Kaplan Community Podcast
Listen for free to the personal stories of alumni from Kaplan Business School. Join host Kieran Howard, as we share stories about life as a student, life after graduation, future plans, and staying connected. Get involved with us on our KBS Alumni LinkedIn group at https://www.linkedin.com/groups/6567849/, and with Kaplan Business School at www.kbs.edu.au.
Kaplan Community Podcast
S2 E2 Andy Garnam on Organisational Wellbeing
Andy Garnam is the Executive Director - People & Culture at Kaplan Australia & New Zealand. Listen to Andy's discussions of mental health and wellbeing; and careers in managing human resources.
In PART ONE, Andy explains the exciting and important services for staff and students. Kaplan Business School and Kaplan Professional staff and students can access Sonder; student wellbeing services; and counselling assistance.
- The newest service, Sonder, is an app that staff and students can access for free for 24x7 emotional support and security. Click here for information about Sonder.
- The Student Wellbeing program tailors its counselling support to the struggles of studying on students’ mental health. Find out more information about Student Wellbeing at Kaplan Business School and Kaplan Professional.
- Counselling assistance via the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is available for staff and students. Access free and strictly confidential counselling assistance on the Student Wellbeing links above. Students, you can now access EAP too!
In PART TWO, Andy shares his career experiences in human resource management (HR). Listen as he explains the what the future of work looks like in generalist and specialist HR roles. As well, Andy notes the prevalence of digitising HR records and opportunities in specialist HR roles.
For additional episodes, refer to the Kaplan Community Podcast webpage.
CHAPTERS
00:31 PART ONE: MENTAL WELLBEING AND HEALTH
01:32 Sonder for staff and students
03:38 EAP services for staff and students
04:25 How Andy manages mental wellbeing
06:10 About Andy's role in Kaplan Australia & New Zealand
07:24 Taking responsibility for mental wellbeing
09:21 The right way to ask, 'are you ok?'
11:23 Talking with counsellors or EAP
13:19 Setting-up a mental health plan for staff
16:05 Common issues with wellbeing
18:48 PART TWO: MANAGING HUMAN RESOURCES
19:02 HR trend #1, future of work
19:57 HR trend #2, digitisation
21:07 Generalist or specialist careers in HR
22:41 Choosing which industry to begin your career
27:07 Growing your career to a leadership level
29:25 Where you can access confidential support
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The Kaplan Community podcast is a platform
for the wider Kaplan community
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to share ideas and insights
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that can guide us on our professional
and academic development.
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It's easy to listen
to tackle some hard hitting issues,
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and we think it's a great way
to appreciate diverse perspectives
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on life learning and careers.
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Hi, I'm Andy Garnham,
I look after the People and Culture,
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Facilities, and Health and Safety teams
here at Kaplan, Australia and New Zealand.
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To launch season
two of the Kaplan Community
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podcast, we'll be starting a short series
on the important issues of mental
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wellbeing and mental health
as they relate to the Kaplan community.
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Its students, alumni and staff.
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And we're lucky enough
to have a very special guest.
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Andy Garnham is the executive
director of People
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and Culture at Kaplan,
Australia and New Zealand.
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So that's spanning
CAP Business School, Kaplan
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Professional and several important
pathway organizations.
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Andy, thank you for joining us.
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How are you doing today?
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Kiran, thank you very much to you
and Richard for having me.
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It's great to be here today
to have a chat to you.
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And I think it's a really important issue.
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You mentioned some of the resources
that we do have or
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we've talked about ippy and counseling.
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Could you expand on that a bit or perhaps
what should I do
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if I'm an employee
and I feel like I could use help? Sure.
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So there's an I guess a number of avenues.
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One really important
and probably a thing really exciting
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and new concept is Sonder, which is an app
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that our students can access for free
and our staff can access for free, which,
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you know, every time
I talk to particularly Alex Raymond
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Clark in Cabe's about it,
I couldn't wrap my head around it first
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because it seemed to be like
what can't what counts on to do?
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You know, they seem to be able
to do everything.
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And the more I've used it myself
and looked into it,
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it is a fantastic
first avenue for people to access.
