Mettle Consulting News Feed

Critical Success Factors : Accountability

Wed, 09 Oct 2008 08:30:00 GMT

Those seeking high performance should first look for accountability. Management has moved on a long way from Weber’s ideal bureaucracy, with its well-defined hierarchy, multiple layers and closely defined accountabilities. There are probably few who would wish to go back to such mechanistic organisations, nor would any survive in this world. Yet values persist and the virtues of shared behaviours, language and standards of accountability spring eternal in underpinning organisational performance...

Critical Success Factors : Creating Compelling Communications

Wed, 09 Oct 2008 08:30:00 GMT

Anyone who hears a great story will ask if it’s based on truth. Strategy is a story that must be well told and understood. It’s no secret that great strategy often fails to deliver on its promise. In 1937 Nobel prize-winning economist...

Critical Success Factors : Mentoring for Talent Sustainability and Growth

Wed, 09 Oct 2008 08:30:00 GMT

Mentoring is core to the way your business develops careers and its plans for succession can strengthen an organisation’s attractiveness. Much discussion has endeavoured to get to the root of exactly what mentoring is...

Human Capital: Stand out from the pack

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 08:30:00 GMT

The first misnomer to clear up when it comes to branding is to assume that just because an organisation hasn’t focused any attention on their employer brand, doesn’t mean they don’t have one. In many ways, the perceptions of an employer brand are formed in the same way as a consumer or product brand. Justin Papps, director of Mettle Group, explains: "If you’ve got a client, you’ve got a brand because as soon as someone has any some sort of interaction with you they are forming an opinion of you, which then shapes their brand experience.

Lifecycle Profession – Wallaby champion applies sporting leadership to business

Wed, 14 May 2008 16:30:00 GMT

John Eales is fascinated by people. Using the leadership, teamwork and networking skills learned from a career in top-class rugby union -including a five-year stint as captain of the Wallabies - Eales has established a career as an expert in workplace culture and people development. Eales established Mettle Group in 2003 with former Michael Page International executive Ian Basser. At that time, he says, he was looking for a role using the skills he had developed in sport. Mettle helps companies improve their business by suggesting improvements to their leadership, workplace culture and organisational structure. “We do a lot of work around culture,” Eales says. “That can involve systems and procedures and things such as person’s mindset or leadership skills.”

Corporate Culture Column: Human Resources - The organisation's corporate strategist

Thu, 08 May 2008 08:30:00 GMT

Stuck between an old world that needs measurement to prove value and this new world, directors need to prove their worth and the mettle. Measures in total compensation, total turnover, cost per hire, percentage of employees having performance appraisals, and job satisfaction are necessary, but from sufficient. They will need to be able to measure the non-financial statistics that financial analysts have long used to determine the best investments.

The value of creating order

Thu, 08 May 2008 08:30:00 GMT

It can be hard to convince cynics they should take these well-meaning concepts seriously. But just because something is difficult, it doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing. The director of business consultancy Mettle Group, Katharine McLennan, says setting out the values of an organisation has a more straightforward purpose – it creates order.

Human Resources The Organisation’s Corporate Strategist: What does the term Human Resources mean to you?

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 16:00:00 GMT

One of the significant outcomes of the Mettle Executive sessions is an understanding that the market value to book value ratio of companies will continue to widen exponentially as more and more value is recognised in the intangible assets which cannot be easily priced at an auction. What does this mean for the human resource director? Their department can no longer exist as simply a transactional back-office overhead providing payroll, OH and S compliance and exit interviews. It also means HR directors have more work to do. HR directors must become an essential source of strategic guidance positioned firmly to the chief executive’s right.

Human Capital - Trouble Ahead? The Big Issues HR in 2008 : Would you company make the list?

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 08:00:00 GMT

We know from the results of the FORTUNE Best Companies to Work for List that companies such as Google, who have won this award for the second time, win predominantly due to their culture. Simply google 'Google' and you will see various video’s of staff proudly discussing the culture and why it is so great to work there. The same can be said for Virgin Blue – look at their annual reports, the numbers and references to their successful culture literally jump off the pages. Why then do so many companies still question the benefits of culture…or are their doubts primarily around how to actually do it?

Mettle is proud to support the highly valuable organisation - Life Goes on

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Life Goes On is focused on re-building the lives of those who are affected directly and indirectly by life threatening illnesses. One of the main reasons Mettle fully endorses and supports the work of Life Goes On is the alignment of Mettle’s purpose to build organisations to find and live their Mettle and the purpose of Life Goes On to re-build the lives of people. We invite you to watch this short video on the experience of one recovering sufferer of a critical illness, to appreciate the circumstances in which 1 in 3 people find themselves.

FORTUNE 'Best 100' Gives Nod To Human Capital Risk Management

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 12:00:00 GMT

For decades business leaders have been sceptical of the role culture plays in reducing the risks associated with human capital. FORTUNE magazine, however, recently featured the '100 best companies to work for' who have provided a higher return than the S&P 500 over seven years, showing a positive relationship between a strong, affirming culture and performance.

A plead for HR to transition to the much needed strategic advisory position

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 12:00:00 GMT

The human resources (HR) press and professional associations continue to produce volumes of information about HR becoming a strategic partner. HR professionals are working hard to have a seat at the table, to be a strategic business partner, and to add value to the organisation. Yet, many HR professionals still don't seem to have made this transition successfully. So what needs to happen to transition HR into a critical strategic financial value add to organisations of today?

Uk Top Consultant: Publication achieving excellence

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Global leadership research persistently highlights that there is a critical shortage of good strategic leaders, not just in the UK, but around the world. Failures in strategic leadership contribute to a weakening in economic competitiveness, organisational underperformance, and are at times counted in lives and livelihoods lost. Therefore, what should be done about this global phenomenon, which applies to business corporations, public services, and the third sector?

Leading the Charge - John Eales Elite Leadership | Wealthcreator, February 2008, Page 30

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Australian rugby union icon John Eales has become a successful entrepreneur and corporate advisor since his retirement from the game. He spoke to Joanne McCulloch about the key ingredients of elite relationship. The highlight of his [John Eales's] business career has been to see Mettle grow successfully without people actually realising he started the company himself. About a year ago I was in a general meeting and someone said to me, when did Mettle get you involved?' That was a huge highlight for me. It was recognition that we have achieved…

Are you measuring your Human Capital Management OR are you losing assets and dollars?

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 12:00:00 GMT

The quality of Human Capital Management (HCM) disclosure was the subject of a recently completed research project, reported in the Australian Financial Review1 today. The project looked specifically at how Australia's 50 largest ASX-listed corporations reported on how they managed their people in 2007. "From companies that managed to get a handle on what has traditionally been referred to as a 'soft' and 'feel-good' exercise, the pay-offs are very real. Employees look to HCM disclosures for assurance about the type of workplace a potential employer provides and investors have begun factoring HCM disclosures into their decision making" says Kellerman...

Is it time the Boards score card included culture?

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 16:00:00 GMT

A recent headline read “Complacent and arrogant culture allowed to flourish.” Is this evidence enough to prove that Boards need to set, manage and be held accountable for an organisations culture? A Board’s close involvement in the design and management of the culture the organisation requires to mitigate its risk, execute its strategy and deliver the best bottom line possible is now a crucial and proven requirement and should form part of the Corporate Governance Processes says Craig McCallum General Manager Marketing at Mettle Consulting, a specialist in Corporate Culture and Executive Leadership.

How do you know...Board Members?

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 11:00:00 GMT

As a Board member, how do you know that the culture of the organisation under your stewardship will deliver the strategy ethically and successfully? Boards have faced more change in the last few years than they’ve seen in several decades, but the experts say that more is required. Look at the recent case of AWB – "At AWB the baord and the management failed to create, instill or maintain a culture of ethical dealing" Commissioner Terence Cole. How then does a Board assess culture to determine whether it can prevent events that serve as early warning signs from becoming full-blown disasters? How does a Board know where and how the culture within the company can be strengthened so that it proactively supports the succesful transformation of strategy into execution and therefore shareholder returns? Katharine McLennan, Practice Leader Leadership & Teams discusses solutions to this critical issue in the Mettle Detector Paper entitled How do you Know?

It's official... System and structures must link to corporate culture

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 11:00:00 GMT

"Strategy works best when backed by congruent behaviour, symbols and systems and through aligning the culture to businesses strategy". Most of us have heard this over time, but how many of us actually put this into action... Most of us have heard this over time, but how many of us actually put this into action? Questions we are regularly asked are: 'If culture is about how things are done around here, how does a business go about aligning or its culture?' OR 'If everything including structure and systems are interlinked with strategy and culture, where does a business start in connecting strategy, culture, structure and systems?'

Diversity…Different Strokes

Mon, 3 Dec 2007 12:00:00 GMT

Heather Carmody, a practice leader at culture change consultants Mettle Group, says: "The beter leaders of teams don’t have to be told about this. They actually just have diversity as a value. It's about putting a spotlight on their ability to pull out full effort from team members." The good news, says Carmody, is that this type of behaviour can be learned. But what is also needed is the promotion of managers who do well on diversity measures and the removal of people who do not.

Neuroleadership…It's all in the mind

Mon, 3 Dec 2007 12:00:00 GMT

CEO’s and board directors are becoming more receptive to many of the ideas of neuroleadership, says consultant Katharine McLennan of the Mettle Group. She knows of many senior executives who are using meditation, for example, but the use of a new framework backed by scientific evidence will make a difference. "We've always know about it, but people hear the science," she says

M&A's: Making the marriage last

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 14:00:00 GMT

The corporate world is littered with M&As that have crashed and burned for failing to consider one crucial element: corporate culture. Iain Hopkins investigates why this eternal intangible is so important. Despite countless organisations spruiking the motto, 'our people are the key to our success', it's interesting to note that when it comes to major corporate upheavals such as M&As, the people are often neglected. It's assumed everyone will simply go along for the ride, wherever that ride may be heading.

Team must join culture club

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 16:00:00 GMT

Question: I own a successful medium-sized business and know that teamwork will be vital to its success. What should I do to encourage more team work among my staff? It doesn't matter whether you plan to continue working with your exisiting employees or introduce new personnel, teamwork is the key to the continued success of your business. It is vital component of a successful business.

Mettle Group features on Channel 9’s Your Business Success

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 12:00:00 GMT

Mettle Group, which specialises in improving corporate culture and leadership in large to medium companies, has identified a need to enhance their communications in line with the company ethos. Given their commitment to lead by example, they are in the process of upgrading their existing communication systems to cater for future growth.

How to Make Good People Great Leaders…and Reap the Rewards

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 09:00:00 GMT

Why is it that we are so infatuated by the term leadership? Why do we find leadership so interesting, so challenging, so difficult, so inspiring? Thousands of companies, including many that are represented here tonight, spend millions of dollars on leadership development – only to get luke warm results…Why?

Two Leading Companies Join Forces

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 03:00:00 GMT

Mettle Consulting has very rapidly established itself as the thought leader in the area of business improvement through leadership and culture - many of the top 100 companies in Australia are engaging their expertise to achieve better business performance through people. The broad range of services that both Chandler Macleod and Mettle Consulting can now offer its clients is unparalleled. The structure gives Mettle Consulting the freedom to accelerate its growth globally and enables our team to fulfill their career aspirations under this supportive corporate structure.

Fight the urge to relax over Festive Season Drinks HR Professionals – it's time to get involved in the strategy plan for 2008+

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 10:00:00 GMT

Christmas Carols are chiming through shopping centres, decorations, baubles and lights are glistening on trees and those tedious or much anticipated end of year party invitations are slowly coming through the emails tempting you to start slowing down and prepare for the festive season…but it is not yet time to pop the champagn corks in the HR Divisions says Craig McCallum of Mettle Consulting. No longer can HR afford to work in isolation and simply respond to the strategy after it has been designed behind closed doors. HR needs to be involved in formulating the strategy and work along side the CEO and the Executive Management Team to align critical HR methodologies, culture, processes and systems to the business strategy at the time of its development or at the very least, at every review stage. Undertaking this task is tough which explains why few companies do 'strategy' and 'people alignment' successfully.

