Core human principles just as important as brand values

Bruce Highfield, the Executive General Manager of Human Resources and Safety at Olam International will joinUnitingCare Queensland’s Shannon Foley and the Centre for Work, Organisation and Wellbeing’s Dr Rebecca Loudoun for a special panel discussion on the importance of organisational values in the recruitment and management of employees.

Those in attendance will hear about a variety of topics including how values play into employee recruitment, how to maintain these values and how values may differ depending on the organisation.

“One of my most recent undertakings was to review the global recruitment process for Olam, so it’s quite uncanny that this discussion has come up,” Highfield said.

“We have some brand values, and I have put a proposal together to align our recruitment to our brand values. If you say your brand is this that and the other, it would make some sense to be aligning yourself with those brand values.”

As well as a focus on brand values, Highfield says his company has a clear view towards what they call core human values or values that human beings rate others by, as they can be just as important in a working environment and leadership required individuals to display these principles.

“They’re not the values that you would see organisations putting up on the wall. Having said that, many organisations put an importance on mutual respect, teamwork, trust and honesty,” Highfield said.

“So if you’re in a group and you’re with someone you don’t trust the group will split. If you think that the person leading the group displays behaviours that are unfair, untrusting, lack respect for dignity, lack courage of decision making, these are core social values that will draw a response.”

When it comes to organisational values, Highfield believes that there is not much of a difference when you analyse how the top companies in the country operate.

“If you took the top 100 companies in Australia and you compared their vision and value statements 80% would look very similar,” Highfield said.

“In fact, you would be hard pressed to say where the values come from and you would struggle to differentiate them.”

The panel discussion is presented by the Griffith Business School Alumni Network and the Centre for Work, Organisation and Wellbeing, and will take place on Thursday, August 10^th at the Brisbane Marriott Hotel.

Bruce Highfieldis Executive General Manager HR and Safety for Olam’s operations in Australia and its Global Edible Nuts division across Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. Bruce commenced his career in HR in predominately in Industrial Relations in at Altona Chemical Complex and two years with the London Underground. During his career he has held senior positions at Orica, General Manager of People at Virgin Blue and UK consulting firm MacDonald Associates and numerous mining projects. Bruce has consistently demonstrated his ability to deliver tangible bottom line results through his understanding of organisation design and human nature.

Go online for more information on the event and how to register.