NATURE'S SELECTION SUCCESSFULLY EVOLVES WITH ADVANCE RECRUITMENTS

September 2005

Nature's Selection Foods has brought the finest quality nuts, fruits, and legumes to the Australian market for the last 10 years. Originally part of the Woolworths Group, Nature's Selection was one of two original divisions of AAB Holdings that was divested in a management buyout in 2000. Nature's Selection is one of Australia's leaders in the health food category in supermarkets for branded and private label nuts, fruit and nut mixes, cereals, cooking ingredients, and soup mixes comprising popular legumes such as lentils, borlotti beans and split peas.

As part of an acquisition and growth phase of the foods division business, Nature's Selection moved to a new and much larger facility in Greenacre from Blacktown. The move also involved the amalgamation of two other food divisions to Greenacre from Hillsdale and the Central Coast. Staff movements from the three sites, staff replacements for those who decided not to stay on, and new staff positions needed to be catered for in a move that required as smooth a transition as possible in setting up operations from one facility to the other.

Advance Recruitments worked with Nature's Selection Human Resources Manager Kathy Millar who structured and coordinated the movement and reorganisation of people at the Greenacre site. Advance worked with Kathy to ensure there was the required amount of people through the development of a tightly run daily rostering system to assist in the move and maintain the productivity of the company. This included Advance being on-site at 6:00am each morning to ensure all employees had arrived.

"We initially talked to Advance at a strategic level to develop a well-defined process that made very clear who was going where and Advance did a great job in following this process once it was agreed," says Kathy. "Casual staff coming onsite for the first time would know the specific production line they were working on or if a worker was ill, who they were replacing and their role. Out efficiencies on the floor improved dramatically."

Further, moving into a new facility required a risk assessment in which Advance Recruitments identified areas in the new workplace that needed to comply with regulations. Once these areas were identified and addressed, Advance worked with Nature's Selection to setup an OH&S induction program that involved training staff to understand how to operate safely within the plant. Further, Advance implemented Food Safety Systems Training involving GMP (Good Manufacturing Processes) and HACCP (Hazard Analysis, Critical Control Points) to ensure that a pool of pre-qualified candidates are available to start work at Nature's Selection as soon as they are required.

"All training is done at the Advance offices under defined guidelines. Candidates who pass the Advance screening process, and are identified as appropriate employees for Nature's Selection, are inducted and trained by a Certificate IV trainer," says Sascha Charlton, Managing Director at Advance Recruitments. "This involves a seminar and an examination. If they pass, qualified candidates receive a certificate, and are ready to start work."

Nature's Selection has been in the new Greenacres facility for nine months, and in the process has reaped the cost-saving and efficiency benefits of scale and the new facility. However, the HR challenge continues with Nature's Selection and Advance Recruitments working together to deliver the right people for the growing demands of a larger business.

"The intention was always to hire Advance's casual staff on a permanent basis, but often these transitions take longer than expected," says Kathy. "I'm pleased to say that the first group of casual staff brought on to the team have now been transferred to permanent positions. The second and third groups will also make that transition shortly. While we have always treated the staff as permanents, throughout the last nine months Advance understood the importance of focussing these casual workers on staying with Nature's Selection, and reinforcing our commitment to make their positions permanent."