BlueScope

Brad McLean is Head of HR for BlueScope’s Commercial and IT departments, specializing in people-focused solutions to enhance employee experience, team dynamics, and culture. He has held leadership roles in learning, development, and employee relations at BlueScope. He has nearly 15 years of experience in employment and industrial relations law at firms like Ashurst and Seyfarth Shaw. Recently, he was a finalist and excellence awardee for Australian HR Manager of the Year at the 2024 HRD Australian HR Awards.

In an exclusive interview with Manage HR APAC, McLean shared his invaluable insights on the changing HR landscape.

Journey from Foundational Experiences to Strategic

HR Leadership When I was younger, my dad often drove me to university on his way to work. During these trips, he’d listen to his employees on speakerphone, offering support and solutions to improve their day. His passion for his work and its impact on others profoundly influenced me, shaping my purpose in HR—to help people find joy and meaning in their jobs.

I began my career as an employment lawyer, gaining valuable experience in top-tier firms across Perth, Melbourne, and Sydney. While I learned a lot about workplace dynamics, I realized my true passion was in people-focused strategies, not just legal solutions.

“The most successful organizations are those where HR is involved in key business decisions, ensuring people considerations are integrated from the outset, rather than being an afterthought”

This led me to my current role as Head of HR at BlueScope’s Commercial and IT departments, where I drive initiatives to enhance employee experiences, team dynamics, and culture. I’m passionate about integrating technology with human-centered HR practices to drive meaningful change, balancing commercial and human priorities.

Driving Cultural Transformation through Empowerment and Authenticity

Transforming organizational culture starts with building genuine connections between people and purpose. A key strategy is shifting individuals from passive participants to active drivers of change—empowering extended leadership teams beyond traditional hierarchies to lead cultural transformation.

For example, when defining departmental values, we engaged employees at all levels, giving them ownership of the process—from selecting values to creating initiatives that bring them to life. This led to creative solutions like a digitized peer recognition program linking achievements to charitable giving.

Another approach is embedding cultural alignment into daily operations. By integrating values into town halls, performance reviews, and decision-making, culture becomes a natural extension of business objectives.

Authenticity is essential. Values must be genuinely lived, especially by leadership, which we reinforce through clear accountability frameworks. The results speak for themselves—higher retention, engagement, faster recruitment, and greater participation in company initiatives.

Key Elements of Managing Team Dynamics

Success in managing team dynamics hinges on three key elements—clarity, accountability and psychological safety. These are especially crucial in commercial and IT domains, where teams often work differently.

Establishing a team contract, like an employment contract, has been an efficient approach. It sets clear expectations for how the leadership team will work together, support decisions, and maintain accountability in and outside meetings.

Open and honest conversations are essential in high-pressure, cross-functional environments. We hold regular workshops with senior leaders to discuss what is working and what isn’t, uncovering valuable insights into team dynamics.

It is critical to follow up on these discussions with tangible actions. We monitor our progress, and the resulting growth in team cohesion is evident. Our people have noticed, with feedback highlighting improved accessibility and alignment across leadership.

Aligning HR Initiatives with Business Objectives

In any sector, HR initiatives must demonstrate clear business value. I ensure our people strategies align directly with commercial objectives, understanding that people are the core of the business.

For instance, we have seen that lengthy recruitment times and high turnover affect project delivery. We addressed this by developing a tailored employee value proposition, launching an extended leadership program, and implementing more structured career development. This comprehensive strategy reduced recruitment times, improved retention, and enhanced project continuity.

Focusing on internal mobility and skill development strengthened collaboration between technical and commercial teams, leading to better business outcomes. The key is measuring impact in terms that resonate with business leaders. Beyond traditional HR metrics, we highlight how our initiatives improve engagement, leadership capability, and cross-functional collaboration, framing them as essential drivers of commercial success.

Balancing Legal Compliance with Employee Experience

Working as an employment lawyer and HR leader taught me the importance of balancing legal compliance with employee experience. It’s not just about following rules but fostering a workplace where compliance aligns with a positive culture.

Workplace flexibility and hybrid arrangements will continue to pose legal challenges, especially in industries where not all roles can be remote. HR leaders must ensure fairness and compliance while managing diverse working arrangements.

Another key trend is the growing focus on psychosocial safety and mental health. Beyond legal obligations, creating environments where people feel safe to speak up drives engagement and innovation, leading to better business outcomes.

Lastly, as workplaces adopt new technologies like AI, HR leaders must navigate employment laws on privacy, surveillance, consultation, and fair work practices.

Enhancing Employee Experience with AI and HR Technology

We are at an exciting point where AI and HR technology can significantly enhance the employee experience. The key is using technology to handle routine tasks, freeing people to focus on strategic work requiring human skills.

I see AI fundamentally transforming how we approach HR. We will soon have AI tools to predict career trajectories and identify emerging roles years before they become mainstream. These tools might even simulate different team compositions to test how people would work together before we make hiring or structural decisions. I envision AI becoming so sophisticated in understanding human behavior that it could detect team dynamics issues through virtual meeting analytics and suggest real-time interventions to optimize collaboration and minimize disharmony.

Another promising area is democratizing HR services through digital platforms. Technology can ensure consistent HR support and information access in industries like manufacturing and construction, where we have dispersed, desk-less workforces. I'm particularly excited about the potential for proactive HR support systems that can anticipate and respond to employee needs before they're formally raised. This could transform how we deliver HR services, from personalized learning experiences to targeted well-being interventions.

I believe organizations will fundamentally rethink how they measure and respond to employee engagement. Instead of relying on periodic surveys, AI could enable a continuous understanding of workplace culture and sentiment. While this opens up exciting possibilities, it raises important questions about data privacy and ethical boundaries that we must navigate carefully. In essence, the future of HR technology will focus on creating more personalized, responsive, and engaging workplace experiences beyond just automation.

People Strategy as Business Strategy: Advice for Senior Leaders

My key advice to senior decision-makers is that people strategy is business strategy. In today’s fast-changing workplace, your competitive edge comes from attracting, retaining, and engaging great people—not just your products or services.

Leaders should look beyond traditional ROI metrics when evaluating people initiatives. While measurable outcomes matter, the most significant returns often come from intangibles like culture, engagement, and leadership strength. Professor Dave Ulrich notes that this “return on intangibles” can significantly impact market value.

Empowering HR as a true strategic partner is essential. The most successful organizations integrate people considerations from the outset, not as an afterthought.

Finally, authenticity in leadership is key. Whether driving cultural change, adopting new technology, or navigating challenges, success comes when leaders genuinely embody the values they expect from others.