What is HR’s Role During COVID-19?

Over the past six months business in the United States has changed dramatically.  We have gone from exceptionally low levels of unemployment and a healthy economy to a work environment where 40+ million Americans have filed for unemployment insurance, business failures and constant chaos.  During this time HR has played a unique role in developing polices to meet this challenge.  However, given that the pandemic will not be ending until a vaccine is available and administered; HR will need to adapt and play a strategic role that is focused on three areas to assist their employees work more effectively, become more productive and improve communication.

Using Technology to Work Effectively

Technology over the past several months has been the life support for many employers as they continue to have many of the team members working remotely.  Internet applications such as Teams ©, WebEx © and Zoom © are invaluable program to support the sharing of information.  HR will need to continue to support these strategies so that employees remain in touch, are given information to complete their daily tasks.  Training and webinars to support on-going learning will help build confidence to empower the staff to learn how to utilize these tools.  Video conferencing will be the future of most meetings and serve as the key communication tool.

Providing the Staff Tools to be More Productive

Many of the employee’s resources before the pandemic were just down the hall from where they worked.  Whether it was an HR issue, a systems problem resolved by IT or a product pricing question answered by the Sales department; these issues were handled by reaching out to those employees that could address the issue quickly and efficiently.  Today that is not necessarily the case.  HR now and in the future will need to create a checklist to ensure that the employees have the tools to be productive.  This may include a FAQ of typical problems that employees may encounter while working remotely and to whom they should contact.  One of the most common issues raised in our pandemic survey was the lack of resources to deal with systems issues.  While many employees are skilled in their technical area of expertise, systems challenges remain a significant burden for many staff members working remotely.  In addition to a checklist HR will need to periodically audit what is need by the staff to determine what has changed over time and how they can address their needs.

Communicate, Communicate and Communicate

Employee communication while always a challenge will need to be further enhanced to ensure that managers are successfully supervising their staff.  This will help guarantee that they have the tools to be successful in this new normal.  Constant and consistent communication will be critical as employees will be working Independently with little supervision and minimal support.  Managers and the leadership team will need to be highly organized to evaluate roadblocks that their staff may encounter and determine the best course of action to address these barriers to success.  Daily communication from managers to their direct staff, weekly communication from the division leaders and monthly communication from the leadership team will need to be calendared and adhered to.  Given so much uncertainty in the business environment along with insecurity in one’s personal life a structured work environment will help.

While the challenges of COVID-19 are many, human ingenuity and the resourcefulness of the Human Resources profession has not changed.  Your team will learn new skills, become more effective communicators and contribute to the success of your business.

What is Leadership?

People strive to be engaged in meaningful work and most of us seek out experiences that help us grow professionally. Companies that recognize and support this basic human goal are on the path to become employers of choice.

After our basic needs are fulfilled, an employee searches for meaning and a sense of purpose in a job.  People want to believe that they are providing a good or service that will help others.  If, in your role as a Human Resource professional, you aren’t articulating what you care about and how you plan to make a difference, then you will need to make changes in your approach in order to inspire your employees to ensure their full engagement.

Many leaders have a wrong idea of what constitutes true engagement as it is not attained through self-gratification but through developing a sense of purpose to support the broader good.  Once company leaders have identified and clearly articulated what they stand for, it’s up to the leadership team supported by Human Resources to build a bridge between the business’ purpose and the values of the employees.  When leaders communicate their ideas and values, listeners filter the message and decide whether to trust their management team. When the values and purpose resonate with your employees, they will be a partner in the company’s success.

Leaders and more specifically the HR department are the stewards of organizational energy as their purpose is to ensure organizational performance, direct talent and focus and invest energy from all the individual contributors in the service of the corporate mission. A purpose-driven leadership team ensures that the energy of each individual contributor is aligned with the organizational purpose.