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If they're feeling vulnerable,
if they're feeling under threat,
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if they're not sure on particularly
our international students, you know,
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not sure on what's right or wrong
or if somebody's somebody saying
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potentially they're a policeman
and that they need to do this.
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And that is this
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is that how I need to respond
in Australia is at the right or wrong
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think it gives them access to to support
and help pretty much at their fingertips.
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You know, they can get medical treatment
organized through SONDA.
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They can get the police or medical
services sent out to them straight away
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if they're in a vulnerable situation.
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You're walking home late at night
and feeling uncertain.
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They can have Sonder track their movements
and make sure that they're going to
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where they said they were going
and if they don't, to to contact them
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and check in on them.
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So that's one fantastic,
I think, way to access
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access, support, but more,
I guess, generally in day to day as well.
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If if it's a staff member or a student,
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I think it's talking to someone first
and foremost, you know, for our students.
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They have their teachers
and academic staff
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that may not always have the right answers
or may not have the answers
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that they think that student needs
will always be able to still point them
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in the right direction.
We've got our student
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experience teams that can point them
in the right direction.
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They can get access staff
and students directly to
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AP through accessing life works, you know,
calling someone so they don't ever
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need to talk to somebody at Kaplan
if they don't feel that's the way.
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And also, from a staff perspective,
the Daija team are always there as well.
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And the health and safety team,
any you've mentioned the soundtrack
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and how it helps when we're not on campus
or not at work about
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just asking for help of how to respond
or what we should do in a situation.
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And then on campus,
we're at work talking to someone,
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whether it's via the employee
assistance program or for staff or
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counselors for students.
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But now we're facing
Covid and social isolation.
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So I'm curious, how do you manage
good mental well-being in yourself?
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Yeah, sure. And look,
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it's it's up and down for me,
like I'm sure it is for everyone.
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So by no means is a perfect.
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But I do try and keep a balance of things,
so particularly my health and exercise.
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So when I'm outside of lockdown,
I'd definitely like
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to go to the gym every morning
and I can't do that at the moment.
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So I really take the opportunity
at least once or twice
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a day to get out with my dogs,
get some fresh air,
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and just actually get away
from the computer screen
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and get away from the room
and have a change of scene.
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All the things that I probably try
and do in Day-To-Day life, to be honest,
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Richard, as well.
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So I try to eat as well as I can,
although I have to admit during lockdown,
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I tend to to treat myself a little bit
more than I normally would.
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And definitely, you know,
from a sleep perspective,
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I really focus on getting my
my eight hours, which I know
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is what I need to to feel refreshed
and sort of energized
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and often from, I guess, day to day
perspective working.
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You know, it's different
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when you're working in front
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of the computer screen in a bedroom
compared to being in the office.
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So I do try and get up a lot
throughout the day, move around,
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talk to my dogs or my partner,
and just sort of, again, sort of reset
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change scene, as you would in the office
or , you know, on campus in a school
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if you're working and you're not doing
the same thing over and over again.
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Yeah, I've found that to be
one of the tough parts, actually,
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is the division between work and home life
that that reset.
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I think that's well put.
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Just for our listeners also,
perhaps those who don't work at Katlin.
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Would you give a bit of background
on what your role is at
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Kaplan, Australia,
New Zealand? Yeah. Sure.
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So as you mentioned, my title,
which is not necessarily
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the same as what you do day to day,
but my title is executive director
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People and Culture from a couple
in Australia, New Zealand perspective.
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I look after people
and culture in that team.
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I also look after the administration
and facilities team
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and the health and safety team,
which is now two people.
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So we can call on the team aside.
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So a broad, broad remit,
but actually works really well together
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with facilities,
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human resources and health and safety,
and particularly in the last year
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or so with Covid in the pandemic ,
you know, health and safety
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and how we can use our facilities,
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our campuses and our schools is as much
have kind of facilities
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issue as it is an issue
and a health and safety issue.
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So we we work all really well together,
but have our sort
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of separate remit within my team.
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And so you oversee pretty diverse,
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a wide ranging departments
and disciplines.
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What would you say then?
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And I don't know if this is just
pertaining to human resources, but
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what would you say is the responsibility
towards wellbeing and mental health?
