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Archive for: HR Strategy

Multicolored wheel divided into 7 equal sections Recruitment, Training and Development, Benifits and Compensation, Communicating, Employee Relations, Recordkeeping, and Health safety and security with Legal compliance written on the outer edge and company strategy in the center

10 Key Areas of HR to Review as You Begin the New Year

December 27, 2018/in HR Strategy /by Michelle Cordy

As we roll into the New Year, it’s a fabulous time to do a quick audit of your HR function. This will help you start your year off on the right foot with a plan. Too often the day to day grind keeps us from planning and being strategic. This year, let’s change this!

Handbook

Your handbook can work for you or against you. It’s always a great idea to revisit your handbook at least annually to ensure you are following the policies you’ve set forth in your handbook and that nothing has changed throughout the year that needs incorporated. Think of things like the legalization of medical marijuana and any new state leave laws in your area. Your handbook sets the expectations for your employees. And, if anything in the handbook isn’t how you do things, you may have a hard time using it as a defense in any type of claim from an employee.

Job Descriptions

Much like the handbook, your job descriptions can work for you or against you. Many jobs today evolve quickly and it is hard to keep your job description up to date. Again, the job description helps you set expectations with your employee on the job and can be a defense tool in any claims by the employee (i.e. legal, workers compensation). Ask your managers to take a few minutes to just review the job descriptions for accuracy for the new year.  Also, be sure you have included physical and mental requirements for the job. This will assist when you are trying to work with an employee requesting FMLA, disability, or workers compensation leaves.

Employee Files

What’s in your employee files? What shouldn’t be in your employee files? Start the new year off right by getting everything filed. Create a checklist of what should or shouldn’t be in your file and either audit all your files or do a random sampling.

I-9 Forms

Where do you keep your I-9s? It’s suggested to keep them all in a binder separate from the employee file. And be sure the form is fully completed including signatures. If anyone is employed through work authorizations such as an H1B, check to make sure that an update is not required due to expired documentation. In addition, be sure you are purging terminated employee I-9 forms according to recordkeeping guidelines.

Effectiveness of Your Recruitment Sources

What are the metrics on your recruitment sources? How many candidates from each source? How many candidates were interviewed from each source? How many were hired from each source? What’s the retention from each source? Can you make any changes on your recruitment based on these metrics? With the challenges of recruitment today, be sure you are making the most of your efforts and determine what is working and what is not.

Turnover

What was your turnover last year? Were there any trends by position, level, department, manager, or tenure? What actions do you need to take to minimize this same impact in the new year? If you have not taken the time to do exit interviews, start this process in the new year! Valuable information can be obtained from these quick sessions that may help with turnover going forward.

Company Reputation          

What’s your company’s reputation online? Glassdoor? Facebook? Google? Another “must do” for 2019. Make sure you are looking at your company online and the reviews and comments you are receiving…everyone else is!

Harassment

Do you have an up to date harassment policy in your handbook that all employees have received? Have you trained your employees on the policy? In the wake of the #MeToo, it’s highly recommended to conduct harassment training annually or at a minimum, once every two years. Make sure your staff knows what is acceptable behavior and how to address concerns if they have them.

Compensation

With all the changes to minimum wage, are any of your employees affected by the changes and need compensation adjustments? Many experts suggest that the Department of Labor will revisit the Exempt/Non-Exempt definitions in 2019. Be sure you are ready to re-tackle that issue with exemption status and compensation levels.

Marijuana in the Workplace

What’s the state law regarding marijuana where your workplace resides? How are you going to handle a positive response on a drug screen from a candidate? Employee?  Make sure your policy is up to date and it has been communicated to your testing facility and to your employees.

A Few Bonus Reflections…

  • What were some of your key challenges last year? What can you do different this year to minimize the impact of similar challenges?
  • We can’t over communicate with our employees. What is something different you are going to do this year to improve communication with your employees?

Finally, what can you do to find 30 minutes a month each month this year to reflect and take a more proactive approach to your HR? Think about it, this would just be six hours out of the 2,080 hours to help keep you on the right track in a more proactive manner.  Don’t let those “little” HR items turn in to bigger issues during the year. Tackle them today and get 2019 off to a great start!

A special thanks to Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP and Patti Dunham, MA, MBA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP with strategic HR inc.  for sharing their insights and recommendations for 2019. If you have any questions or would like to share your comments, contact us at info@strategicHRinc.com.

 

Emerging Trends in HR for 2019

October 31, 2018/in HR Strategy /by Michelle Cordy

With the new year fast approaching, there are a multitude of issues that will continue to impact the workplace and require HR professionals and business leaders to stay ahead of the curve. Whether through technology, legislative changes, or the ever-evolving workforce; what has always worked in the past may not be effective (or legal) any longer.  Keeping abreast of these changes and designing strategies to address them may make the difference between retaining your workforce or losing them to the competition.

Equal Pay & Unconscious Biases

Equal pay for women will continue to be an important issue going into 2019. According to Reuters (an international news agency headquartered in London, United Kingdom):

  • Females make only 80 cents for every dollar earned by men
  • Woman graduates make 82% as much as their male counterparts
  • Women on US Corporate Board of Directors is only 12%
  • Women owned companies average 60% lower revenues than male owned companies

In a recent Harvard Global Online Research study, including over 200,000 participants, it showed that 76% of people (BOTH men AND women) are gender biased and tend to think of men as better suited for careers and women as better suited as homemakers. This bias spills over into the workplace every day.

 Considerations:

  • Evaluate compensation practices and review employee compensation to determine if there’s pay inequity in your organization.
  • Review employment practices to minimize the impact of any hidden or overt biases that would be holding women back and/or paying them less for their skills than deserved.
  • Look for ways in your organization to help grow and develop female employees into leadership roles.
  • Implement training programs for employees to understand how biases can affect employees and the company’s success.

Salary History Ban

Many states have legislated a ban on asking job candidates about their salary history as a means to prevent current or previous pay inequality from following a person throughout their career. Determining a candidate’s compensation based on their salary history can perpetuate existing wage inequalities that are the result of gender bias or discrimination.

Considerations:

  • Even if you’re not in a state where the ban is in place, its best to start focusing away from salary history and instead find avenues to better identify the candidate’s expectations, how they align with the need and expectations of the position you’re trying to fill, and the potential career path the job has to offer. Some things to consider:
  • Instead of asking for salary history, tell the candidate outright what the salary range is for the role, and then see if they want to continue the conversation.
  • Take a data-driven approach. Research compensation standards for the role you’d like to fill and consider their skills, background, and education to determine a final offer.
  • Review your hiring practices. Implement strategies to help you identify the key skills and experience needed for the job and develop interview questions to objectively measure candidates against that criteria. Standardized interview questions, candidate evaluation forms and training everyone involved in the interview process can help ensure a more objective selection process where the best candidate is selected based on critical skills and experience versus where they are salary-wise at the time of hire.

The Tight Labor Market & Lower Retention

According to the June Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, there were just shy of 6.7 million open positions in April. The number of vacancies is pulling well ahead of the number the Bureau of Labor Statistics counts as unemployed. This year is the first time the level of the jobs available exceeds unemployed since the BLS started tracking these numbers in 2000. (Source: HR Today, August 2018)

According to recent studies, 3.4 million Americans quit their jobs so far in 2018, which is twice the amount of those who were laid off from jobs, costing employers millions. (Source Wall Street Journal, July 2018)

 Considerations:

  • If you want to solve the skills gap for your company specifically, start investing in training, goal-setting, performance metrics and learning. Apprenticeships are on the rise in the US, consider hiring entry-level staff you can mold into the right employee.
  • Flexibility in the workplace is no longer a request by moms and/or Gen Xers.  Both genders and every generation are looking for workplace flexibility for their own reasons. To stay competitive, organizations will need to figure out how to accommodate these requests for flexibility such as flexible starting and ending times and options to work from home as needed—perhaps even adjusting the normal work day to a 5 – 6 hour day.
  • Instead of agonizing over a wage increase you can’t afford, consider looking to intangible benefits like flex-scheduling, financial wellness programs or workplace collaboration opportunities. A 2016 Aflac Workforces Report found 60% of employees are likely to accept a lower salary in exchange for better benefits.
  • Ensure you have a structured and effective onboarding program. Research links effective onboarding to reduced turnover and increased retention. In one study, employees were 60% more likely to remain with the organization for more than three years when there is a structured onboarding program.1

(1Source: Gillespie Associates. (2016). Why onboarding that new hire will increase your bottom line. Strategic Onboarding.)

Gig Workforce

According to a report by Gallup, “The Gig Economy and Alternative Work Arrangements”, approximately 36% of U.S. workers participate in the gig economy through either their primary or secondary jobs.  According to Freelancing in America more than 55 million Americans do freelance work, and 79% of them prefer freelance work to a traditional job.

Considerations

To attract and retain the gig workforce, you’ll need to make shifts in how you handle these freelancers all while staying in compliance with the laws around employee versus contractor.  An added complication can be determining whether this individual is truly a contractor, or should they be classified as an employee.  It’s a fine line and the Department of Labor has been watching closely.

Rising Health Care Costs

The rise of employer sponsored health plan costs will continue in 2019 and expected to approach $15,000 per EE in 2019*. Expect total cost of providing medical and pharmacy benefits will rise 5% for the 6th consecutive year. According to a National Business Group on Health Survey (NBGH) health benefit costs are still rising at two times the rate of wage increases and three times general inflation.  “…Making this cost trend unaffordable and unsustainable over the long term”.

 Considerations:

  • Many large employers are holding down costs by steering employees towards cost-effective service providers such as telehealth options and high-value in-plan provider networks.
  • Offering more choices in plan offerings like PPOs (preferred-provider organizations) allow employees to select plans that best fit their needs (and their pocket books).
  • Spousal surcharges. Next year, 33 percent of large employers will impose a surcharge for spouses who can obtain coverage through their own employer, and the average annual spousal surcharge will be $1,200. Only six percent of respondents will exclude spouses entirely when similar health coverage is available through the spouse’s own employer.
  • Behavioral health benefits.Three in 10 large employers will conduct in-house campaigns next year to reduce the stigma around mental health conditions and treatment. More than half will offer self-directed online resources.
  • Opioid restrictions.A majority of large employers (55 percent) are greatly concerned about the impact of prescription opioid abuse in the workforce. Employers are working with their partners to implement multiple strategies to change prescribing patterns and increase access to alternative therapies, such as acupuncture, physical therapy and chiropractic care.