On Your Mettle Culture Experts - Designing the Right Culture to Attract, Retain & Develop Talent

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 10:00:00 GMT

Mettle Consulting features in the latest Human Capital Magazine (Oct '07) as the 'On Your Mettle Culture Experts', where Mettle's Craig McCallum discusses Designing the Right Culture to Attract, Retain & Develop Talent. "Finding the right people is challenging, but so too is keeping those people and continuously developing them. The solution is a concise and meaningful company culture supporte by structured leadership behaviours, clear symbols and effective systems as well as complementary integration of development programs that build the capability of your exisiting human capital and attract new talent."

Mettle Consulting joins with ING on Day 1 of the Director’s Forum and discusses 'Aligning employee behaviour with business objectives'

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 17:00:00 GMT

Mettle Consulting's Katharine McLennan joins with ING's Sharyn Shultz on Day 1 of the Director's Forum to discuss 'Aligning employee behaviour with business objectives' where they will discuss how aligning employees' behaviour with the organisation's culture is critical to attain business success. This unique joint presentation will provide an exclusive perspective on the importance of HR leading the latest thinking on what culture is, how it can be driven in the changing workplace and more importantly, the role of HR in this critical process.

Mettle Consulting is sponsoring the 2008 HR Directors Forum

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 17:00:00 GMT

"The HR Summit and HR Directors Forum are a very important events for the HR Industry as they provide an opportunity for HR Professionals to regroup and openly debate the challenges facing the industry and identify solutions to the issues", says Mettle Consulting’s Craig McCallum, GM Marketing & Corporate Services. It is Mettle’s position that company's first need to recognise that strategy without talent and an aligned culture is just a thought on paper – usually reams of it. Companies need to develop the skills to plan and initiate talent attraction, retention and HR strategies to develop and harness the skills that will enable the company to achieve its strategy. Lasting competitive advantage will only eventuate once companies understand and initiate the involvement of HR in strategy formulation and aligning talent, culture and HR methodology to the agreed strategy for effective people execution. In return however HR needs to be prepared to play this crucial role also. Bottom line, without the people, there is no strategy.

An M&A Culture Due Diligence Solution: It's not just the wedding, it's the marriage: - An insight and "how to solution"

Wed, 7 Nov 2007 14:20:00 GMT

The merger and acquisition (M&A) boom of the last few years shows few signs of easing up. Most acquirers have the wherewithal to continue making deals and paying fat premiums. The implication however is clear: the executives doing the deals are bullish that they can realize synergistic value. Many observers and many independent studies question whether M&A's truly add value. Executives also point to the unfulfilled realisation of synergies. Only haf of the senior executives polled in a 2006 Intelligence Unit survey believed that their companies had achieved the revenue synergies they had expected from their M&A activities, and just 45% affirmed that expected cost synergies had been captured. Although acquirers are getting better at identifying and capturing synergies, many deals still do not recover their acquisition premiums and others fail to achieve the long list of benefits touted by management as the rationales for doing the deals in the first place. Some of these failures are clearly the result of overpaying for targets. But others are due to an incorrect understanding of what exactly synergies are, and how they should be captured. There are several factors that are easy to overlook, or under-appreciate, when deal-making and emotions run high. [Where has all the synergy gone? The M&A puzzle, Journal of Business Strategy, Vol 28, No 5 2007]

How Systems and Structure Link to Culture

Tue, 6 Nov 2007 14:20:00 GMT

Its official…systems and structures must link to corporate culture – but how do you do it and what does this really mean to business? Mettle Consultings latest On Your Mettle Podcast "How Structure and Systems Link to Culture" discusses how business strategy works best when backed by congruent behaviour, symbols and systems and through aligning the culture to the businesses strategy.