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So, yeah, I mean, I think it's a shared
responsibility overall,
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which is probably a little bit
what you're alluding to there, Kiran.
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But from a, you know, an eye chart
perspective, health and wellbeing is
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sort of one element of, I guess,
the employee or the student life cycle.
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So for us tonight,
our focus is really supporting
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and guiding our people, leaders
and having the right processes
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in place to help
throughout that lifecycle.
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So as you know, employees are coming on
board as they're learning changing roles,
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you know, going through performance
management, whether that's, you know,
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growth in performance or performance
that isn't going so, so well.
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So along that journey
and through that lifecycle,
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the health and wellbeing
piece is is an element
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that, you know, sits into all of that
or probably you could say underlines that.
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So really how we interrelate,
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how we support our staff,
we need to have wellbeing
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or as you talked about,
layer compassion as well as our focus
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. I'm proud of the compassion we have
for all of our staff and students,
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and it relies on our ability
to ask a very simple question
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along the lines of are you OK?
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But when I asked that question, I'm
really nervous that someone will give me
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a really truthful answer
that I don't know how to respond to.
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For example, periodically
when I'm feeling anxious or someone
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says, Oh, Richard, are you OK?
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Deep down inside, I know I'm not OK,
but I feel self-conscious
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that someone is noticed
or maybe singling me out.
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So I'm asking for your advice
when trying to be compassionate.
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What's the best way to ask someone
if they're feeling OK?
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I think you're the way you're
feeling about it,
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Richard, is probably very universal
and very common.
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I don't think any of us necessarily
feel really comfortable.
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And maybe it's part
of the human condition. I don't know.
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But, you know, probably first
defense is to is to say, yep, I'm fine.
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Nothing to worry about,
you know, nothing to say here.
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And again, for me, you know, in my role,
it doesn't always come easy.
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But I think the first thing I think about
is just trying to be authentic about it
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and ask the question
and not be afraid to do say
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or act in the wrong way.
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Because really, if you're coming
from a place of compassion,
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if you are genuinely concerned or worried,
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you know how somebody responds to you
with that you can't control.
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But asking the question you can control.
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I think in terms of how we
then deal with the response,
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you know, it is different
in every situation.
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And I think we are.
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I would say lucky here at Kaplan in that
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we've got a lot of resources available
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at our hands so that we don't actually
have to be the expert.
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It may be that you're
compassionate in the moment
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that you're saying to someone, wow,
that sounds like a really tough time.
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Have you thought
about contacting the employee
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assistance program
or have you thought about talking to the
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counseling team and saying
what options I might have for you
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and actually guiding people,
I guess, to expertize
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and not feeling like
you actually have to have all the answers
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because you don't have them
and I don't have them.
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But somebody will.
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I guess the first thing for me to do
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is get over the lack of confidence
that I might hurt somebody else.
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And instead, I can see how to act
from a position of compassion for others.
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So it's a good point, Andy.
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So my next question is,
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what if a person is going to decide
to seek counseling services?
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What are some of the things
that they might be feeling?
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What kinds of things might they be able
to talk about with a counselor or ippy?
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It's wide ranging to be honest.
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And probably first and foremost,
I should put the disclaimer in the AP
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and our counseling services
that are on site are all confidential.
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So, you know, the counselors
have have a first and important,
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I suppose, role in keeping that student
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all that employee's issues
confidential in terms
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of what they could be speaking about,
could be a range of things.
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So, you know, from a student or a staff
perspective that might be somebody
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struggling and not quite sure why,
you know, maybe their
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their grades are going down or they're not
feeling as engaged in their work, etc.
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That might be more,
I suppose, in your face in terms of what
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the issues could be.
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You know, somebody might be struggling
with an addiction with gambling.
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It could be financial issues.
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They might be having domestic
violence issues.
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So it could be a whole range of things.
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And I guess for me, the probably
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the important part of the counseling
service is that.
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It doesn't have to seem like a big issue
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that our staff and students
need to talk to a counselor about.
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It could be something that maybe,
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maybe they think is small and not worthy
of talking to a counselor about.
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But if they start that process early on
and I guess there's an early intervention
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that that could potentially
help their wellbeing
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and help help the outcome. Longer-Term.
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So it's true. Kaplan does
have the resources and epee counseling
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for four staff. And from an Hajar
perspective or people in culture.
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What are the challenges or key things
to focus on when you're setting up
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a mental health plan for staff,
when you're sort of strategically looking
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at how do we protect or serve? Our staff
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is short. So I think
it needs to have a number of factors.
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So it's never going to be a
one size fits all.
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You know, some people won't feel confident
about going to counseling
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no matter what we say.
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You know, that you know, it's up
to the individual at the end of the day.
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So for us, in the approach
we've taken, it, Kaplan, is to try
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and build on what we've got
and to try and better that.
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So, you know, we started off.
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When you think about our journey,
we started off with AARP,
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which lots of organizations
have for their staff.
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And often it's kind of,
you know, banner on the bottom of a
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sort of Internet page somewhere.
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There's there's a pay
call them if you need them.
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We then built on that as our student
core cohort grew and understood
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that really we needed to start engaging
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face to face and having counselors
on the ground that kind of,
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I guess, more aligned to more in tune
with the Day-To-Day student issues.
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So adding that element in, we try and
communicate quite a bit here at Kaplan.
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And I know there's,
you know, particularly for me, as you guys
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would say, a lot of communication
out about a lot of things.
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But we do always try
and include that sort of counseling
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well-being type message
in the communications that we do.
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We've also moved, particularly
when we moved offsite
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with Covid to having resources
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available on SharePoint, on our Internet.
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So really multi, multi
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pronged approach.
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And I suppose the false element
there is a little bit about training.
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And Richard spoke,
I guess, before about that
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uncertainty, not necessarily
knowing what to do or to say.
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We do have mental health.
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First aid training in place
may not have gotten
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I don't think it has got to our sort
of academic staff yet,
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but certainly our student experience
and student services
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staff have gone through mental health
first aid training to help train
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and equip them with some of that knowledge
and some of those skills in terms
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of identifying mental health
or well-being issues
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and then directing people
the right way, I suppose.
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I think it was really actually important
how you highlighted
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some of these issues
that may be affecting staff.
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So people might realize I'm
I'm a professional or I'm
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a student who cares about my studies,
and I'm not the only one
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who might have an addiction issue
or might be suffering abuse.
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What are some of them
are some of the most common things
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that you think people may be facing?
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There's a lot happening around
depression, loneliness
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with that coming out of the pandemic
or whether it's just through
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general day to day pace of life
for people, domestic violence issues.
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You know, it's really important and a
and a big element and probably something
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particularly in Australia
that in the past we haven't spoken
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so much about that these days.
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More and more people are talking about it
as as an issue and being up front
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that people may have that issue
and may need support.
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And then, you know,
all the other things that you just
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mentioned around addiction,
et cetera, everybody.
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Financial issues that could
there could be a whole gamut of things,
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to be honest, Kiran. So, yeah,
but they're probably the key ones for me.
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Well, I appreciate your answer
and the honesty as well.
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That doesn't make a lot of sense,
but I think the important message
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or what I derived was that, you know,
whatever you might be facing
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there is an avenue for support
and you should definitely reach out.
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Yeah, that's exactly right.
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And again, you know, our counselors,
whether they be our student
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counselors on site or the AP service,
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again, they may not be the experts
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in all of these issues,
but they certainly have the skills
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to help navigate
and guide people through those issues
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and also then to steer them
to the appropriate
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professional course of action,
you know, could be to a GP or to a further
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counseling service that specializes
in addictions or whatever the case may be.
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So really, counseling
could be for some people
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first and last step,
or it could be the first step
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into a bigger and broader sort of life
program to help them get through.
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A few months ago, I
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did contact the EP,
the employee assistance program,
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and I found it so easy
because, number one,
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it was literally a phone call
to set up an appointment,
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and then it was on to a counselor
who is really, really valuable
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in helping me through the issues
of why I was feeling anxious.
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00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:25,040
So how did I try to handle
the anxiety by myself?
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Well, the first thing I did,
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I went out and bought some cookbooks
and a new kitchen aid mixer.
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And now I laugh to myself because I became
a very anxious but good cook.
