company, Avril Henry Pty Ltd. With a background spanning finance, IT, project management, change management and human resources, I decided to focus my business on leadership, change management, talent management, diversity, recruitment and retention strategies.

I am is a Fellow of CPA Australia, a Senior Associate of the Australian Institute of Banking & Finance; an Associate Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management; a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and Australian Human Resources Institute. My post-graduate study has included Strategic Human Resources Management at the Australian Graduate School of Management and I am an Accredited Executive Coach with the Australian Institute of Executive Coaching.

Q: Could you trace your current professional profile?

A: Over the past eight years, I have moved from being a senior executive in the private sector, to a successful public speaker, author, business coach, and management consultant. I have delivered hundreds of keynote addresses and workshops to thousands of people in Australia, New Zealand and Asia, to companies and industries as diverse as IBM, BHP, Department of Defence, ATO, Murray Darling Basin, CEDA, ABS, Leightons Construction, Queensland Health, NSW Health, NSW Police, ANZ, Westpac, Astra Zeneca, etc. I have coached senior executives across different industries in the private and public sectors and not-for-profit organisations.

My areas of expertise include leadership development, change management, talent management, diversity strategies, women in leadership programs, recruitment and retention strategies, motivating and managing different generations, conflict resolution, communicating effectively, flexibility and work/life balance strategies, building winning teams, workforce planning and forecasting and forecasting future workplace trends.

Q: How has experience in the finance, management and HR fields shaped your career and experiences in the workplace?

A: Each of these functional areas have developed very specialised skills, which when combined have been incredibly useful and powerful in analysing and solving business problems, both in my corporate career and now for my clients.

Finance taught me about numbers, money and the importance of the business case when putting forward business ideas and solutions: management taught me about strategic thinking, thinking ‘outside the box,’ problem solving, adaptability and influencing skills; while HR taught me that no one individual is the same, no one day in HR is the same, and ‘it’s all about people, and people are unpredictable, and rarely do what we expect them to do!’

This has meant that I have learnt about change management, the importance of employee engagement and employer branding; and diversity on multiple levels from gender to culture to age to disabilities, and different ways of thinking and working; to the different things that motivate different people.

Finance has enabled me to be analytical and logical, management has enabled me to think strategically and solve complex problems, and HR has enabled me at a practical level to understand the importance and impact of positive work environments and good, effective leadership.

Q: What role does coaching/mentoring play in the current business environment and why is it necessary? How can employees/companies benefit?

A: It is important to clearly identify the difference between coaching and mentoring. Mentoring is about giving someone, normally a younger, less experienced person - guidance, direction and advice about their career, and in some cases, some personal challenges they face. The mentor should not be in a position to affect the person’s career progression directly and is often from outside the organisation. Coaching has one of two purposes: it is either a developmental opportunity for teaching new skills or remedial in nature, requiring a change in behaviour.

I believe both these processes deliver enormous benefit to both the individual and the organisation. I have been on the receiving and giving end of both these processes. As a receiver, I have learnt long term, sustainably enhancing skills and lessons, and as a ‘giver’ – as a mentor and coach – I have enjoyed enormous job satisfaction knowing that I have made a real difference in someone’s life, both personally and professionally.

Q: Could you please describe some of your most memorable professionally moments in coaching and the location?

A: There have been numerous moments, however, the three that stand out the most for me are:

Successfully coaching a chief financial officer to do three important things as a leader, namely, listen actively, delegate effectively and communicate openly, clearly and regularly. He went from being feared to being respected by his subordinates and his peers

Coaching a number of academically gifted university students in developing effective communication and conflict resolution skills. All of my students graduated with honours earlier this year – a very proud moment for me!

Coaching a highly competent, capable, female executive for applying for a leadership role as the chief operating officer for a major not-for-profit organisation. She was successful in being appointed to the role and has made a significant contribution according to the CEO.

Q: What in your view are the various professional unique experiences that have fuelled your experience/knowledge about the seminar topic?

A: I have seen too many good people burn themselves out by not having balance in their lives, working too hard at the expense of their health, relationships and mental well-being. The harder people work, the more stressed they become, which affects personal and team productivity. Today, businesses in Australia have more stress-related workers’ compensation claims than any other health and safety related injuries.

Increasingly, Generation Y (Born 1980–1995) will leave an employer if they do not understand em-ployees’ needs for work/life balance, nor facilitate it through appropriate workplace policies and practices. As the skills shortage escalates in every developed economy, retaining staff will become a ‘top 3’ issue!