Professional Service Firm Marketing

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 16:20:00 GMT

Mettle Consulting has today released its RSS streaming podcast and news function to the business community via its website: (http://www.mettle.com.au/news_and_media/press_resources/default.aspx.) The website has experienced a total face-lift over the last year to become a destination Management Consulting Website. In response to the initiative, McCallum indicates the marketing approach for the Professional Service Firm is an art in successful differentiation - not to be confused with unique selling propositions - but in delivering on generic benefits, such as good service, on-time delivery, access to experts and above all - quality products.

A strong culture can augment growth strategy

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 10:20:00 GMT

How to enhance your corporate growth strategy through a strong and well defined culture… Mettle Consulting’s latest On Your Mettle Podcast “The Role Culture Plays in Setting Companies up for Growth” outlines the critical role a well defined culture plays in setting your company up for long-term tangible growth.

An effective culture reduces organisational risk

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 10:20:00 GMT

WARNING: Companies need to stop puring money down the risk compliance drain and focus instead on building a risk compliant culture for long term risk aversion. Mettle Consultings latest On Your Mettle Podcast "The Role of Culture in Managing Risk" outlines the critical role a risk compliant culture can play in reducing risk and avoid pouring "risk aversion dollars" down the drain.

Where is culture on board review

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 10:20:00 GMT

In a time where mergers and acquisitions do not appear to be slowing, for a Board to understand the critical elements and tangible value of culture in an organisation, it takes more than simply reviewing the CEO KPI’s and results of engagement surveys...

Designing the right culture to attract, retain and develop talent

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 09:20:00 GMT

Retaining current staff through your culture, supported by structured programs to build the capability of existing human capital, allows organisations to control reward blow-outs, recruitment costs, and maintain consistency and quality of service. In effect, it is up to HR to play a critical role in executing the organisations strategy and developing and attracting talent...

Not one of us, Mate! Diversity - Changing Mindset

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 09:20:00 GMT

There is a severe skills shortage in the Western World, driven by demographics. Clearly the talent pool needs to be deepened, but the question is how. And it is not just a matter of recruiting talented people in all their many permutations...

Retention Deficit Disorder

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 09:15:00 GMT

The secret to keeping staff isn’t money or knee-jerk benefits programs – it is smarter management. Staff retention is a quantifiable problem. The issue is that effective solutions to retaining staff do not involve throwing quantities of money at said problem.

The biggest mistake organisations make around ‘culture’ is assuming ‘culture’ = ‘values’. Mettle warns against making the mistake of confusing ‘culture’ as being purely ‘values’.

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 09:39:21 GMT

Recent comments in the press such as 'businesses can’t learn culture' and 'culture grows organically and cannot be planned or structured or managed' is a fatal error of judgment and a key factor as to why many organisations continue to fail in developing the right culture to realise their company strategies.

The grave and costly confusion between measuring ‘climate’ rather than critical components of the ‘corporate culture’ through engagement surveys.

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 09:39:21 GMT

'Engagement scores and employee opinions surveys essentially measure how “happy” employees are with the organisation. Employees’ happiness is an important but not sufficient ingredient for executing the organisation’s strategy.

Corporate culture is a financial value-add for succession planning

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 09:39:21 GMT

'Nearly two-thirds of acquired companies lose market share in the first quarter; by the third quarter, the figure is 90%, due to companies not conducting thorough human due diligence before acquiring or preparing for succession.

Understanding culture is not just reviewing CEO talent

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 09:39:21 GMT

There are many writings of experts on corporate governance, yet there is little reference to the boards' responsibility in auditing the culture of organisations that they govern. Where are the references to writings about a board’s understanding of the type of culture the organisation requires to mitigate its risk, execute its strategy and deliver the best bottom line possible when discussing corporate governance? How clear are the messages in organisations about the way people are expected to behave in the organisation, and is this behaviour conducive to supporting the organisation's unique strategy?

Culture creates a competitive advantage

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 09:39:21 GMT

SMEs need to have the right corporate culture in place if they are to acquire a competitive advantage—or else risk losing market share! That’s the view of leading business culture expert, Liana Di Stefano, Practice Leader, Mettle....