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So anyway, I knew I had to talk
to a professional person.
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And the eepy counselor was incredibly easy
and nonjudgmental.
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It was a really good experience.
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00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:47,200
And it brings me to my next question.
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00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:52,200
Well, it's actually a two part question.
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First, what are the trends in H.R.?
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And second, how important is technology
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and digitization
to the future of the H.R. function?
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00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:05,600
To go to the first part of your question,
the big trends at the moment
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for child really probably around
future of work and digitization
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and, you know, the future
of what questions really potentially
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being pushed forward and driven
more and more by Covid and the pandemic.
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And that encapsulates
a whole heap of of work around
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what sort of work people are doing,
where they're doing, how they're doing it.
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00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:34,120
You know, whether it's in offices
or schools or campuses working from home
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00:19:34,120 --> 00:19:37,480
or if it's a hybrid model,
if they're in an office,
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00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:40,560
what sort of work do they do there
versus the work they do at home,
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00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:43,160
all those sorts of things,
which is interesting.
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00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:46,920
And, you know, I don't think that, again,
there's no right or wrong or one
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00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:48,480
answer to that, because every
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00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:52,040
organization, every industry
is so different and so unique
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00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:56,120
and at a different stage
within their strategy and lifecycle.
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00:19:57,160 --> 00:20:00,920
And then the second
part, digitization is probably,
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00:20:00,920 --> 00:20:06,800
you know, a whole host of like all roles,
a whole host of processes
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00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:12,400
that sit behind a child
that can be digitized and sort of free up
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00:20:12,400 --> 00:20:17,200
resources so that they can be more focused
and more outwardly focused,
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00:20:17,200 --> 00:20:21,120
I guess so working with the business
being available for people.
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00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:26,400
So there's a big focus in digitizing
those sort of processes at the moment.
329
00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:29,320
And again, different
for every organization.
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00:20:29,320 --> 00:20:34,160
You know, for us, it kept on where
a small team we've probably done
331
00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:41,240
some quite constructive and economical
digitization, if that makes sense.
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00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:47,520
So using basic things like workflows
in word documents and DocuSign
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00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:51,880
and all those sorts of things to help
sort of get rid of the busy
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00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:54,760
paperwork and the press up
to focus more on
335
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what's in what's most important,
which is of our students and staff.
336
00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:03,240
So they're the two key things
from a Day-To-Day perspective.
337
00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:07,560
Well, you know, I think it's so broad.
338
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You can be a generalist.
339
00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:12,920
And that's tended to be my career
as a generalist in nature,
340
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as my interest in being a journalist
was really working with the business.
341
00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:21,560
So it's always businesses
and people that I find interesting.
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00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:27,080
Or you could be a specialist and,
you know, focus on health and safety
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or recruitment, learning and development,
employer relations.
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00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:34,200
So it's you know, it's interesting.
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I think it's interesting.
I've been doing it for a long time
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and I've worked in
lots of different industries.
347
00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:42,280
And to be honest, I find that
exciting as well as, you know, working in
348
00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:45,480
education versus financial services
349
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or, you know, product manufacturing.
350
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I've worked in all of those
and in health care.
351
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And at the core of them,
they're all different.
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00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:56,600
There's different elements to what
you have to do in your role day to day.
353
00:21:56,600 --> 00:21:59,280
But at the at the core is always people.
354
00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:03,680
And it's always how,
you know, how everyone works, works
355
00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:08,600
well together, works effectively together
to get the outcomes
356
00:22:08,600 --> 00:22:12,000
that the business needs to get,
whether it be, as we said, health care,
357
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education outcomes or financial services
type of outcomes.
358
00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:19,600
That was actually going to be
my next question, because, Andy,
359
00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:24,200
I looked at your LinkedIn profile
before the interview.
360
00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:28,800
I was I was excited and decided to,
you know, see a bit more about you.
361
00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:34,280
And it's true. You've you've been
in strategic and leadership roles in H.R.
362
00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:37,640
for a while, but but jumped around
quite a bit between the industries.
363
00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:41,720
And so I was interested to know
more about that.
364
00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:44,480
I've worked in a few different
industries myself.
365
00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:48,880
And what is the difference,
do you think, in education?
366
00:22:49,760 --> 00:22:53,360
How might somebody pick
which industry is right for them?
367
00:22:54,120 --> 00:22:58,400
For my own for my own personal experience,
I guess a bit of it's been driven
368
00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:02,000
by where geographically
369
00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:05,920
we're located and my partner as well
in terms of that.
370
00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:09,880
So you might have seen
if you've been doing that LinkedIn viewing
371
00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:13,680
that I've been working in Sydney
and in Melbourne and across my career.
372
00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:19,200
So so some of that has been driven
by the need to change cities
373
00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:23,600
based on my partner's role moving and,
you know, not necessarily
374
00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:27,440
being able to continue with my job
from one state to the next.
375
00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:31,040
But a lot of the time,
it's really been about interest
376
00:23:31,040 --> 00:23:34,480
and opportunity and challenge as well.
377
00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:37,520
And I probably come
to a second part of the question
378
00:23:37,520 --> 00:23:40,640
in a moment, but for me
personally, everywhere I've worked.
379
00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:44,120
Has been more about
380
00:23:44,120 --> 00:23:47,320
what does business do,
what are they trying to achieve?
381
00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:50,840
What are their values, you know,
how do they work
382
00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:56,520
and where I can see that, I can,
I guess, add value in that aspect .
383
00:23:56,520 --> 00:23:59,680
So it's that's helped me,
384
00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:04,160
I guess, in terms of changing
changing industries
385
00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:07,640
and not necessarily
being the expert in that industry.
386
00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:10,440
And, you know, there's a lot of people
that are expert H.R.
387
00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:12,720
experts within their own industry.
388
00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:17,880
For me, that joy of understanding,
you know, how when I work Dulux,
389
00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:23,480
for instance, how the product is made,
you know, seeing it in a factory.
390
00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:26,680
Understanding that sort of supply
chain, then the value
391
00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:30,680
chain into sales and marketing,
that really interests me.
392
00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:34,680
And then obviously the human elements
of that where people fit into all of that.
393
00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:38,320
And what value to humans
create to that process.
394
00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:40,040
And same with education.
395
00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:45,080
I mean, Kaplan, I had I'll admit
I hadn't really in the past
396
00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:48,680
ever thought about working
in the education space, but I was really
397
00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:52,320
taken with Kaplan and
398
00:24:52,840 --> 00:24:56,200
the different entities
within all the different businesses,
399
00:24:56,200 --> 00:25:00,960
within Kaplan and the vast, you know,
array of educational opportunities that
400
00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:05,560
Kaplan provides for all sorts of people ,
whether it be financial services,
401
00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:10,200
people in Kaplan Professional
or our international students or students
402
00:25:10,560 --> 00:25:15,040
looking to grow the English skills
or even read markka.
403
00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:19,600
You know, as a as a tech company,
which which is quite unique and different.
404
00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:25,800
So Kaplan really spoke to me in that way,
in that there were
405
00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:30,320
there was so many opportunities
and education at the end of the day,
406
00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:32,600
that sort of, I guess, our purpose.
407
00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:35,000
You can't argue with that.
408
00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:38,800
Like we're trying to make people
people's lives better
409
00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:42,680
in whatever sort of educational pursuit
they're following with us.
410
00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:46,480
And, you know, there's
probably nothing greater than that, right,
411
00:25:46,480 --> 00:25:47,840
making someone's life better.
412
00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:50,920
Second part of that,
in terms of cheesy industry,
413
00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:54,800
I don't know, I'm probably not
the best person to ask of that based on by
414
00:25:55,360 --> 00:25:58,840
my experience Curin,
because I've I have let the opportunities
415
00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:02,000
kind of take me and guide me,
you know, and grab it.
416
00:26:02,040 --> 00:26:05,760
And I'd have to say
all of those places I work, there's
417
00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:09,360
lots of great things
that I take out of all of them.
418
00:26:10,040 --> 00:26:13,760
So I think it's probably particularly
someone in the start of their career
419
00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:18,000
giving, giving wherever they are ago,
learning the ropes.
420
00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:22,280
And you, I just guess, can generally apply
421
00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:24,640
those things across
all sorts of industries
422
00:26:25,120 --> 00:26:29,840
as just being agile and learning
about where you are and understanding
423
00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:31,080
where you are and understanding
424
00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:35,080
the differences between where you are
and where you have been. I suppose.
425
00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:39,760
You know what, we
actually do have quite a few budding hejab
426
00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:43,840
professionals at KB's,
and some of them are generalists,
427
00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:47,480
a lot of them are specialists,
as you as you indicated,
428
00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:51,400
especially in recruitment,
but say so for the generalists.
429
00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:55,920
And if we address those out there who are
who are starting out their careers,
430
00:26:56,240 --> 00:26:59,560
it's always good
and inspiring to hear from somebody
431
00:26:59,840 --> 00:27:02,200
who's at a leadership or strategic level.
432
00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:06,640
And sometimes it seems untenable
even because it's far off.
433
00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:09,520
How would I advance to my career?
434
00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:12,680
How should I grow my career
to a leadership level?
435
00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:17,560
It is true. You know, I look back
and I think it's gone pretty quickly.
436
00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:21,480
I have to admit,
when I think my first sort of roles
437
00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:26,440
within a very administrative,
you know, doing employment
438
00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:30,600
contracts, organizing interviews,
all those sorts of things.
439
00:27:31,360 --> 00:27:36,160
I suppose the world has changed
quite a bit in the last 20 years for me.
440
00:27:36,680 --> 00:27:41,120
But I think my advice on
that would be, again, to
441
00:27:41,360 --> 00:27:45,480
to get in, learn and understand
442
00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:50,000
the sort of the basics, I guess, of nature
and how they can be applied.
443
00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:53,160
But really, more importantly,
if you do want to grow into
444
00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:56,600
leadership role and more strategic
rather than sort of tactical
445
00:27:56,600 --> 00:28:00,960
HL work is really try and understand
the business you're in
446
00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:06,120
and how you can help drive that business
strategy or better that business.
447
00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:07,240
So it doesn't matter
448
00:28:07,240 --> 00:28:10,600
what sort of role you're in
this is whether you're in H.R. or not.
449
00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:14,720
You know, if you're understanding
what the business needs and challenges
450
00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:18,680
are and you're doing something
to assist with that.
451
00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:22,920
Then, you know, you've
got the right attitude and skill set,
452
00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:26,360
I think, to go into
into a more strategic role.
453
00:28:26,920 --> 00:28:30,960
And then from a leadership
perspective in general, you know, not
454
00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:36,800
not all like, again, in other industries,
in other professions, not all H.R.
455
00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:39,000
people necessarily want to be leaders.
456
00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:42,680
So some really great people I know
457
00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:46,760
have been really happy
to stay within their specialization or
458
00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:51,360
work at a nightclub business partner level
rather than, you know, a nature manager
459
00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:54,720
or a director level,
because that's where they feel
460
00:28:54,720 --> 00:28:58,560
they can add the most value and that's
where they're they're comfortable to
461
00:28:58,960 --> 00:29:01,320
to be and to grow.
462
00:29:01,960 --> 00:29:05,120
And we have really enjoyed
our conversation with you.
463
00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:10,640
My takeaway message from our conversation
is that while Covid has changed the way
464
00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:13,960
we connect with each other,
we are still a compassionate
465
00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:17,160
and kind company towards
both our students and staff.
466
00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:20,600
So thank you very much
for your time today, Andy.
467
00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:25,400
Really happy to be part of your story,
so thanks for asking me.
468
00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:28,600
If you're feeling unwell
or in need of help, reach
469
00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:32,520
out to anyone in Australia
can get immediate mental health support
470
00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:38,120
by calling the national lifeline
on 13, 11, 14 and beyond.
471
00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:42,360
Blue has great 24/7 support staff
and one three hundred
472
00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:48,160
twenty two forty six thirty
six Chaplet employees can contact H.R..
473
00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:52,880
Our Access Free Counseling
CBIA students have access to free
474
00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:57,520
confidential campus counselors, safety
and support services such as Sonder.
475
00:29:58,320 --> 00:29:59,680
Reach out to your campus student
476
00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:03,440
experience team for friendly guidance
on accessing these services.