(*Source: By Stephen Miller, CEBS August 13, 2018 SHRM Article “For 2019, Employers Adjust Health Benefits as Costs Near $15,000 per Employee”

Artificial Intelligence

HR technology companies are developing and promoting more and more Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities. Some of the technologies being developed can help HR professionals track and reveal troubling patterns in real-time to address such issues as employee engagement, turnover, and absenteeism (to name a few).  Automating repetitive tasks and improving workforce productivity are two of the top potential outcomes from implementing AI technology.

Considerations

As with any technical solution, careful consideration should be given on the pro’s and con’s of different programs and have a clear purpose in mind before implementing.  Establish clear goals and how AI can enhance the employee experience and benefit the organization before implementing it.

Other important compliance and legal updates to be aware of in 2019:

Mandatory E-Verify Included in Trump’s 2019 Budget Proposal

In his proposal, President Trump allocates $23 million to be invested in expanding the E-Verify program to mandatory nationwide use. Since 1996, E-Verify has been voluntary for most employers. It also has become mandatory for federal contractors, certain state contractors, and employers that want to implement science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) when hiring foreign graduates of U.S. universities. Although it is not currently required at a federal level, many states have laws that either require or encourage some employers to use E-Verify. We may see other states follow-suit in 2019.

New FLSA Rule

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) intends to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to announce a new proposed salary threshold for the Fair Labor Standard Act’s (FLSA’s) white-collar exemption from overtime pay—but likely not until January 2019.

Under the current Act,  salaried employees who are managers and those with certain “specialized skills” like a professional degree or training in a specific field are exempt from being able to earn overtime pay if they make:

  • More than $455 per week; or
  • Over $23,660 a year

A halted 2016 rule would have doubled the salary threshold, requiring employers to pay overtime to salaried employees unless they make:

  • More than $913 per week; or
  • Over $47,476 a year

That raised cap would have made over 4 million more salaried workers eligible for overtime.

In 2018, the US Labor Department Secretary R. Alexander Acosta suggested during his confirmation hearing that the maximum for mandatory overtime pay should be increased to around $33,000. it’s unclear what the new rule will look like, but the new proposal is expected to be less sweeping. Lawmakers are expected to begin the ruling process in January 2019.

IRS Raises HSA, HDHP Dollar Limits for 2019

The annual contribution limits for health savings accounts (HSAs) are going up in 2019, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced May 10. The maximum out-of-pocket limits for an HSA-eligible high-deductible health plan (HDHP) also will be increased for inflation, according to Revenue Procedure 2018-30. For self-only plans, the contribution limit (employer + employee) for calendar year 2019 is $3,500; this represents a $50 increase over the 2018 limit. For family plans, the 2019 limit is $7,000, a $100 increase from 2018.

This is just a sampling of some of the key trends we have in store for us in 2019.  As HR professionals, it is going to be imperative for us stay alert and informed about the continued changes to our workforce, recruitment and retention policies, and legalities in order to be competitive and in compliance.

 Terry Salo is the Senior HR Consultant at strategic HR inc. (strategicHRinc.com). If you have any questions or would like to share your comments, contact Terry@strategicHRinc.com.

 

Project Management for HR Projects

August 31, 2018/in HR Strategy /by Robin

By John Throckmorton, MS, SPHR

Many HR professionals have experienced working on a project and struggling to finish the job.  This could have been the result of resources that were only available part time, scope that changed after the job was started, or a timeline that was way too ambitious.  As HR professionals, we are regularly presented with assignments that need to be completed.  These assignments routinely are full projects that need project management strategies applied.  Several examples include:

  • Annual benefits renewal,
  • creating and issuing total compensation statements,
  • hiring several new roles for the company,
  • developing a new performance management solution, and
  • orchestrating the formal company holiday party.

Each of these assignments follow a similar pattern of requiring “definition” of the work to be done, identifying the resources available to complete the tasks, executing the work, and closing the job when complete.  These steps normally fall into five phases of a project management:

  • Project Initiation
  • Project Planning
  • Project Execution
  • Project Controlling
  • Project Closure

With respect to HR project management, these five phases can be defined as the following:

Project Initiation:  This is the start of the project and the creation of the initial definition of work to be accomplished.

Project Planning:  The scope or definition of the work to be done is turned into a project plan to set out how the work will be done.  This is an important phase of the project.  The old adage applies that “Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail”.  Without a good plan of how the work will be accomplished, the likelihood of a successful project diminishes.  Scope changes, not the right resources, cost overruns, or not having the work complete when it is due are just a few of the results that happen with poor planning.

Project Execution:  In this phase, the work that was planned is begun and completed.

Project Controlling:  This phase is the monitoring component that goes along with the execution of the work.  Regular monitoring allows the project team to make mid-course corrections as necessary to ensure that the project completes as planned.

Project Closure:  In final phase, the project is completed and documentation is finalized.  For HR professionals, the end of a project many times will result in some maintenance of the resulting work.  For example, implementation of the Human Capital Management system results in the HR team managing the data and using the system regularly.  In these cases, the documentation plays an important role to ensure the original work is used as designed.

Across all of these phases, a critical aspect is communications.  Communications is the glue that allows the team to work collaboratively and for the rest of the organization to remain in sync with the team.  When the communication breaks down, the team can fall into disarray with members chasing different goals or management becoming out of sync with the goals of the team.  Both can lead to disastrous results.  Many times a daily standup is used inside the team to ensure the flow of communication.  For outside the team, status updates on a regular schedule tends to be the best method, and can be combined with other methods like status reports, dashboards showing progress/results, and walk up conversations.

To understand these principals in a greater level of detail, we can use an example to illustrate each phase and the corresponding actions.  In this example, I will look at creating Total Compensation Statements for a company for the first time.

Under Project Initiation, what is the scope of the project?  Where will the data with respect to earnings and deductions be obtained?  Can it be exported from the payroll system or does it have to be rekeyed?  Can the information be at an aggregate level or line item level?  As you can see, in the definition stage, questions abound and each answer can lead to additional questions.  The end purpose is to draw a clearly defined outline around the scope to be delivered.  Equally important is defining the items that are NOT in scope.  For example, in the above situation, confirming the addresses are correct for each employee is out of scope.

With the scope in hand, Project Planning will now flush out the details of the work.  This should result in a task list to be accomplished with dependencies between tasks where possible.  The nature of the questions will somewhat change, leading to When and How and Who rather than What and Why from the previous phase.  Who will extract the data from the payroll system?  How will the statement be formatted?  Will there be a CEO statement that goes along with the total compensation statement?  Will the statements be mailed to the individual homes or hand delivered at the office?  How is the data in the statement verified?

During this stage, the dependencies are also identified.  The data extract needs to occur before data can be imported into the statements.  The format of the statement also has to be defined before the import can occur.

Additionally, during this phase, the resources to accomplish the work are identified and committed.  In many HR projects, the unfortunate nature of business is that these resources have other jobs and they are only part time on the project.

With the resources assigned and a task list created, the Project Execution begins.  Tasks are assigned to individuals and work is accomplished.  Throughout the Project Controlling phase, in parallel, will be tracking progress and looking for issues to be resolved.  We all know that issues occur, the trick is identifying them early and taking corrective action quickly.

For HR project management, one issue that regularly impacts timeline and effectiveness of the project is the part time nature of the resources allocated to the jobs.  The day to day job of operationally running the business gets in the way of dedicated time to the project, such as: the employee relations issue that has to be resolved, problems with payroll have to be addressed, and resigning employees need to be replaced.  Identifying these problems when they happen and resolving them quickly is key to a successful project.  Sometimes, getting outside help is the answer; other times it is juggling assignments to others on the team.

Eventually, the project comes to an end and the delivery is complete.  At that point, documentation of the end deliverables is necessary for the running of the business.  In our example, inevitably, someone will question their Total Compensation Statement six months after the fact and allege that a calculation was wrong.  In this situation, you need to be able to reconstruct the data sources and prove that the information was correct or clearly identify what was wrong in order to close off the issue.

In summary, it is important to go through all of the phases in order to manage the expectations of management and successfully deliver the project.  As illustrated above, the nature of HR project management is somewhat unique based on the resources that are typically assigned to them.  These unique characteristics require a much more vigilant monitoring of the project as it progresses, both the resources as well as the scope.

 

John Throckmorton, MS, SPHR is the Vice President of Operations at strategic HR inc. (https://strategicHRinc.com).  If you have any questions or would like to share your comments, contact John@strategicHRinc.com.

Transform HR to Compete for Talent

October 2, 2017/in HR Strategy /by Robin

By Jackie Messersmith, CEO of Talent Management, LLC

Human capital is the CEO’s No. 1 concern, but only 9% of HR leaders are ready to address their people challenges. The Conference Board’s 2014-15 Global Leadership Forecast.

So, what to do?

The best HR departments are focusing on the entire employee lifecycle – hiring to retiring – or talent management. They are also providing better support to managers, and gaining points for pulling up from administrative minutiae to work on the long-term well-being of the business.

But there is still a long way to go. There’s continued frustration from business and HR leaders alike that the value of the “strategic” approach remains at best unquantified, and at worst ill-defined and poorly understood. Too many HR organizations still fail to make a hard and convincing connection between talent decisions and value.

Businesses need to concentrate on four things:

  • Rethinking the role of HR to enable a better understanding of the vital link with strategy,
  • Using employee engagement to identify the talent actions that will drive the value,
  • Fixing HR operations so they are not a distraction from HR’s higher mission, and
  • Focusing HR resources in more agile ways so as to support these fresh priorities.

Rethink the Role of HR

Short of rewriting job descriptions and changing roles right away, companies should identify their best HR people and prepare them for a new role with training and a understanding of expectations. HR professionals should help business leaders connect talent decisions to value-creating outcomes, while being held fully accountable for the performance of the talent.

Employee Engagement

HR should utilize employee engagement surveys to collect data by asking the right questions, analyzing results and acting with a clear plan. Business/work units that score in the top half of employee engagement have nearly double the odds of success when compared with those in the bottom half. HR should use data collected to drive business value.

Fix HR Operations

The current reality of HR is that the function is routinely pulled into operational issues and distracted from its core strategic mission. HR must, therefore, raise awareness and concentrate on three critical operational priorities: continuous process improvement, automation technology, and user-experience-focused service improvement.

Be Agile

HR functions need to be able to create a solid backbone of core processes that either eliminate the clutter or camouflage the complexity to the business, all while delivering the basics. For small to mid-size organizations this might mean moving some of these services to a PEO or examining a shared service approach. With process improvement and automation the end result will be a much smaller, more agile group focused on talent management.

If HR leaders are to finally achieve the promise of being ‘strategic’, they will need to transform their own function to provide a foundation. By changing the way HR interacts with the business on strategic questions, notably through the creation of new HR leaders, HR can gain responsibility and accountability for driving talent-linked value.

Source: The CEO’s guide to competing through HR, Frank Bafaro, Diana Ellsworth, and Neel Gandhi

Jackie Messersmith is President and CEO of Talent Management LLC. Talent Management provides consulting services to small to mid-size businesses to put a top performing culture and talent strategy in place, and is the developer of Talent Snapshot®, an integrated, competency based, online talent management solutions. Jackie can be reached at 513-528-9700 or jackie@talentmanagementllc.com.

 

The ‘Gig’ Is Up! The Gig Workforce, That Is

May 1, 2017/in HR Strategy /by Robin

By Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR, SCP

 

Have you heard about the ‘Gig Workforce’?  Also called: on demand workforce, freelancers, subcontractors, and contingent workforce.  The Gig Workforce is not really new but according to Freelancing in America more than 55 million Americans do freelance work, and 79% of them prefer freelance work to a traditional job.  And, as reported by the Herman Trend Alert, by the year 2025, more than 50 percent of the global workforce will be Gig workers.

According to TechTarget, there are a number of reasons why we are seeing this growth in the Gig Workforce.  For the freelancer, the technology of the digital age allows workers to be more mobile and basically do work from anywhere creating a separation between a job and a location.  But for employers, the same is true – employers can select the best individual for an assignment or project from a much larger global pool than in the past.

Based on a study by the McKinsey Global Institute, the typical freelancer has a high degree of autonomy, gets paid by the task or assignment, may work for multiple clients, and often works shorter term assignments that are less than a year.  Interestingly enough, these are some of the key factors required to assess whether a freelancer is an employee or not according to existing legislation.

Obviously if 50% of our workforce is going to be made of freelancers, we need to work on understanding the benefits and challenges and begin creating strategies around attracting and retaining this workforce of the future.  It’s not going to be easy.

 

Freelancers

BenefitsChallenges
1)     Flexibility

Freelancers love the flexibility.  They can now work from home while supporting their family and/or children.  Plus, they control what days and hours they work, including even taking as much time off as desired.  Traveling is even easier because the work can be done from nearly anywhere.

1)     Inconsistent Income

Not only is the income inconsistent from project to project and gaps between, but as a contractor an employer can reject all or part of the work without payment.  And, payment terms could be 30, 60, 90 or more days.

2)     Opportunity

Freelancers love the opportunity to choose the type of work they will do.  There are lots and lots of opportunities.  As a freelancer they can choose what assignments match their skillset, interests, and lifestyle.

2)     Increase in Costs

The rate of pay may be higher and look more lucrative.  But, as an independent contractor, other costs can be incurred which would normally have been paid as a W2 employee such as self-employment taxes, health insurance, retirement plans, equipment, costs for technology (i.e. internet), and marketing.

3)     Control

Some individuals are dipping their toe into freelancing as a means to provide income while between jobs.  With this cushion, waiting for the perfect job or assessing whether to stay in a freelance role is much easier. In fact, some will say a freelancer has more control over their career than a traditional employee. They pick the work they do, when they do it, and how they do it, and know when the work may be ending.

3)    Less Stability

An assignment can end at any time with minimal notice.  Likewise, the employer can go out of business ending the work and sometimes even the payments due.

 4)     Less Legislative Protection

Freelancers don’t benefit from the same protections as a W2 employee such as sick leave, PTO, workers compensation, unemployment, and minimum wage.

 5)     Termination Is Easier

Freelancers are a quick resource to hire for a project but often are treated the same way if the work dries up or less than positive reviews are provided.

 

Employers

BenefitsChallenges
1)     Lower Cost

Employers benefit by allowing them to avoid long-term investment in employees, including the costs of benefits, office space, and even training.  Employers are starting to scale back office space and even go to shared offices.

1)     Just in Time

Employers will need to begin paying closer attention to their work/project needs to be able to effectively find freelancers with the right skill at the right time.

2)     Agile Workforce

By utilizing an on demand workforce, employers are able to quickly scale staff up or down in response to changing demand.

2)     Engagement and Retention

New strategies will need to be created to effectively attract, engage and retain this Gig Workforce, while ensuring compliance with current legislation.

3)     Higher Skill

An employer also can contract with a higher level expert for specific needs that would have been too costly to hire as a full-time employee.

3)      Moonlighters

Employers are likely to find employees moonlighting to supplement their “traditional” employment.  While you’d assume there is no impact, employers may see lack of availability, “personal” calls during the work hours, and even conflicts of interest.

 

What Do I Need to Do?

To attract and retain the gig workforce, you’ll need to make shifts in how you handle these freelancers all while staying in compliance with the laws around employee versus contractor. The best place to start is to ASK your current contingent workers.  What would attract them to freelance with you and come back over and over?  With the percentage of traditional employees becoming Gig workers, you don’t have a choice but to change and/or improve your HR practices.

Hiring talented Gig workers will require us to provide the benefits mentioned above while also helping the freelancer overcome some of the challenges listed.  For example, how flexible will you be to when the freelancer works and from where while also providing some stability in your payment terms?

Finding these talented freelancers will require us to find out where they are.  Some resources may include:

  • Networking (who knows someone that knows someone)
  • CareerCast
  • Freelancer
  • Upwork
  • Toptal
  • Elance
  • Guru
  • CollegeRecruiter
  • iFreelance
  • Project4Hire
  • FlexJobs

The vetting process many organizations go through to hire a contract worker is minimal compared to the current employment process.  This process is going to have to step up and be enhanced to be effective.  Careful consideration will need to be given to the scope of the work, length of the assignment, fee structure, and terms such as when payment occurs and who owns intellectual property.

At the same time, effective retention strategies will help you retain Gig workers and will help with attraction as well.  The strategies are much the same as we’d use to retain an employee:

  • Onboarding
  • Establishing clear expectations
  • Providing feedback as the project proceeds
  • Creating an inclusive environment including cross functional teams
  • Paying invoices very timely
  • Don’t treat them as disposable
  • Offering unique perks (make sure the benefits are different than what you do for employees)

Managers will have to learn how to manage these remote and independent workers. Encouraging engagement and creating loyalty to the employer are going to be tough challenges to overcome while staying compliant with state and federal laws.  It’s a fine line and the Department of Labor has been watching closely.

 

Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR, SCP is the President at strategic HR inc. (www.strategicHRinc.com). If you have any questions or would like to share your comments, contact Robin@strategicHRinc.com.

Nine Key Emerging Trends in HR in 2017

March 1, 2017/in HR Strategy /by Robin

By Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR, SCP

With a new political landscape and continuous changes in our demographics, 2017 is going to be a rapidly changing year for the HR world.  HR is going to have to stay on the forefront of legislative changes and may even need to get more engaged in influencing those changes.  Plus, with the continuous evolution of our workforce, what has always worked may not work anymore whether it be recruitment, compensation, or even workplace policies.

So what’s keeping HR up at night and on our toes during the day????

TREND 1 – Retiring Baby Boomers
For years, the work force has been dominated by the Baby Boomers.  The masses of Baby Boomers in the workforce have dominated the other generations by sheer numbers.  Slowly this is changing.  As of April 2016, the Baby Boomers are no longer the largest generation in the workforce as the Millennials surpass them.  Currently, around 10,000 Baby Boomers turn 65 every day according to PEW Research. Some Baby Boomers are retiring while others are plunging into their next career.

Considerations: With a mass exodus of Baby Boomers, whether to retirement or a new career, how will your company manage this loss of wisdom, knowledge, and experience?  What can your organization do to retain the Baby Boomers at some level to minimize the loss?  What steps can you implement to transfer this knowledge to the younger generations?

TREND 2 – Entrance of Generation Z
Welcome Generation Z (born 1991 to present) to the workplace.  According to Bruce Tulgan’s research on the “Great Generational Shift,” Gen Zs grew up “over supervised, coached, and constantly rewarded by their parents.”  As a result, this generation has high expectations for themselves, their boss and the company.  They have a lot of wants and want to know exactly what they need to do to attain those wants including clear goals, precise timelines, and acceptable rewards.  While some feel this is the trophy generation where everyone was a winner, truth be told, it was the parents that did not “keep score”, the kids certainly did.  They are competitive and they know how to keep score.

Considerations: This generation does not “trust” the system and wants clear goals tied to rewards.  HR is going to be challenged to create an environment that will accommodate these workers including new programs such as training managers, creating clear milestones, developing incremental rewards, ensuring open and regular communications, and more.  Gen Z won’t be appeased with “if you work hard, here’s where you’ll be in 3-5 years”.  They want to see more immediate rewards – next week, next month, 6 months out.

TREND 3 – Workforce Flexibility
To begin with, flexibility in the workplace is no longer a request by moms and/or Gen Xers.  Both genders and every generation are looking for workplace flexibility for their own reasons.

Considerations: To stay competitive, organizations will need to figure out how to accommodate these requests for flexibility such as flexible starting and ending times and options to work from home as needed—perhaps even adjusting the normal work day to a 5 – 6 hour day.

TREND 4 – Gig Workforce
An even bigger challenge is going to be the emergence of the Gig Workforce.  It’s not really new but according to Freelancing in America more than 55 million Americans do freelance work, and 79% of them prefer freelance work to a traditional job.

Considerations: To attract and retain the gig workforce, you’ll need to make shifts in how you handle these freelancers all while staying in compliance with the laws around employee versus contractor.  An added complication can be determining whether this individual is truly a contractor, or should they be classified as an employee.  It’s a fine line and the Department of Labor has been watching closely.

TREND 5 – Tight Labor Market
The labor market continues to get tighter and tighter.  It is becoming more and more challenging to find talent let alone technical talent (STEM).  Plus, a tight labor market means it is a candidates market and candidates know it.

Considerations: Companies will need to continue to partner with education institutes to develop candidates with these skills.  They will also need to be willing to grow the skills internally rather than expecting to find them on the street.  In addition, companies will need to begin focusing on the candidate experience.  It will be critical to break down the journey a candidate may take from beginning to end with your organization and ensure it is very positive in the eyes of the candidate.  Timeliness will also be critical.  If you think a candidate is great, so does someone else.  Lastly, hiring is just taking longer, and costing more – from resources to the time to fill.  Keep an eye on your metrics, so you’re not caught off guard.

TREND 6 – Return of the Performance Review
In the past, the buzz was to abolish performance reviews.  But, guess what?  They aren’t going away.   The reason organizations were eliminating the reviews was because an annual discussion was not effective, which was no surprise.

Considerations: Discussions with employees on performance and development need to be happening more regularly, at least monthly or quarterly, if not more often.  An informal or formal approach to ongoing discussions with employees has to be established.  The Millennials (Gen Y & Gen Z) are looking for these regular conversations and the other generations are jumping on the bandwagon. What tools can you provide your managers and how do you hold them accountable for ensuring these regular discussions are taking place?

TREND 7 – Bonuses versus Raises
With a tight labor market and robust economy, wages are increasing too.  More and more companies are shifting to a compensation structure of bonuses based on performance over the annual merit raise.

Considerations: Employers are trying to get more creative to handle this increased cost by offering bonuses to employees in lieu of pay increases.  For example, an increase of 1 – 4% doesn’t have a huge impact on an employee’s salary on an hourly, weekly or monthly basis.  However, a bonus of $500 – $10,000 will have a bigger and immediate impact.  To do this, employers need to start with a competitive base pay and then create formal incentive plans to help employees know what they need to do in order to get what amount of bonus.

TREND 8 – Parental Leave
Work / Life benefits continue to be top of mind as well.  One of the key ones is “parental leave,” meaning both maternity and paternity leaves.  Big or small, we are beginning to see organizations taking steps to offer time off for both mom and dad for the birth or adoption of a child.  Some companies are offering very generous plans (i.e. 12 weeks paid) that are the same for both, while others are starting out by offering a paternal leave at a different amount than maternal.

Considerations: To be competitive, what will your organization do with regards to parental leave?  While there was a lot of buzz on paid leave in the election, Congress is unlikely to act any time soon.  That doesn’t mean your company can rest on its laurels, when so many other companies are stepping up to offer paid leave.

TREND 9 – Compliance issues for 2017
With any new presidential administration, we can expect a great deal of change in 2017 to workplace compliance such as:

  • Fair Labor Standards Act – exempt/non-exempt and overtime requirements
  • Paid Time Off – Time off for sick, maternity, and other leaves of absence
  • Affordable Care Act
  • Equal Pay
  • Immigration

Considerations: To effectively help our organizations, we need to stay on top of issues. Some of these changes will be for the good of a company and others may not.  Be sure your voice is being heard on these issues by connecting with your local congressman, and pay attention.  It seems that changes are happening daily, if not hourly.

Finally, we’ve talked about the customer experience and the candidate experience; both of these are directly tied to the employee experience.  We don’t often step back and evaluate the interactions an employee goes through while employed with us.  The best place to start is to create a map of the journey an employee navigates including such points as onboarding, expectations, feedback, recognition, communication, growth and development, workloads, and more.  Now more than ever, it’s critical to consider what you are doing to keep your current talent.

This is just a sampling of some of the key trends we have in store for us in 2017.  As HR professionals, it is going to be imperative for us stay alert and informed about the continued changes to our workforce, recruitment, policies, and legalities in order to be competitive and in compliance.

Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR, SCP is the President at strategic HR inc. (www.strategicHRinc.com).  If you have any questions or would like to share your comments, contact Robin@strategicHRinc.com.

Why Human Resources is Needed!

February 1, 2017/in HR Strategy /by Robin

By Jim Huffmyer with strategic HR inc.

Human Resources (HR) has never been more necessary. The competitive forces that companies face today will continue to challenge organizational excellence. The efforts to achieve such excellence—through an emphasis on learning, quality, teamwork, and re-engineering—are driven by the way organizations get things done and how they treat their people. Those are fundamental HR issues.

To state it plainly: achieving organizational excellence must be the work of HR.

Companies need to create a new role and agenda for HR that focuses not on traditional HR activities, but on outcomes. HR should not be defined by what it does but by what it delivers—results that enrich the organization’s value to all stakeholders.

How can HR help deliver organizational excellence? Here are four ways:

  1. HR should become a partner with senior and line managers in strategy execution, helping to move planning from the conference room to the marketplace.
  2. HR should become an expert in the way work is organized and executed, delivering administrative efficiency to ensure that costs are reduced while quality is maintained.
  3. HR should become a champion for employees, vigorously representing their concerns to management and at the same time working to increase employee contribution; that is, employees’ commitment to the organization and their ability to deliver results.
  4. HR should become an agent of continuous transformation, shaping processes and a culture that together improves an organization’s capacity for change.

Can HR transform itself alone? Absolutely not. The primary responsibility for transforming the role of HR belongs to the CEO and to every line manager who must achieve business goals. Why? They are answerable to shareholders for creating economic value, to customers for creating product or service value, and to employees for creating workplace value. It follows that they should lead the way in fully integrating HR into the company’s real work. Indeed, to do so, they must become HR champions themselves.

As reported in the Bloomberg HR benchmark report for 2015-2016, they identified several key indicators for the HR department.

  1. The median ratio of human resources staff to total employee headcount declined to 1.1 full-time equivalent HR employees for every 100 workers served by the human resource department, down from a record high of 1.3 human resource staff members per 100 workers in both 2014 and 2013.
  2. Recruitment and retention remain at or near the top of most HR professionals’ agendas, with nearly nine of out of ten respondents saying that hiring and keeping employees are extremely or very important. Controlling healthcare costs was cited by roughly three-quarters of respondents, down from 86 percent four years ago.

The Price of Non-Compliance

Because of the multitude of laws affecting each stage of the employment process, it is extremely important for an employer to regularly review their policies and practices to ensure regulatory compliance, potentially resulting in costly fines and/or lawsuits.  A few examples:

  • Organizations can be fined $1100 for any violation of the appropriate payment of overtime for non-exempt employees, in accordance with the Fair Labors Standards Act.
  • It could cost the organization lost wages, benefits, interest, and attorney fees for any violation of the Family and Medical Leave Act. For an employee making $35,000 / year who was incorrectly terminated for 3 months – that violation could cost you $12,000 PLUS the company’s and employee’s attorney fees.
  • Penalties for failing to post required safety notices or keep accurate records may go as high as $10,000 each.
  • Violations of the COBRA law can result in penalties from a number of regulatory organizations including:
  • IRS: The Internal Revenue Service penalty is a non-deductible excise tax of $100 per day violation. If there is more than one Qualified Beneficiary in the family, the Internal Revenue Service excise tax is $200 per day.
  • ERISA: Since COBRA requirements are part of ERISA, failing to comply with COBRA may subject an employer to an ERISA penalty of up to $100 per day, per violation. This penalty may be levied per Qualified Beneficiary with no family maximum.

In addition, the organization is responsible for claim payments, “making the person whole,” potential court levied damages and attorney fees.

  • Non-compliance with Federal Immigration Reform Act requirements can result in a fine up to $1000 per employee.
  • Benefit plans which are not compliant with ERISA regulations can result in a fine of $1000 per day against benefit plan administrators in addition to civil penalties.
  • Violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act can result in reinstatement of the terminated employee and payment of back pay, benefits, attorney fees, and potential compensatory and punitive damages.

Penalties such as these help signify the importance of conducting periodic human resources analysis and to maintain fair and consistent policies and procedures across the organization. Avoidance of penalties in addition to maintaining a happy and productive workforce will also save the organization monies associated with costly turnover. Losing one employee is estimated to cost a company 100% of the employee’s salary to replace the worker.

In the event of an audit or lawsuit, your business could be fined hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars if your records and practices are non-compliant with employment regulations. Below are some real-life examples of the cost of non-compliance. It doesn’t matter your size, your industry, or your intention, the government will fine you.

Non-compliance of federal and state employment regulations can directly impact the bottom line of any organization. It is important to understand the ramifications of business decisions so as to minimize the financial exposure of business decisions. The following are some examples given by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) of the financial impact non-compliance is having on American businesses.

Wrongful Termination – $500,000
Average defense costs are approximately $85,000. Jury verdicts typically average $500,000.

Sexual Harassment – $95 Million
In 2011 a Belleville, IL employee was awarded $95 million in a sexual harassment case because the employer did not handle the complaint correctly.

A judge awarded a recruiter $8.1 million for sexual harassment, sex discrimination, retaliation, and emotional distress claims against her employer.

Age Discrimination – $4,200,000
A former claims adjuster, age 37, was awarded $4.2 million by a jury who found that age was a determining factor in his termination. After a jury trial, an employee was awarded more than $800,000 in damages from the employer, who was found to be in “willful” violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

Racial Discrimination – $380,000
An African-American employee, who was fired after testing positive on a drug test, was awarded $380,000 by a jury. The employee was asked to submit testing after he was involved in a minor accident. Although he requested a confirmatory test, the company refused and terminated him.

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) – $80,000
A hospital employee was fired when she took leave to care for her two sick children. After being found liable, the hospital had to pay $58,000 in back pay and benefits.

A jury awarded an employee, who was fired after requesting leave for depression and anxiety, $19,000  in damages and $80,000 in attorney’s fees.

Disability Discrimination – $7,100,000
A verdict in the first Americans with Disabilities Act case to be litigated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) awarded $572,000 to a plaintiff who was fired after he was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.

A jury awarded a discharged executive $7.1 million in compensatory and punitive damages after he was fired one day before he was scheduled for release from an outpatient alcohol rehabilitation program.

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) – $10,000
The FLSA provides that an employer found guilty of willful violations of the Act may be fined up to $10,000. Subsequent violations may include imprisonment for up to six months. Furthermore, the employee has the right to sue “any court of competent jurisdiction” for any unpaid minimum wages or overtime.

Illegal Immigrant Workers – $10,000
If a company is found to willfully violate the Immigration Reform and Control Act, the company can face up to$2,000 for each unauthorized alien. If subsequent violations follow, the company will be subject to fines ranging from $2,000 to $10,000 per violation, and an additional $1,000 per each paperwork violation incident.

National Origin Discrimination – $18,000,000
A Texas federal court jury has awarded four former managers of a large convenience store chain more than $18 million after the chain was found to have discriminated on the basis of national origin.

Religious Discrimination – $500,000
A security guard was awarded $500,000, including attorney’s fees, after he was harassed and prevented from praying at work.

Negligent Hiring – $2,500,000
After a deliveryman attacked a customer, the employer was held liable for $2.5 million for negligently hiring and retaining the deliveryman. No job interview was conducted; no references were requested, and he was not asked to complete a job application. It was later discovered that the deliveryman had a juvenile record for armed robbery and burglary and had adult records of arrests and convictions for assault and battery.

COBRA – $1,000,000
Both husband and wife were covered under group plans for their respective employers (dual coverage under both plans). The husband contemplated leaving his employer and asked if he would be entitled to elect COBRA. His employer assured him that he could elect COBRA. He paid all monthly premiums due for coverage. Several months later, his wife gave birth to twins who required intensive medical care. The husband’s plan denied claims for coverage, asserting that the husband should never have been permitted to elect COBRA because he had dual coverage at the time of the termination. The wife’s plan denied all claims as well. A lawsuit resulted. The court awarded damages to the husband and wife in excess of $1 million.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) – $775,000
The EEOC alleged that Target created and condoned a racially hostile work environment at its store in Springfield, Pennsylvania. The agency said a group of black employees were subjected to inappropriate comments and verbal berating based on race. Further, when one of the black employees objected to this treatment, he was retaliated against, according to the agency. The settlement provides a class of 14 employees with $775,000 and requires that all managers in the store receive training in the company’s equal employment opportunity policies.

 

Jim Huffmyer is a Senior HR Consultant at strategic HR inc. (www.strategicHRinc.com). If you have any questions or would like to share your comments, contact Jim@strategicHRinc.com.

 

What Should Our Priorities Be for 2017?

January 2, 2017/in HR Strategy /by Robin
By Cathleen Snyder, SPHR, SHRM – SCP

As we close the book on 2016, and begin 2017, we can’t help but ponder what the coming year will hold.  Let’s face it, 2016 was a bit of a roller coaster!

  • Will the minimum wage increase to $15?  How will this impact your other positions?
  • We scrambled to re-classify certain employees to non-exempt then, wait a minute – not so fast!
  • We offered benefits and other protections to same sex partners/spouses.
  • The culmination of the election gave us all whiplash!

As the new administration takes over in Washington, there are definitely questions of what will happen.

  • How extensive will the changes be?
  • What will be rolled back from the previous administration?
  • What will happen to ACA?

GetApp Graphic

Aside from all of those, there are the more traditional business concerns and priorities.  According to a survey by GetAppLab.com, understandably, 57.5% of small business say their top priority in 2017 will be to attract and retain clients.  For others, it’s reducing costs, improving infrastructure and easier payment/invoicing.

Where does HR fit in with these priorities?  This is where being a strategic business partner is so important.  What do we need in order to attract and retain clients?  It starts with the people on our own team that are servicing and supporting those clients.  Are we hiring the right people?  It’s no secret that it’s a tight job market.  In November, Cincinnati had the lowest unemployment rate in 15 years at 3.8%.  Are our recruiting strategies working?  If you haven’t adjusted them in the past couple of years, it’s definitely time to.

What about training?  Exceptional service to your clients most likely requires training.  Whether it’s how to provide that service, how to work more efficiently to reduce costs, or exploring options for that infrastructure.  Are your supervisors trained appropriately?  Don’t underestimate the impact this can have on your business.  More than an operational standpoint, do they know how to manage, motivate, coach and engage your employees?  Keep in mind, employees leave a supervisor, more than they leave a company.  An effective supervisor that can build an effective team can go a long way to achieving those other goals.

On the surface, it may not look like HR has an impact on these goals, but you don’t have to dig too deep to see we touch almost every one of them, in some way.  The clock is ticking on 2017.  This is HR’s chance to claim our role in achieving these goals.

Cathleen Snyder, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, CIR is Director of Client Relations with strategic HR inc. If you have any questions or would like to share your comments, contact Cathleen at Cathleen@strategicHRinc.com.

Multicolored wheel divided into 7 equal sections Recruitment, Training and Development, Benifits and Compensation, Communicating, Employee Relations, Recordkeeping, and Health safety and security with Legal compliance written on the outer edge and company strategy in the center is emphasized

Do You Have a Powerful, Engaged Workforce?

June 30, 2016/in HR Strategy /by Robin

By Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP

Would you like to increase your company’s productivity by 18% and improve quality by 60%?  You can…according to BI Worldwide these are the results you can gain from having engaged employees.  Additional results may include HIGHER customer satisfaction, sales, and profit.  But, unfortunately, statistic after statistic indicates that on average we only have about a third of our workforce actually engaged.

According to a Gallup Survey in 2016, our workforces typically break down as:

  • Engaged Employees 34.1%
  • Not engaged Employees 49.5%
  • Actively disengaged employees 16.5%

What really is employee engagement? Wikipedia defines employee engagement as the relationship between an organization and its employees…”An engaged employee is one who is fully absorbed by and enthusiastic about their work, and so take positive action to further the organization’s reputation and interests.” By contrast, an actively disengaged employee isn’t just unhappy at work but they are busy spreading their unhappiness to others (i.e. complaints, gossip, know it all).

While it may be challenging to get back the “actively disengaged employee”, there are those in the  “not engaged” category that you stand a good chance of converting to engaged.  You need to find a way to get more of this group to actively participate in the workplace in a positive way. .

So, how do you get your employees engaged?

It’s not something you can do overnight but rather over time. And, the best place to start is with your supervisors.

“With the rise of the knowledge worker, one does not ‘manage’ people.  The task is to lead people.  And the goal is to make productive specific strengths and knowledge of every individual.”  Peter Druker

For years now, we’ve talked about being more productive and successful if we act as leaders not managers.  When employees are lead versus managed, they are happier and more engaged.  Yet, today, we still see organizations operate with managers not leaders.  What’s the difference?  According to a Wall Street Journal article “What Is the Difference between Management and Leadership?”:

Manager

–          Administers

–          Maintains

–          Systems / structure

–          Short-range view

–          How and when

–          Does things right

–          Relies on control

–          Forget to Praise

 

Leader

–          Innovates

–          Develops

–          People

–          Long-range view

–          What and why

–          Does the right thing

–          Inspires trust

–          Reward Improvements

 

It is important for your supervisors to realize the critical need to lead instead of purely manage.  The results will have a huge impact on your employee engagement levels.

Some basic changes or improvements a manager can do right away include:

  • treating employees with respect,
  • involving employees as much as possible,
  • providing feedback both good and constructive,
  • keeping promises,
  • treating employees as individuals,
  • focusing on employee strengths,
  • emphasizing work-life balance,
  • providing recognition (simple thank yous go a long way), and
  • creating a trusting, open and fun environment.

Who wouldn’t want to work for a supervisor that has this type of management style?!

Beyond training your supervisors to manage as leaders, another great solution is to simply ask your employees what they like about working for your company and supervisors, and what could be improved or changed to make it even better?  Then, REALLY listen.  Asking your employees can come in many forms including casual conversations, formal surveys, focus groups, or even one on one stay interviews.

With this golden information in hand, the task becomes figuring out what to do with it.  Doing nothing will set you back even further.  Taking action and then communicating to your employees what you heard and what you are changing is critical.  It doesn’t mean you have to do everything they asked.  But, let them know you heard them. If there are things that come up that you can’t do, let them know that and have a good business reason to support it.

Learning as much as you can from your employees is priceless.  Creating an engaged workforce is also priceless.   Remember, the engaged employees work with passion and drive our organizations to succeed.

Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP is a Senior Human Resources Management Consultant and President of Strategic Human Resources, Inc. (www.strategicHRinc.com). If you have any questions or would like to share your comments or retention strategies with Robin, contact her at Robin@strategicHRinc.com.

 

 

 

An Internal Review of Human Resources – The HR Audit and Organizational Analysis

December 21, 2015/in HR Strategy /by Robin

By Patti Dunham, MBA, MA, SPHR, SHRM- SCP and Brianne Waugh, MA

The end of the year and beginning of the new year always seems to be a time of personal reflection and the same is true of our organizations! When we hear the word audit, most of us immediately think “finance” or “accounting,” not Human Resources.  However, as HR continues to evolve into the role of business partner and strategic partner in our organizations, the HR function is one that should be audited and analyzed.  A properly conducted review of your HR processes and systems can provide measurements that show support of the department’s objectives and shows contributions to the company’s bottom line.

What audits should I do and how are they different?
When you are involved in a review of your Human Resources function, there are typically two distinct components: the HR Audit and the Organizational Analysis.  Whether conducted together or separately, these reviews are different in their focus and yield highly actionable recommendations.

In the HR Audit, the focus is compliance and processes but should include all areas of HR such as:

  • Recruitment
  • Training and Development
  • Benefits and Compensation
  • Communications
  • Employee Relations
  • Recordkeeping
  • Health, Safety and Security
  • Legal Compliance

Document reviews and interviews during an audit process will allow an auditor to review what an organization says it does (the policy/procedure), what it is doing (actual practice), and what should be done (best practices).

In the Organizational Analysis, the focus is on how HR contributes to the success of your company: checking the health of your HR function, diagnosing what’s getting in the way of the results you need and identifying specific interventions to make improvements in your system and the structure of how work gets done.  Information reviewed includes:

  • Company strategy and business goals
  • Current organizational structure and organization chart(s)
  • Information on all business sectors or partners
  • Historical information on the business.

 

What can I expect when I do these reviews?
To begin either review,  start with information gathering, including applicable HR policies and procedures, forms/templates, current organizational charts and other important documents.  The review will only be as good as the information you provide to the auditor so the results will be limited if you aren’t honest or don’t provide all of the information requested.  After a thorough document review, the interview process will begin and will include anyone involved in Human Resources including internal customers within your organization (such as hiring managers and C-level executives).

After the document review and interviews, the auditor will create a report that will show specific recommended actions.  For the HR Audit, the report should indicate the reason for the recommendation (compliance, best practice, etc.) and make suggestions on how to improve the area identified.  The report should allow you to organize the information and create priorities for areas of improvement.  Finally, the report should also include an overall assessment of the alignment of HR systems with the organization’s goals and recommendations for improvements in that area, if necessary.

For the Organizational Analysis, the report should include details on the findings regarding current functioning and recommend actions to enhance and improve your HR results as a key part of the organization.  The recommendations may include assessing design elements such organization structure or addressing operating norms and potential root causes which need to be further evaluated and addressed to help improve operations.

We do annual physicals on ourselves.  Evaluating the physical health of our human resources function should also be done each year.  Overall, these reviews will provide your organization with an objective evaluation of the Human Resources function as well as a road map for growth and continued improvement.

Wow, that’s exactly what my organization needs!  How do I get started?
We’re here to help!  Give us a call at 513-697-9855 or visit our website www.strategichrinc.com so we can get started on your HR Audit and/or Organizational Analysis today!

Patti Dunham, MBA, MA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP and Brianne Waugh, MA with strategic HR inc. (www.strategicHRinc.com). If you have any questions or would like to share your comments or success stories, you can contact us at info@strategicHRinc.com

Against the Odds? You Can Retain Them – Millennials

October 21, 2015/in HR Strategy /by Robin

By Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP

The days of retaining an employee of any age for thirty plus years are gone, other than a few lonely stragglers.  In fact, the Department of Labor reports median tenure for ALL workers 25 years old and older is 5.5 years.  It makes sense that some businesses have concerns when they hear the median job tenure for 20 – 24 year olds is shorter than 16 months and for those 25 – 34 it is three years.  But, doesn’t median mean there are some higher and some lower?  And, can a business afford to not hire these Millennials?

Since the Millennials, ages 18 – 34, make up 34% of the US workforce, they are a segment that CANNOT be ignored today or tomorrow.  Authors of the article “How Millennials Could Upend Wall Street and Corporate America,” found that by 2025, the Millennials will make up as much as 75% of our workforce or 50 million workers. For a business to succeed, it is imperative to find a way to retain this talent segment as long as possible.

The good news is the list of strategies to increase your retention of this generation is endless and many of the strategies actually benefit the organization. Below are just 10 examples that provide a win-win for both a Millennial and the business:

  • Tech Savvy
    Millennials were raised on technology and are actively engaged in social media.  As a result, they can ensure the business is taking advantage of the best technology and resources to stay competitive.  They can also teach others how to effectively use these tools. Don’t lose this dynamic pool of talent by falling behind in providing the most up to date technology and resources.
  • Life Long Learners
    The Millennials are the most educated generation because they thrive on learning.  In fact 65% feel the opportunity for personal development is the most important factor for their career (Kenan-Flagler Business School). A business definitely reaps the benefits employing these lifelong learners. But, to do so, it is critical that they are provided these ongoing learning opportunities through both external (seminars, conferences) and internal (rotational programs, guest speakers).  If not, surveys say75% would leave if they don’t feel like they are learning (Kenan-Flagler Business School).
  • Expressive
    Social media has taught this generation not to be afraid to share.  This means they won’t be afraid to share ideas in the workplace. Bright ideas don’t just come from the top or the most senior employees.  Sometimes a fresh perspective from a different angle can find that million dollar solution.  Don’t belittle the Millennials because they are younger or less experienced.  They have some fabulous ideas that they are eager to share.
  • Team Players
    Millennials have a strong passion for the community and seek strong relations with their peers.  The events they grew up with led them to feeling a need to help others. In fact, they are being dubbed “The We Generation”.  In addition, the Millennial generation is the most diverse generation and see everyone as an equal on an even playing field. In trying to build a culture of diversity and community, the Millennials will be just the ticket.
  • Strong Sense of Purpose
    Millennials prefer to work for an organization that clearly communicates its mission and can demonstrate how the Millennial can support that mission to make an impact. This requires detailing the career path a Millennial will follow and how it is tied to the business goals including sharing what they will learn, what they will need to master, how long it will take, and what’s next. We all aspire to have this commitment from our employees.
  • Feedback, feedback, feedback
    Want to keep the Millennials motivated and engaged? It is imperative that you give them regular, real time, specific feedback.  They grew up with it and expect it of their leaders on the job. Remember, timely feedback means change/improvement now not at the annual review. Wouldn’t your business benefit if every generation got timely feedback?
  • Fun
    According to PGi, 88% of Millennials are actively looking for a fun work environment.  Millennials don’t separate their professional life from their personal life.  Since we spend over 1/3 of our day at work, why wouldn’t we all want to have some fun at work?
  • Social Responsibility
    79% of Millennials want to work for a company that cares about their impact society (Cone Millennial Cause Study).  What does or can your organization do to give back? Volunteerism? Product? Service? Businesses will gain a sense of loyalty from employees and customers by demonstrating a social responsibility.
  • Open and Transparent
    According to TINYpulse, the number one factor impacting employee happiness is transparency.  It creates trust between the employees and the business. By simply sharing financial updates, celebrating company or individual wins, or discussing challenges the business if facing, sends a powerful message to employees that management respects them enough to include them.  And guess what, Millennials expect this!
  • Onboarding
    Research findings from Bentley University found that 49% of Millennials would like a better onboarding process for new hires. The red carpet shouldn’t stop just because someone accepted the offer.  The employee should feel welcome and excited to be on board.  Onboarding isn’t about filling out paperwork but rather about becoming part of the team.  Make the onboarding fun, engaging, and a true learning experience.  And, be sure expectations are set day one with a plan for 30, 60, and 90 days.

So, why do the Millennials get such a bad rap? This is just 10 examples of what they look for and expect in a workplace. But, I’m sure you wouldn’t complain too much if you had the same. Plus, imagine how engaged and motivated the workforce would be? And, how successful the business would be.

Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP with strategic HR inc. (www.strategicHRinc.com). If you have any questions or would like to share your comments or success stories, you can contact Robin at Robin@strategicHRinc.com.

Are Annual Performance Appraisals Disappearing?

September 30, 2015/in HR Strategy /by Robin

In a recent article in The Washington Post, several major firms reported they were either eliminating or drastically revising their annual performance reviews.  While the cheers from employees and managers might be deafening, the HR world is no doubt shuddering.  How will we evaluate performance and determine salary adjustments and promotions?

But the subtle distinction here is that while some firms (such as Accenture and Deloitte) are eschewing the “annual” part of the performance review, they are actually ramping up the ongoing review for employees.  In large international consulting firms such as these, the change makes sense.  Employees are constantly evaluated by their clients, project team members and project leaders.  By using these timely evaluations, they are able to quickly give feedback to their employees and foster the developmental dialog in a “real time” manner rather than waiting for the “annual” review process.

Giving timely feedback to employees about their performance and overall career path is invaluable.  One of the biggest complaints that we see coming from employee surveys of small businesses is the lack of feedback from the managers.  Employees want to know how they are doing and the lack of timely feedback and good dialog with their manager can cause even more long term issues and overall job dissatisfaction.  Annual Performance Reviews were initially implemented to force dialog between an employee and their supervisor “at least once a year.”

Perhaps Accenture’s CEO Pierre Nanterme’s recent interview with the Washington Post will help clarify this new approach to performance appraisals.

“And for the millennium generation, it’s not the way they want to be recognized nor the way they want to be measured. If you put this new generation in the box of the performance management we’ve used the last 30 years, you lose them. We’re done with the famous annual performance review, where once a year I’m going to share with you what I think about you. That doesn’t make any sense.

Performance is an ongoing activity. It’s every day, after any client interaction or business interaction or corporate interaction. It’s much more fluid. People want to know on an ongoing basis, am I doing right? Am I moving in the right direction? Do you think I’m progressing? Nobody’s going to wait for an annual cycle to get that feedback. Now it’s all about instant performance management.” (As reported by Lillian Cunningham in The Washington Post, July 25, 2015)

 In evaluating whether this change makes sense in your organization, consider these essentials:

  • Preparation is key to ensure the employee feels valued.
  • Outline the objective of the discussion to put the employee at ease and let them know what to expect.
  • Encourage candid discussion.
  • Be clear where the employee stands in regard to future growth, salary review and promotion.
  • Provide positive praise and recognition.
  • Wrap up the discussion with a mutual understanding of the performance and development opportunities.
  • Establish goals and objectives, whether it is a quarterly, semi-annual or annual.

Is your performance management system robust enough to help align employee to the overall business goals, provide constructive feedback for improvement and create a rich development plan for their growth?  strategic HR inc. can help you create your own process and forms and then help train all of your managers on how to successfully conduct a performance appraisal.  Don’t let a bad or inadequate system come back and haunt you later – let us help you now!

A special thanks to the strategic HR inc. team for sharing their expertise for this article, specifically Bob Anderson, MA; Debbie Hailey; Leanne Colonna, SPHR, SHRM-SCP; and Patti Dunham, MBA, MA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP.  For any questions, just email us at info@strategicHRinc.com.

Why Can’t Every Change Be As Welcome As Spring?

April 25, 2015/in HR Strategy /by Robin

by: Cathleen Snyder, SPHR, CIR

As I’m writing this, I’m looking out the window at my favorite season.  Spring flowers are in bloom!  Grasses are green.  Temperatures are balmy.  Spring is a change of season that many of us look forward to, after an especially cold end to winter.  Why can’t all changes be so welcoming?

The feedback we’ve heard on the topic of change ranges everywhere from, “Things are changing constantly, it’s too much!” to “Nothing ever changes, we’re completely stagnant”, and everything in between.   At strategic HR, the past year has meant a lot of change – our team has grown and changed, we’ve moved offices, roles have changed, technology has changed.  It hasn’t always been an easy transition, but overall, we are a better, stronger organization.

Information is power!!  Both on the part of the individual(s) driving change, but also for those being impacted by the change.  There is absolute truth to the adage that if you don’t provide the information, people will fill in the blanks themselves.  When considering implementing a change, there are key questions to consider:

  • Who will be impacted?
  • What information needs to be shared?
  • When does it need to be shared (as early as the business can tolerate)?
  • What information can these individuals share, in return that will add value to the process?

Sounds obvious, but it’s amazing how often these are the failure points in change management.

Extensive research has been done on managing and implementing change; such as Dr. John Kotter’s 8 Step Process for Leading Change (1996) and Schermerhorn, Hunt & Osborn’s 8 Reasons for Resisting Change (2005).  The driving factors boil down to communication.  It’s amazing what can happen when people feel included and informed.

The point at which information can be shared may vary, depending on the nature of the change.  You’ll need to consider the impact on the business in determining when to do so.  When communicating an upcoming change, don’t forget to include the “Why”.  When people understand the reason behind a decision, it’s much easier for them to get on board.  Once you’ve done so, don’t underestimate the value the rest of the team can add.  Open communication is a great opportunity to gain insights as well as address concerns.

Often, change may be happening on top of a workload that may already be exceeding capacity.  If you are managing change, be especially careful not to become so entrenched in implementing the change that you miss critical touch points with the team.  Make yourself available to discuss concerns.

Some changes come easier than others.  Even spring has its challenges – yard clean-up, outside maintenance, change in schedules and activities.  Stay focused on the communication that will make it a smooth transition for all.

 

Cathleen Snyder, SPHR, is Director of Client Relations for strategic HR inc.  She can be reached at cathleen@strategichrinc.com, and welcomes your feedback.

How to Become a Strategic Partner

June 6, 2014/in HR Strategy /by Robin

by Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR

Since I teach a graduate class in Strategic Human Resources Management at the University of Cincinnati, I am often asked: “How can Human Resources become a strategic partner with top management?” There is no generic answer to this question because each organization’s culture is unique. Therefore, I typically answer people that ask me this question with a variety of options and help them identify which one is the most appropriate for their culture.

Competencies

To have an ounce of potential of becoming a strategic partner with management, there are a few competencies that you must master. While I have seen numerous lists detailing these competencies, I like the list that Dave Ulrich provides in his book, Human Resources Champions (if you haven’t read this book, it is a must). Three of the key competencies he detailed are:

  • Business Mastery
  • Personal Credibility
  • Human Resources Mastery

Now, I know everyone has really pushed this “Business Knowledge” competency but it is important. The only expectation of the competency is that you understand the various aspects of the business from products and services, to competitors, to the financials, to the strategic goals and objectives. If you don’t completely understand any piece of your organization’s business, take the time to learn about it. Also, be sure that you are staying up to date on all new business developments both inside your organization and within the industry.

Having mastered the business knowledge will mean nothing if you don’t establish credibility with others in the organization. This means you need to be responsive (answer your phone and return calls in a timely manner), keep commitments (show up and be on time to meetings), share insights on issues being discussed (even if your view is different), demonstrate the value of human resources activities (we can be a cost saver too), interface with management whenever possible (build those personal relationships), and need I even say it – be ethical!

The last competency listed was Human Resources Mastery. Not much needs to be said on this topic other than to be sure that you have complete command over most of the human resources skill areas. Management is going to look to you for expertise and you need to be able to demonstrate it at all times.

Making it Happen

Okay, now that we are clear on the competencies required to become a strategic partner. Let’s talk a little more about how to make this happen. We have all heard the various ways that human resources is typically viewed: the policeman, too costly, unresponsive, slows the business down, etc. Well, now we have to figure out ways to change these perceptions. The first step will be to demonstrate mastery of the competencies discussed above; the second step will be to align human resources with the business strategies.

The best way to do this is to develop a performance plan for human resources based on the business strategies. This will mean you need to take the list of business strategies and develop a list of the human resources strategies that would support each one. This will help demonstrate that human resources does indeed add value. For every activity that human resources performs, you should ask, “Which business strategy does this support?” If you can’t answer the question, ask yourself “Why not?” or “Are we missing a business strategy / goal?”

Once you have aligned the human resources strategies with the business strategies, your job is not over. First of all you, will need to constantly revisit this connection, especially as the organization and business changes. In addition, it is advisable to take additional steps to ensure that you are positioning yourself to be viewed as a strategic partner. Some ways to do this may include:

  • Get involved (participate on employee task teams)
  • Participate in the organization’s strategic planning (invite yourself or offer input)
  • Walk the talk (be a company champion)
  • Volunteer to lead a company wide activity (not just the company picnic)

Make a Difference!!

Hopefully, these brief tips will help get you energized to make a difference. The suggestions in this article definitely won’t be all the homework you will need to do. You may want to talk to an outside, neutral third party (i.e. a consultant like me or even another HR colleague) to help you figure out the most appropriate tactics for your culture. Also, you should do some additional research. In addition to Dave Ulrich’s Human Resources Champions, I’d also highly recommend Christine Keen’s Effective Strategic Planning.

In our current soaring economy, it is undeniably a competitive advantage for an organization to capitalize on its Human Resources expertise as a significant component of the strategic management team. It is your job to help your organization first realize this advantage, and then, as Nike says, “Just Do It.” Good luck!!!!

Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR, a Senior Human Resources Management Consultant is President of Strategic Human Resources, Inc. (www.strategicHRinc.com) and can be reached at Robin@strategicHRinc.com.

How Can We as HR Professionals Give Back to Our Community?

June 6, 2014/in HR Strategy /by Robin

By Cathleen Snyder, SPHR, CIR

I’ve been struck recently by the number of opportunities that have come across my path to use my HR knowledge and experience in a volunteer capacity. I like to think I maintain an awareness of the need to contribute to society in general. At various times in my life I have done this to one extent or another – Adult Literacy, Soup Kitchens, Food Pantry, volunteering at my daughter’s school. Without exception, I have benefited more than those I was expecting to help. The capacity to overcome adversity never ceases to amaze me.

For the most part, though, these activities have been done outside my “professional life”. A couple of years ago, I saw an opportunity to assist with mock interviews with Cincinnati Works. One day a month (as long as my schedule is not too crazy) I work with individuals getting ready to graduate from their workforce readiness program. It’s exciting for all involved to see these people primed and ready to land that job that will make such a huge difference in their lives. From those that I have encountered coming out of the program, it is an unqualified success.

Recently, I came across the need to help upcoming grads from the University of Cincinnati prepare for interviews. A colleague and I are scheduled to do this next week; I’ll let you know how it goes. My husband, a proud grad of the UC Engineering co-op program, is there now helping prepare students for their co-op experience, as I write this.

I was also recently made aware that the Job Search Focus Group, locally in Cincinnati, is seeking interviewers for mock interviews. Your local church or civic organizations may offer these resources also.

GCHRA (Cincinnati’s local SHRM chapter) is currently looking for people to participate in their mentoring program, to provide insight and experience for new or aspiring HR professionals. Check with your own local SHRM chapter for similar opportunities.

It’s not uncommon for someone who is in transition to ask for tips on an interview or in their job search. I’ve been asked to advise a friend on how to network using Linked In, how much time should be spend on a cover letter, and how to structure a resume.

Being in the unique position of HR, that is on the other side of the interview, we can provide perspective from employers’ view that few others can offer.

A challenge I have faced recently in my ongoing effort to have some small positive impact on society in general, is finding the time to do so. Utilizing my professional knowledge and expertise takes the need for extensive preparation out of the equation. For me, interviewing is second nature. It is a skill at which I can honestly say I excel. It is beyond easy to take that skill and apply it to someone who might benefit from it.

For any HR professional, our knowledge is part of who we are. Why not share that with someone just entering the field, through a mentoring role? Are there small non-profits of local organizations, who might benefit from some gratis HR insight? The commitment is typically a couple of hours. I’ve learned to put it on my calendar, as I would any other appointment, and work around it. The preparation involved is negligible, which makes it especially easy.

If you’re still hesitant, stop and think about those that benefit. Recruiting is one piece of what we do. But for the person on the other side of the interview table, we are the door to their future. The privilege of offering someone a position is life changing for that individual. Taking a little time to share our knowledge, so someone is better prepared to interview for a real position, can mean the difference in them receiving that life changing offer of not. We are all aware of the challenges new college grads are experiencing in finding their first job. Think what a difference it can make if they can have a trial interview with a real HR person to test drive their interview skills. Having the benefit of shared experience from a seasoned HR professional’s everyday life can provide valuable insight as they begin their career.

Most of us are exceptionally busy. Utilizing our professional expertise and sharing our knowledge is an easy but valuable way to positively impact our community. You never know. You might meet your company’s next rock star along the way!

Cathleen Snyder, SPHR, CIR is a Sr. HR Consultant with Strategic Human Resources, Inc. (www.strategicHRinc.com) and can be reached at Cathleen@strategicHRinc.com.

A Fresh Start…

June 6, 2014/in HR Strategy /by Robin

by Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR

Have you seen the IBM commercials that focus on some gadget that is the key to your business success (i.e. crystal ball, magical genie lamp)? They are right, there is no magical solution to solving your business problems. But, if I could share a nugget of information with you that would help ensure that your company could obtain a unique competitive advantage, would you be willing to listen? AND, take action? What if I told you many of those solutions will only cost you a little time and a minimal amount of money? What do you have to lose?

We’ve seen our economy go up and down over the past four or five years with many more challenges ahead of us. I’ve seen employers tighten and loosen their belts with each change and with no regard to what may come next. With this last downturn in the economy, many employers cut their most important resource — the people — as though they were a disposable resource. Plus, in an effort to cut costs immediately, many companies not only cut staff but also eliminated severance, outplacement benefits, and any form of advance notice. In many cases, these actions were done without any regard for the staff members left behind. What taste has been left in the mouths of the surviving workforce? Remember, this is the workforce that is going to be depended upon to run the business and ensure continued success tomorrow. Believe me, I hear the stories daily from many individuals and they aren’t very favorable.

Did you know that according to futurist Roger Herman, surveys suggest that 30 – 40 percent of our workforce have already “checked out,” meaning they are more concerned about their next job than doing their current job? Can you afford to have this large of a percent of your workforce uncommitted to you or better yet leave you tomorrow? Not to mention, those that leave you will talk to others outside the organization and how easy will it be to attract “good replacements”?

