Today I am very pleased to be interviewing Anna Ross-Adjie, Human Resources Manager for Peet.
I first met Anna four years ago as fellow judge for the Telstra Business Womens’ Awards; and well to be honest, I have been busting to interview her every since. She is quite an extraordinary woman.
Read on to find out why.
Anna’s Road to HR
Somewhat unconventionally for most HR practitioners these days, Anna started her career as a midwife. She relocated to WA after 10 years practicing in Sydney, but found that her views were considered a bit too avant garde or ahead of their time for WA’s maternity hospital (mind you, those very views are now considered very much best practice), so she moved on to doing some fundraising for the Leeuwin tall ship that was in the process of being constructed.
From there, she embarked on a somewhat extraordinary journey.
Hers is a story of being in the right place at the right time. Of being mentored by extraordinary people with vision and foresight.
One such man was Denis Horgan (he of Leeuwin Estate vineyard fame). Denis had funded the final stage of construction of the tall ship Leeuwin period. He gave Anna the opportunity to move beyond just being the nurse on the ship; he saw her passion and decided to take advantage of that and harness it by teaching her sales and marketing. This was during the era of the America’s Cup, so the water was the place to be in WA, especially on a tall ship that was fitted out as a 5 star corporate viewing platform.
Anna then moved on to another division of the company and became involved in marketing for Helicopters for tourism. Her next role came about whilst she was applying for a job through a recruitment agency; she was somewhat surprised when they asked her to come and work for them. Her blend of caring about people, sales and marketing expertise, connections with corporates and the high end of town made her the perfect fit for her start in the HR world.
From there, a series of ever more interesting roles; starting with the development of some of the first assessment centres in WA, through to consulting work with the backdrop of assessment, selection and development, change management and cultural change.
From the outside looking in, every position appears to have built on Anna’s skills and experience, so that each new project, each new assignment provided yet another facet to her ever building repertoire of HR experience; all this leading to her current role as HR Manager with Peet, the land development and funds management business.
Her mandate at Peet: to reinvigorate the culture and prepare for growth. And she says, what a privilege that has been.
The company has recently taken over another business in 3 states where they don’t have a presence, so integration of the HR function is her current focus.
What does a typical day look like?
I asked Anna what a typical day looked like at Peet. She shared the secret to managing in an organization that is growing rapidly and only has a very small HR team; communication, communication, communication. She works to ensure that as much as possible, every role is interchangeable. And she likes for her team to be growing, to be exposed to different things, to be at the forefront of new things.
She makes it clear that they are not ivory tower practitioners, but are out there amongst it all in the business. She speaks of the structure as being informal and flat, and very nimble. There is an expectation of being able to switch from one thing to another; from coaching managers, to keeping up to date with business issues, reviewing salary data, keeping in close contact with the State Managers by understanding their issues and keeping in touch with the younger staff by giving career guidance and career expectation chats.
What is HR’s role in the business?
Anna talks about HR having a multi faceted role within the business.
On the one hand, it provide advocacy for staff – representation or a voice.
For staff, it is about giving them the tools to be the best that they can be; within the organizational framework.
Organisationally, it is about implementing a fully integrated HR function – scalable across combined groups – but always being mindful of the impact on staff.
One key aspect is to identify high achievers and take them on a journey; to encourage self-belief without arrogance. Key to all this are Peet’s values of integrity and respect. The organization does not tolerate ego; “people, don’t ponce around. People are very respectful of feedback and the thing that employees sign up to is our values.”
Time and time again, Anna came back to Peet’s values and how absolute critical they are to cultural fit, to decisions like hiring and performance management; and how it is HR’s role to drive the values in concert with the executive.
Coaching in the business
Anna talked about how she works with staff to set expectations around promotions; around how she teaches managers to have difficult conversations like the “you’re not ready yet” conversation. She practices with managers using role plays and framing situations with language that they are comfortable with.
She uses models like the johari window to managers and employees with a framework to provide feedback around perceptions.
She also uses tools such as DISC and Harrison Assessments throughout the business, to engage people on their personal style, on their level of EQ and the impact of their behaviour on others.
On Critical Relationships
The CEO – who has a big ear for HR.
All the people managers.
Our staff.
What do you love about HR?
Anna talks about the influence that HR can have on culture. And the influence it can have on driving values. She says in the context of a smallish business (albeit top 200 ASX listed), there is a relatively small number of people, so there can be personal touch and influence at an individual level.
If you weren’t in HR, what else would you be doing?
Delivering babies.
Doing something charitable. Something caring. Something cause motivated.
What do you really hate about HR?
I love this direct quote from Anna. How many people can say this about their roles?
“Nothing. Every day I can feel make a difference. I am privileged to be in the role when you see the impact that you have on people’s lives. We can have so much influence. We can embrace a set of values – and take the business on that journey..”
What advice do you give them on gaining a broad skillset and knowledge base within the organization?
Be open to learning, even if it something that you are not interested in; you will be able to draw on it in the future. Every profession that Anna has been involved in has been useful in her role in HR.
That there are two sides to every story. Develop listening skills. Never deliver judgment without hearing the other side of the story. Never never compromise your integrity.
For those parents of young kids or carers of older parents who are trying to work and care, what advice do you have for them?
Anna talks about being in the right mindset for home and for work. When she gets to work, she has her whole self on the job. She takes the emotion of home out of it, gets into a different mindset and prepares herself for the day ahead. She uses the quiet time in the car on the way to work to prepare – to focus.
Critical to balancing caring duties, she says, is regular and open communication with the boss, so that they know what is going on.
Anna talks about Peet having a culture that allows people to be authentic and talk about their issues. She is conscious of the stresses that young people have in their day to day lives and their concerns about living up to expectations, for example she talks about meeting with a prospective parent (particularly fathers) before their baby is due – giving them a platform to have a discussion and air concerns and fears. There is absolutely no shame in being vulnerable. She cares deeply about ensuring that the team doesn’t succumb to long term stress or mental illness.
Anna says it is sad that there are people in some businesses who are at breaking point, who have deep personal problems and don’t feel confident about approaching their organisation for support for fear of being judged. Anna and her team try to allow for people to be authentic, to understand that they have permission to talk about the disruption in their lives without fear of being judged.
What do you read?
Anna reads a lot of autobiographies of women in third world countries overcoming incredible adversity “if you think you are having a bad day, go and read one of these,”
What are the books that everyone in HR should read?
Who Moved My Cheese – if you understand change, if you get change, you can be happy in HR, otherwise it can be a very lonely place. Change is constant, it is a part of life.
Good to Great – is a classic.
What are you most proud of in your career?
Anna is proud of the role that she has, and the influence she has in a national business. She can make a difference.
She has taken opportunities that were presented to her, and those opportunities stretched her. On two occasions she had great opportunities and great mentors.
She believes in instilling encouragement in others.
She finishes off by saying how lucky she is to be doing what she does in a business she cares deeply about. We are about creating communities for people to live in. That is a privilege, no matter what part of the business you work in.
And finally. A disclaimer. This is not a normal HR job. Not just a series of policies and procedures. This is so left of centre!!
Thanks so much Anna. There are so many words of wisdom there. I love the philosophy that Anna has around work and HR. It is such refreshing change to meet someone who genuinely loves what they do. There are nuggets of genius in amongst this interview; please read and enjoy and reflect. And then share if there is something about Anna’s words that resonates with you.
Want to buy the books that Anna suggests? Use these links here:
