OzHR #10 - The Great Disconnect

I've written an article for NZLEAD which you can read here, and it is titled "A Different Flavour For HR". The whole point of the article really is this:

The Australian HR media, conferences, associations, and image, do not reflect the real state of HR in Australia.

Lets look at some statistics:

• approximately 1 in 4 Australians weren't born in Australia;
• approximately 1 in 6 Australians speak a language other than English at home;
• approximately 1 in 3 Australians do not live in a major city; and
• the three biggest industry employers are Manufacturing, Retail Trade, and Healthcare and Social Assistance.

What a hugely different picture to what we see in HR media! Where is our discussion on ethnic and linguistic diversity, geographical separation, and major employers? How are we ensuring that HR as a whole is being improved, promoted and appreciated in Australia? Not just the people management aspects, but the recruitment, learning and development, administration and organisational development - all of it. How are we promoting excellence in all of Australian HR for a real Australia?

Well, there's no time like the present, so let's discuss it now. 

The chat will be Thursday 7 November starting at 7pm AEDT. Now we're in daylight savings time, find your city (or corresponding time zone) below, for the starting time:

7pm - Sydney, Canberra, Hobart, Melbourne (AEDT)
6:30pm - Adelaide (ACDT)
6:00pm - Brisbane (AEST)
5:30pm - Darwin (ACST)
4:00pm - Perth (AWST)

Just make sure to pop a #OzHR in your tweet so we can see it, and be sure to invite others along for the ride!

The questions are:

1. Do you see a disconnect between HR media, conferences, associations and image, and what you actually need/use in your daily HR work? 

2. If "a rising tide floats all boats", what's best for a HR community? Inclusiveness to all levels, or high level representation only?

3. Why do you think HR sharing is often superficial? Does confidentiality mute HR? How can HR start to have bolder discussions?

4. If there was one aspect of HR representation that you could change right now, what would it be and why?