One of our goals since we started our firm in 1999 has been to share information to assist HR professionals in making quality business decisions by providing current information on what is happening in the work environment.  Sharing how progressive companies deal with their challenges will hopefully offer you solutions for the future.

To learn more about our survey tool, reporting and analysis please go to our website at:

http://www.innovative-hrsolutions.com

How Can HR Develop a Meaningful Succession Plan?

Change is a constant and is occurring quickly with many companies lacking the expertise to deal with an evolving business environment.  Issues such as global competition, changes in technology and the need to modify business models are factors that contribute to a very complex work environment.  To meet this challenge organizations will often determine that the best way to plan for their future is to create a succession plan through-out the organization.  By implementing these three succession plan initiatives companies will ensure that there is no interruption in service, innovation or customer support.

Hiring the Right Talent

With unemployment at record lows companies today face a variety of challenges with hiring the right talent for the job at the top of the list.  Organizations today not only need to offer a competitive wage, top-tier benefits but they also need to build a strong employer brand that allows for their employees to feel proud of where they work.  HR departments as the gate keeps for the talent pool need move as quickly as possible to ensure that the hiring process does not get side-tracked.  Many companies will lose excellent candidates because of a very slow hiring process.  Key to the hiring of staff in key positions is the process of thinking beyond the current job that is being filled.  Do your candidates have strong problem solving skills, exceptional communication attributes and have high ethical standards.  Evaluate the candidate not only for the current position that they are applying for but also for their next job.

Improve the Company’s Bench Strength at the Management Level

Executives today are uneasy about their organizational leaders’ ability to handle unexpected challenges.  There's a lot at stake as new managers already have a high rate of failure in the first 12 months of being promoted to a management role.  These leaders often have a difficult time assessing the demands of business, processing and sharing information in a timely manner and talent management.  Human Resource departments can play a pivotal role in helping these new leaders succeed in their job by offering personalized training programs targeted to their particular needs.  HR can also ensure success by developing learning programs that are skill based, that can be applied immediately and are tied to future business challenges.  As part of the process HR will also need to evaluate the gaps in leadership skills in order to determine where training is needed, necessary and applicable.  According to the Future of HR survey by Gartner in 2019 serious gaps at the leadership is a barrier to their success.

As can be seen above leadership gaps are occurring in succession plan development. The goal for the future should be to enhance the strategic and creative thinking through-out the organization so that management can focus on how to better position their company for success and ensure that there is no interruption in the talent pool.

Build a Succession Plan that is Flexible and Targeted

One of the key functions of an HR leader is to hire right, create depth in the organization and secure the company’s success by building a succession plan that is both flexible and targeted.  Succession plans are a tool to create an immediate candidate pool of qualified internal employees when a key employee departs the organization.  Succession plans should initially be developed around the C-suite staff followed by more detailed plans around key managers, supervisors and individual contributors.  The goal of “purview” or key personnel is to ensure that they receive the training, developmental tools and mentoring so that they are ready to assume a bigger role with a position is identified.  The criteria for purview employees are that they need to be exceeding job requirements, have been with the company a minimum of 24 months and have the skills, knowledge and ability to assume a great role in the future.  These employees may be unaware that they have been targeted for development; however, HR should take an active role in their career.

By hiring the right talent from the beginning, developing employees that show promise and building succession plans that encourage internal career development through a formal program companies can will mitigate potential gaps in leadership.

How to Build a Great Team?

People strive to be engaged in meaningful work and it is your role as an HR leader, to promote team building and processes that support teamwork.  Many leaders have the wrong idea as to what constitutes teamwork.  It is not attained through self-promotion but through developing a sense of support and trust.  Once company leaders have identified and clearly articulated what they stand for, it’s up to the leadership team supported by Human Resources to build a team environment. When the values and mission resonate with your employees, they will be a better partner and become more engaged in the company’s success.  You will have also created an environment where teamwork is supported and practiced.  Outline below are four tips to improve teamwork at your organization:

Recognize your High Performing Staff

Start recognizing your high performers through public recognition or awards.  Consider creating a process to have fellow employees call-out their teammates who excel and those who take on the challenging projects.  Recognition on the job is one of the key areas that support employee engagement and general job satisfaction.

Improve your Time Management

Conduct an audit of how you spend your time to see where you spend the most time.  If you are a manager, are you interacting with your team by coaching them, and supporting their success?  If you are an individual contributor have you identified the most satisfying aspects of your job so that you can be more productive and excel at those areas where you have a passion to succeed.  Being more productive by conducting an inventory of where you spend your time will help you allocate your time more efficiently and be more effective on the job.

Communicate Daily

Consistently over-communicate and share your ideas and manage by walking around.  Listen to your employees and learn from them as to what is working and where changes can be made.  Be as open as you can with your team to better understand their challenges to improve teamwork and communication.  Communication also includes establishing a time each day to silence your phone, turn off your computer, and get out and connect with your team.

Define your Value to the Organization

The misperception is that small departments have little influence in the overall teamwork at the company.  In the HR department; whether you are a department of one or twenty, the staff often have the ability to influence the bigger company mission by being focused and taking on those projects that may not necessarily be  aligned with HR’s traditional role.  The HR department can be an advocate for teamwork by being a model for other departments to follow and emulate.

Ultimately building a teamwork strategy takes time and is a serious commitment.  By taking the time to evaluate what type of team environment you want to create, HR can influence the culture where teamwork is practiced and supported through the company.

 

What Needs to Happen in 2017 to Make Your Organization Successful?

One of management’s key duties and responsibilities is challenging, motivating and retaining staff.  Three metrics of employee engagement need to be implemented in the near term for progressive organizations to remain competitive in the future:

• Align employees work with the strategic vision and company goals as outlined by the leadership team.  This can be accomplished by ensuring that the corporate goals are communicated, and incorporated into each employee’s performance plan. Research has shown that employees that buy into the vision, values and strategic vision of the company will support the company in the future. 
• Hold employees accountable by constantly demonstrating through management’s actions that employees will be treated fairly and honestly along with the consistent application of the prevailing policies.  To determine if policies are consistently being applied evaluate your compensation practices to determine if those employees that are demonstrating excellence receive the larger merit increase.  Evaluate promotions and transfers to determine if only those employees that are excelling in their jobs are receiving new job opportunities.  Finally, evaluate the learning opportunities made available to the staff to ensure that all employees are eligible for external training and development and not only those that are performing at a peak level. 
• Evaluate the decision making processes to ensure that all employees share in decision making process.  Typically, the employees that “do the work” are those that should be recommending ideas to improve work-flow.  Employees should feel comfortable recommending changes to the existing processes.  At times, failure will be the result but with failure comes knowledge and success.  Employees are more likely to accept and carry out decisions if they're involved in the process.

Using these three metrics will assist you as you start to establish metrics for the remainder of 2017.

Is On-going Professional Development Important?

Professional development and the opportunity to learn and grow are very important for the HR professional and business leader.  Learning best practices will allow for managers and individual contributors to understand what is happening not only in their industry but in other industries as well.  The cross-transfer of technology and new management practices and techniques will enable the HR professional to try out new and innovative programs at work.  Professional development and training programs should focus on two key training strategies:

Business, Revenue and Sales Growth Training

 

Creating a high performance environment will allow your employees to make the transition from selling a product or service to selling a solution.  The value of making this transition will ensure that sales practices and processes are consistent yet meet the needs of the customer.  In HR, while the “sales” component is typically not external, key to attracting external talent is the ability to “sell” the company and the culture.

Employee Satisfaction & Loyalty Training

An increase in employee loyalty can boost profits and productivity.  Research has shown that engaged employees lead to greater profitability and growth.   Allocating training dollars to a manager’s budget can reduce turnover, improve product knowledge and diagnose any performance issues of key employees.  Creating a high performance culture of learning will identify the strengths and weaknesses of the individual.  Allocating the resources to bridge the performance gap will create a culture of loyal employees.

Employers today want to understand how they can secure more creativity and support from their employees.  On-going training will allow for the manager to determine how to execute the best strategy from the employee’s perspective by enriching their jobs and assisting them with fine-tuning their skills.

Over the next several months the Society of HR Management, the NGLCC, The California HR Conference sponsored by PIHRA and Arizona SHRM will be hosting their annual leadership conferences across the nation.  These premier organizations will explore progressive HR programs and new technologies.  Conferences provide an excellent venue for HR professionals to network with other business partners from across the United States and the world.  You are encouraged to attend these professional development learning opportunities to increase your knowledge and skill level.

HR Certification: What is Going On?

Recently the Society for HR Management (SHRM) announced that they were withdrawing their support for the HR Certification Institute an organization they founded almost 40 years ago.  This decision to no longer support this independent organization and create a new certification process along with a new testing program should be of a concern for all HR professionals that have pursued the certification process.

 

In SHRM’s press release outlining these changes the organization summarized the reasons for this change this way: 

“We believe this competency-based certification is the new standard for HR professionals around the globe—and is needed for the ever-evolving demands of business. We are seeing an increasing number of colleges and universities, and other SHRM global partners, transition to a competency-based curriculum. Businesses have been asking—almost demanding—that employees have specific behavioral competencies to be successful in the workplace. As the leading HR professional society, it is SHRM’s responsibility to stay ahead of these trends and better serve the HR professional.”

 

What is troubling is that the organization has provided little information to support their decision.  Based upon communication from HRCI and various SHRM affiliate chapters, SHRM has managed to confuse and dilute the certification process by changing the rules and offering no alternative to HRCI.  SHRM has agreed to outline a new replacement program at the annual conference this June; however, this is yet another example of the organization not discussing and obtaining the support from the membership prior to the roll-out of a new program.

Another issue that should concern all HR professionals is how this will be perceived by our employers, colleagues and the greater business community?  How will this impact our relationship with our manager who has supported the certification process by paying for additional training; specifically the SHRM Learning System and the certification test?  For years SHRM has been promoting the certification process as a way to improve our profession, add credibility to our work and add value to our role within our companies.  This abrupt change in their support for certification process would appear to call into question their years of promoting this key business tool.  As a result of this decision by SHRM, we will need to explain to our company leaders the reason for this change, how it impacts our ability to support our employees and the whether certification is necessary in today’s business environment.

 

So what can you do as a certified professional?  Three key actions can be taken immediately to register your concern with this decision:

1.     Contact Amy Dufrane the Executive Director at HRCI to indicate your support for the institute and find out what you can do to better understand SHRM’s decision and the ramifications for your certification.  HRCI’s telephone number is:   (866) 898-4724.

2.     Contact Henry G. Jackson the CEO at SHRM to indicate your concern for this decision.  SHRM’s telephone number is: (800) 283-7476.

3.     At the SHRM Annual Conference in Orlando hold the SHRM Board and staff leadership accountable for their decision by challenging them, ask them to explain their rationale and their research around specific behavioral competencies and the reasons for not wanting to work through the existing partnership with HRCI.

To learn about the HRCI’s response to this decision by SHRM please follow this link:

http://www.hrci.org/about-hrci/press-media/let's-be-clear

To learn more about the reasons behind this decision by SHRM please follow this link:

http://www.shrm.org/Certification/SHRMCertification/Pages/default.aspx#sthash.XNxD4oyN.dpuf

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Employee Survey is Done…Now What?

Employee surveys, originally introduced into organizations around the middle of the last century, were developed to measure employee job satisfaction.  Employers wanted to know how satisfied their employees were because “satisfied workers would be more productive workers.”  Research over the past 35 years has found that job satisfaction while very important is but one indicator of organizational effectiveness.  Although the early assumption that satisfied workers are more productive, there is a body of research which suggests that organizations that are in tune with their workers can motivate them to do a good job and enhance the work environment for all.  Many current studies have identified that relationships between employee groups, the satisfaction of customers serviced by employees, organizational performance and job alignment are key to maintaining high levels of employee engagement.  The end result is improved organizational performance.

Today, employee surveys have taken on additional applications.  Managers have realized they can ask employees about a broad range of important issues such as leadership, benefits, job satisfaction and compensation to name a few.  With this information, organizations can fine-tune their communication strategies, work to increase employee buy-in and even decide to modify corporate policies.  The employee survey provides the means for linking employee behavior with company success. 

The question then arises as to what happens following the survey process. The goal of any employee survey is to measure current satisfaction and engagement levels and establish benchmarks for the future.  The key to a successful survey is to follow-up in a timely and collaborative manner using this six point process targeted for the HR professional:

1.     Explain the survey results to all employees either through webinars, newsletters or face-to-face presentations.

2.     Answer any questions that employees may have about the survey process and department results.

3.     Working with the leadership team draft two to three corporate action items that the leadership team can agree upon.

4.     Working with the department managers assist them in developing their two or three department action items that the work group can agree upon.

5.     Include these action items in the annual performance plan.

6.     Ensure that a quarterly action planning process occurs to ensure that the process remains credible and that managers are held accountable.

Employee surveys are an excellent tool to monitor employee satisfaction and engagement and a metric to hold people accountable.

What Are the Top Five Qualities That Make a Great Leader?

Comment Now Follow Comments Following Comments Unfollow Comments Honesty

A successful leader needs to be honest with their team.  Ethics and the ability to be guided by a strong ethical compass that guides the decision making process is one of the key drivers to success.  A business is a reflection of the leader of the organization, and if the leaders make honesty and ethics a core value, the team will mirror that value.

Ability to Delegate

Trusting the team and learning to delegate to subordinates are an important sign of strength, not weakness. Delegating tasks to department managers is one of the most important skills a leader needs to have.  The key to delegation is identifying the strengths of the team, and capitalizing on those strengths. Hold each team member accountable for their decisions.  This will prove to your team that as a leader you trust and believe in them and are fair.

Being a Good Communicator

Being a good communicator is critical to all leaders in a growing organization.  Knowing what you want accomplished and explaining that to the team is extremely important. Leaders need to be able to communicate the vision and strategy for the long term.  Healthy lines of communication include, all-hands meeting, newsletters, webinars and state of the company presentations.  Communication is also managing by walking around and creating an open door policy.  Making it a point to talk to your staff on a daily basis will build trust and keep the leaders in the loop.  A leader makes themselves available to discuss strategic as well as tactical issues.

Having a Sense of Humor

Challenges happen all the time in business.  A client may go elsewhere, the company website goes down, the telephone lines to customer service are interrupted or your line of credit is not extended.  Guiding the team through these or any challenges without panicking and with a sense of purpose and humor is as important at tackling the underlining reasons why a particular event occurred. Having a sense of humor will pay off as it will allow the team to laugh at the mistakes and learn from them. Good leaders are successful in building a team, encouraging healthy discussions and learning from the daily business challenges.

Being Decisive

Good leaders are creative, innovative and flexible and decisive.  They allow their team to make decisions based upon the ever-changing market conditions.  These levels of authority are typically reasonable and within an acceptable framework.  Leaders; however, may be forced at times to deviate from the set course and make a decision without all of the information. It is during these critical situations that the leader’s team will look for guidance, evaluate the data and reach a decision that is the best given the available information.  Leaders are not afraid of making calculated decisions that allow for some risk.

What Will HR Professionals Experience in the Future?

HR professionals will face significant changes in their role at over the next decade.  Three changes are in the immediate future for HR leaders. Let us take a look at those areas that will impact Human Resource leaders:

1.     The use of outsourcing and digital data collection will result in the HR department migrating from a labor intensive area to a specialized function where employee self-service will be the result.   Fewer managerial positions along with support staff will be the end result.  HR leaders will need to do more with less staff; however, the approval to automate and outsource as many functional areas will be encouraged and the anticipated trend.

2.     The expectation of HR playing a broader role in the overall success of the company is on the horizon.  During the “great recession” HR executives stepped-up to the table and implemented the necessary changes so that companies could survive.  Their role in looking for alternatives other than layoffs resulted in the C-suite understanding the important role Human Resources plays in the execution of the strategic vision.  Increased respect for the profession has resulted in higher expectations for the future.

3.     The need for metrics that support the vision of the Board and leaders of the company.  Metrics to evaluate performance, talent management, retention and employee satisfaction and engagement will become a focus of company leaders as they look to leverage their successes and minimize their business challenges.  HR leaders will need to find new ways to evaluate company and talent performance that is numbers driven with less subjectivity.

To learn about changes to the Human Resource profession please go to the SHRM study following the link below:

http://www.shrm.org/research/surveyfindings/articles/pages/challengesfacinghroverthenext10years.aspx?homepage=mpc

What Is Purpose-Driven Leadership?

People strive to be engaged in meaningful work and most of us seek out experiences that help us grow professionally. Companies that recognize and support this basic human goal are on the path to become employers of choice.

After basic needs are fulfilled, an employee searches for meaning and a sense of purpose in a job.  People want to believe that they are providing a good or service that will help others.  If, in your role as a leader, you aren’t articulating what you care about and how you plan to make a difference, then you will need to make changes in your approach in order to inspire your employees to ensure their full engagement.  Many leaders have a wrong idea of what constitutes true engagement as it is not attained through self-gratification but through developing a sense of purpose to support the broader good.  Once company leaders have identified and clearly articulated what they stand for, it’s up to the leadership team supported by Human Resources to build a bridge between the business’ purpose and the values of the employees.  When leaders communicate their ideas and values, listeners filter the message and decide whether to trust their management team. When the values and purpose resonate with your employees, they will be a partner in the company’s success.

Leaders are the stewards of organizational energy as their purpose is to ensure organizational performance, direct talent and focus and invest energy from all the individual contributors in the service of the corporate mission. A purpose-driven leadership team ensures that the energy of each individual contributor is aligned with the organizational purpose.

Why Is Aligning the Business with a Corporate Human Capital Strategy Important?

Today, businesses that are successful have a strategic direction that is aligned with the employees to create a synergy between the business and talent.  Along with the effective execution of the business plan and strategy there are four key models that make a company successful.  These conditions, if met can put a company on the path to success.

Company Culture

Companies that are successful have a strong culture that is inclusive, collaborative, challenging and respectful.  A culture that encompasses these attributes will result in employees that are engaged, motivated, demonstrate high levels of performance and productivity.

Executive Leadership

Successful leaders are dependent upon a team approach that is communicative, supportive, engaged and holds their direct reports accountable for their decisions.  Leaders need to be developed and constantly challenged to ensure that the company continually innovates.  The leaders of the company also need to maintain the highest ethical standards as they set the tone for the organization and represent the company to the community.

Employee Talent Management

With technology changing the potential for a gap between the skill set and the new requirements of the job can develop into a talent management gap.  Employees need to be continually developed, mentored and given the opportunity to enrich one’s job is very important to the success of the company.

Corporate Structure

A corporate structure and understood by all employees is often more productive and responsive to the customer.  A structure that groups the business based upon client and customer relationships will often produce the best results by meeting the customer’s needs quickly and efficiently.

In conclusion, developing a strategy that aligns the leadership team with the employees, a culture that supports progressive talent development and a culture and structure that is understood by all supports a progressive business model.