Alex Fraser’s competitive talent advantage
Alex Fraser employs more than 300 staff (Hanson Southern Region employs around 600); as such they use a variety of innovative strategies in their recruitment marketing to secure the best talent.
Founded in 1879, Alex Fraser is one of Australia’s oldest companies. With a history of strategic innovation, they are currently Australia’s largest recycler of construction materials with a strong focus on environmental sustainability and producing high-quality products in road-making and civil construction.
Alex Fraser has built a culture around values of respect, high performance, collaboration, and a sense of accountability. These values made it particularly attractive to Hanson Australia, which acquired Alex Fraser Group earlier this year.
“We’re proud of the culture we’ve built,” says Jeff Burns. “We’re a highly-engaged group of people who are prepared to go the extra mile. Without people, you only have a plant, equipment, and buildings. You can only build something special with a set of values that your company embodies and is shared by its people.”
Alex Fraser is a hands-on, practical and friendly culture, where people are down to earth and helpful. People have a strong sense of looking out for one another, particularly from a safety perspective.
Their values increase efficiency and guide staff to behave ethically. When respect and integrity are part of decision-making, people are empowered to act without bureaucracy. Competitors are hard-pressed to steal business when customers share Alex Fraser’s values.
“Our values are a powerful strategic aspect of what we do. This means we have to attract and retain the right kind of people who can put them into action.”
In attracting the best talent, new owner Hanson has provided a foundation-stone aspect to Alex Fraser’s employer brand. Having a larger parent company has given staff and potential candidates the comfort of a more stable, secure, long-term view for employment. This has positively impacted Alex Fraser’s ability to attract talent in a competitive market, particularly with a boom phase in the construction industry in Sydney and Melbourne.
“In an era of close to full employment, we need to be as disciplined and creative as possible about how we go to market. We’ve found it’s taking us longer to attract quality candidates and we’re spending more on recruitment and attraction than usual, but we’ve implemented some strategies to get our fair share of talent.”
Employees are rewarded with a good base salary, engaging work, and other non-financial rewards and benefits. There is a tangible sense of doing something good for the environment through seeing trucks being loaded and structures being built. People can leave at the end of the day with a feeling of achievement.
To attract the best people, Burns ensures they are making sensible HR decisions, using effective job advertising, shortlisting practices, reference-checking, and making diligent use of probation periods. They are also utilising innovative recruitment marketing strategies.
Group assessment days
Group assessments days allow Alex Fraser to assess a large number of high-potential candidates in a short amount of time, including candidates’ soft skills.
“We can see a more complete picture of our candidates in a few hours. It’s important to understand not only if a candidate has the skills for the role, but if they can interact well with customers and fellow workers, particularly truck drivers who drive on public roads with branded trucks.”
Sam previously drove for Hanson and has now been an Alex Fraser driver for seven years. Cameron is a Hanson driver who kicked off his career with Alex Fraser a few years earlier.
Social networking
In addition to traditional recruitment marketing methods such as job boards, they are also boosting campaigns through social media advertising. Burns encourages senior leaders in the organisation to promote current roles on LinkedIn to their extensive networks.
Employee referral scheme
Alex Fraser is also seeing promising results from their employee referral scheme, where current staff members who refer family or friends receive gift cards for successful hires.
Graduate referrals
Alex Fraser is building relationships with driving organisations to receive graduate referrals from license training courses. Burns is enthusiastic to begin working with Wodonga TAFE’s Transport Division DECA, Transport Women Australia, to sponsor training for female drivers to gain their Heavy Vehicle License. Alex Fraser also has the opportunity to get involved with Hanson’s graduate program.
Management program
In addition to their graduate program, Hanson has a long-running management program, which lasts for two years and provides staff with immersive experiences in different aspects of the business. The program has proven to be a great pipeline for emerging leaders, as many staff members from the program are now in senior roles in Hanson. The two groups are currently sketching out plans for Alex Fraser to join and benefit from the program.
Recruitment specialists
Traditional recruitment agencies often deliver unsatisfactory results, which is why Alex Fraser makes use of fee-for-service specialists to attract and recruit the best people.
“If you’ve got a clear idea of your employer brand and what you’re looking for in a role, you can make use of specialists. I’ve cultivated relationships with a small number of trusted partners on a fee-for-service basis instead of a commission basis. I don’t just want someone shooting for any result, I want the best result.”
Specialists are particularly helpful in running group assessment days.
Group assessment days, harnessing the power of networks, graduate and management programs, and recruitment specialists give Alex Fraser a competitive edge in their efforts to attract the best talent.
