FINDING and securing the best person to fill a company position is a daunting task for most administrators.
FINDING and securing the best person to fill a company position is a daunting task for most administrators.
But finding the right person for a position in a location that may not compare favourably with coastal cities in fair climes is a particular problem for employ-ers in WA.
Most of the State’s economy is founded on industry in regional, rural and remote locations, and companies have been quick to learn that mismatches between personnel and locations can cost dearly.
Hence, personnel agencies and their clients have worked hard at getting around the problems of regional, rural and remote placements.
Large, linked databases of professionals with experience in these types of locations worldwide help in the search, and careful selection testing can assist with choice.
However, it is a range of incentives, including on-location lifestyle considerations and social support services, that is proving successful in securing the desired employees for most locations.
These days the higher salary and location allowances more than compensate for increased living costs in such locations, but attracting and keeping the right personnel – and their families if the work is in suitable locations – requires much more.
Incentives include periodic return airfares to the work location for partners, meals, superior accommodation, utilities subsidies and relocation allowances.
Adecco regional manager Mary Earnshaw said that, while her company can advise client companies on potential problems and what they have seen work well elsewhere, most client companies have a very good understanding of what to provide to maintain the level of stability they want in their workforce.
Highly skilled potential employees required to stay medium or long term are offered packages designed to entice the family as well, Ms Earnshaw said.
Many factors, apart from company reputation and the incentives offered, also can affect the ease with which the right personnel can be attracted to specific locations at particular times.
These factors include the status of the position, industry type, environmental concerns for the region or regarding company practices, regional infrastructure, community services and the social reputation of the locality.
Some potential employees are reluctant to move their families to towns that may not have the perceived desirable social mix – not the right ratio of families to single people, for example.
Higher level supervisory positions can be hard to fill on or near site, for a variety of reasons. Lifestyle issues for the whole family can include a reluctance for those with higher status titles to relocate children of an age to attend high school or university, difficulty with partners being able to continue their business or employment, and the management of accumulated assets.
Oil and gas industry positions are comparatively easy to fill on account of higher remuneration, while mining is generally a more difficult industry in which to place personnel, more so than construction.
Despite the trends, companies and personnel agencies are well aware that placement scenarios can change dramatically in short spaces of time.
On the back of the simultaneous development of a number of large-scale industrial projects, the Burrup Peninsula – notwithstanding current pre-ssure on appropriate housing –is proving a personnel magnet.
HR Connect manager Anne Littlewood confirmed all generalisations can change when opportunities arise to gain particular experience, such as working on high profile and innovative projects.
Continual feedback between clients, employees and the personnel agency can provide the most reliable information on which to plan future strategies, but the general industry view of the bottom line is that honesty in portraying workplace expectations and environments saves all parties time and expense.
This appears the one enduring essential factor in the remote and regional placement industry – maintaining the reputations needed to ensure ongoing business between all three.
But finding the right person for a position in a location that may not compare favourably with coastal cities in fair climes is a particular problem for employ-ers in WA.
Most of the State’s economy is founded on industry in regional, rural and remote locations, and companies have been quick to learn that mismatches between personnel and locations can cost dearly.
Hence, personnel agencies and their clients have worked hard at getting around the problems of regional, rural and remote placements.
Large, linked databases of professionals with experience in these types of locations worldwide help in the search, and careful selection testing can assist with choice.
However, it is a range of incentives, including on-location lifestyle considerations and social support services, that is proving successful in securing the desired employees for most locations.
These days the higher salary and location allowances more than compensate for increased living costs in such locations, but attracting and keeping the right personnel – and their families if the work is in suitable locations – requires much more.
Incentives include periodic return airfares to the work location for partners, meals, superior accommodation, utilities subsidies and relocation allowances.
Adecco regional manager Mary Earnshaw said that, while her company can advise client companies on potential problems and what they have seen work well elsewhere, most client companies have a very good understanding of what to provide to maintain the level of stability they want in their workforce.
Highly skilled potential employees required to stay medium or long term are offered packages designed to entice the family as well, Ms Earnshaw said.
Many factors, apart from company reputation and the incentives offered, also can affect the ease with which the right personnel can be attracted to specific locations at particular times.
These factors include the status of the position, industry type, environmental concerns for the region or regarding company practices, regional infrastructure, community services and the social reputation of the locality.
Some potential employees are reluctant to move their families to towns that may not have the perceived desirable social mix – not the right ratio of families to single people, for example.
Higher level supervisory positions can be hard to fill on or near site, for a variety of reasons. Lifestyle issues for the whole family can include a reluctance for those with higher status titles to relocate children of an age to attend high school or university, difficulty with partners being able to continue their business or employment, and the management of accumulated assets.
Oil and gas industry positions are comparatively easy to fill on account of higher remuneration, while mining is generally a more difficult industry in which to place personnel, more so than construction.
Despite the trends, companies and personnel agencies are well aware that placement scenarios can change dramatically in short spaces of time.
On the back of the simultaneous development of a number of large-scale industrial projects, the Burrup Peninsula – notwithstanding current pre-ssure on appropriate housing –is proving a personnel magnet.
HR Connect manager Anne Littlewood confirmed all generalisations can change when opportunities arise to gain particular experience, such as working on high profile and innovative projects.
Continual feedback between clients, employees and the personnel agency can provide the most reliable information on which to plan future strategies, but the general industry view of the bottom line is that honesty in portraying workplace expectations and environments saves all parties time and expense.
This appears the one enduring essential factor in the remote and regional placement industry – maintaining the reputations needed to ensure ongoing business between all three.