I’m already starting to get calls from employers saying things like “…there just aren’t any qualified applicants out there…when we find one, they are snatched up in no time.” Does this sound like an issue we should even need to address in an economy with such high unemployment? Absolutely, considering how little regard has been given to employee retention over the last few years combined with the fact that YES we are about to face one of the largest labor shortages in our lifetimes.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in just America alone, we will have nearly 168 million jobs to be filled by skilled workers by the year 2010 but our workforce supply will only be about 158 million. Remember those signing bonuses we had to offer in the late 1990’s when the labor market was tight? Well, they will be minimal to what we will be faced with by 2010 if we don’t start focusing on retention NOW. Sure there are a number of folks still unemployed, some good and some mediocre. But, you need to proactively create a program that will retain and attract the best today and tomorrow.

The cost of an effective retention program is minimal to the cost of your turnover. Did you know that the general rule of thumb for the cost of turnover is about 100 – 150% of the terminating employee’s salary? Can you afford this if just half of those 30 – 40 percent of your employees that are “checked out” leave tomorrow?

Employees are leaving organizations even in this tight economy. Some individuals may be hesitating or waiting for the labor market to improve but have already “checked out.” So, when the economy rebounds, and it will, there will be no need for any hesitation from these “checked out” employees as employers begin begging for qualified skilled applicants.

Do you know why employees leave your organization? According to Development Dimensions International, the top five reasons why employees stay or leave an organization are:

  1. Quality of relationship with supervisor
  2. Ability to balance work and home life
  3. Amount of meaningful work — the feeling of making a difference
  4. Level of cooperation with co-workers
  5. Level of trust in the workplace

Have you asked your employees why they stay or leave your organization? Your best resource is to interview the employees as they leave or after they’ve been gone for a short while. Better yet, find out before they leave. Ask your employees why they like working for your company and what can you do better? Then, use the results to capitalize on your strengths and improve the areas that they bring to your attention. But, don’t ask if you have no intention of taking action. The idea of exit interviews that never result in organizational changes or improvements is similar to an ineffectively administered suggestion program. If you can’t do what they are asking, let them know and task them to come up with alternative options to make it happen.

In trying to retain good employees, you’ll quickly find there isn’t one solution. The demographics of our workforce now include more women, more minorities, various religions, and four differing generations. The combinations of these demographics will influence what you should do to retain and attract the best employees. You’ll have to be creative and implement multiple solutions that will address each individual’s needs.

Possible Solutions…

Recently, Inc. Magazine published an article on Managing One-to-One by Leigh Buchanan stating that the best way to retain your employees is to manage each one differently. Find out what each needs and what is important in their lives. This will help you accommodate the differences as well as build trust and support with your workers.

To meet these individual needs, you will need to offer a variety of benefits or programs. Money isn’t everything anymore. Folks like things that make their lives easier and help them balance work and personal life. But, what exactly makes their life easier varies from person to person. For some, they may want more time off or flextime while others may want concierge services like onsite car wash, oil change, dry cleaning, or dinners to go. Some employees may need childcare assistance while others may need aging parent assistance. As mentioned above, the best way to find out is to ask! Many of these ideas will only cost you the time to implement and will actually fund themselves. But, as a result, your employees will feel you care about them and are trying to do things to help make their lives more livable.

Another solution involves your supervisors. One of the toughest things to do is to be both a manager and a coach. Like trying to be a mother and a friend to your child, it is easy to be one or the other but not both. But, it takes both to effectively retain your employees. The traditional more common role is the manager, which is focused on day to day issues of managing the staff including performance, feedback, discipline, and getting the job done. All of these issues are important but to ensure a trusting workplace, meaningful work, and strong supervisor relationship coaching skills are critical. Coaches help employees develop and grow within the organization and in their careers by guiding, listening, advocating, counseling, and communicating with their employees. To effectively retain employees, your managerial staff must develop both management and coaching skills.

The key to retention is realizing your employees are a valuable resource to an organization. If they weren’t then you wouldn’t need them at all. But many times, organizations fail to ensure their employees feel like they are a value or asset to the organization. One of the best places to start is by sharing the company goals with the employee and directly linking them to the responsibilities of the employee at the beginning of the plan year. This will help ensure employees know what they do contributes to the success of the company and what exactly is expected of them.

Also, to help employees feel like a value to the organization, you could implement a formal suggestion program. Who knows ways to improve the organization better than the individuals doing the work? And, when done right, employees will eagerly share their ideas and definitely feel they make a difference. You will need to have management support and commitment to the program. Plus, you’ll need to decide how you will reward and/or recognize employees for their suggestions. Many successful organizations even share the savings with the employee who makes a recommendation or at least recognize them in meetings and/or company wide publications.

To elaborate on recognition, I would recommend that you develop formal and informal ways to recognize your employees. Employees are human and humans like feedback, both positive and negative. Your managers need to be coached and trained to provide regular and ongoing feedback and recognition to their employees. Many managers struggle in providing ongoing feedback to employees. Remember, just a simple “Thank you” or “I noticed you put a lot of time into…” or “You did an outstanding job on the XYZ project…” will have a huge impact on employees. To help your supervisors, you can facilitate a round-table discussion for them share experiences or concerns with feedback or designate a person to be available to help them. These simple actions will make the world of difference. Plus, don’t forget to develop some formal recognition programs even for simple things such as employee of the week, perfect attendance, helping hand, outstanding teamwork, employee referrals, project completion, etc.

One other must for an organization to effectively retain a great workforce is communication. Have you ever heard employees in an organization complain that their company communicates too much? It’s impossible!!! You cannot over communicate and employees need to be kept informed. How you provide the communication depends on your organization. It may be through all employee meetings, memos, newsletters, emails, or one-on-one from a supervisor but the key is to communicate it several ways to ensure everyone hears the information.

If you are still saying “Why should I do this?” and the facts about our labor shortage aren’t enough, then hear this: according to DDI, when retention is above average, organizations realize greater customer satisfaction, employee productivity, and most importantly profitability. And, if their research isn’t enough for you, listen to what Michael Rowan, president and CEO of Humility of Mary Health Partners quoted to Business & Legal Reports, “Our greatest resource is our people. We believe that if our employees are happy and feel fairly compensated and respected, then the hospital and patients will be the ones that would reap the most benefits.”

So, like IBM says we don’t have a magic genie in a bottle to grant you wishes but by following some of these tips you will realize a strong competitive advantage which will in return have a positive impact to your bottom-line.

Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR, a Senior Human Resources Management Consultant is President of Strategic Human Resources, Inc. (www.strategicHRinc.com) and can be reached at Robin@strategicHRinc.com.

Networking: The Key to Successful Marketing

March 13, 2013/in HR Strategy /by Robin

by Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR

Nearly every marketing opportunity requires strong networking skills to be successful. However, even the word networking can be intimidating. But, do we understand the value that can be gained by networking? Do we always do the appropriate preparation prior to and following a networking event? Let’s discuss networking in more detail and how we can tie it into marketing for success.

Believe it or not, Webster’s Dictionary defines networking as “The act or process of informally sharing information or support, especially among members of a professional group.” To expand on this, networking is who you know and more importantly who knows you!!!

Most of us are so busy that we feel we don’t have time to network. But why should you network:

  1. To gain and/or share expertise or information
  2. To increase exposure for company and/or yourself
  3. To develop contacts for future use or clients
  4. To practice communications / presentation skills

Although most of us know how to network, we often skip one or more steps because time gets the best of us. The general steps are:

Brainstorm what YOU know. – What is your expertise? Think about the purpose of your business and what others compliment you on. You may even want to write it down and review it later for an ego boost before the next networking opportunity.

Identify who you know. – Consider any affiliations you may have that could help you – a human resources association, previous co-worker, past or current client, or even a neighbor.

Identify what you need. – Remember, a successful networking opportunity doesn’t necessarily always result in a return or client today but rather leads to other networking opportunities and future clients.

Identify how you will get it. – What is going to be the best avenue for you to get what you need? Is it going to be by going to the next association meeting? Sending a correspondence via email or mail to your network? Directly calling select contacts? Or taking advantage of the multitudes of marketing opportunities that exist (we’ll discuss these shortly).

Do it. – This is the step that is often skipped. For example, many individuals join groups or attend meetings to grow their network – But, they show up late and leave early never actually networking.

Remember networking isn’t “selling”. – It is “sharing”. As sales guru Zig Ziglar said, “The more you help others get what they want, the more you get of what you want.” At your next networking opportunity, try breaking the ice using your 30 second commercial followed by a lot of listening to learn about the other person and how you can give or help them.

Take notes – This means immediately writing on the back of the individual’s business card any or all of the following: a description of the person;

  • notes about the conversation;
  • what you can follow-up with them about; and
  • information that may be of interest to them at a later date

Follow-up. – No matter what, always follow-up. You should even follow-up if it is just to say thank you for the opportunity to talk at the meeting. You never know when that individual you just met may become a client tomorrow or refer you to someone else.

Track results. – Develop a system to help you track your network. Some folks track their network in a Rolodex or business card holder. Personally, I use Outlook and synchronize it with my Palm so I always have the information no matter where I am. However you choose to track the information, be sure your system helps you find: a person, contact information, how you know the person, when you last spoke to them, etc.

Reciprocate. – Don’t always be on the receiving end or your network will quickly dry up. Be sure you are also giving as much as your network is giving to you. Remember, what comes around goes around.

Now, you are ready to begin using these networking strategies to market your business. As you market your business, you will need to have developed the basic marketing tools (i.e. brand, 30 second commercial, business cards, etc.) These were discussed in a previous article on the our website titled “Initial Marketing Strategies”.

Personally, I’ve found that once someone hears your name at least twice they will contact you for a potential consulting opportunity. Now, how you get them to hear your name twice depends on what works best for you. Some marketing opportunities that have worked for me include:

  1. Volunteering
    At a minimum, you need to participate in local and national organizations like professional associations, chamber of commerce, or non-profit boards. But, more importantly you need to get involved with them.Just showing up for a meeting will have very little return unless you come early and stay later to network as mentioned above. Plus, you take it one step further by volunteering. This helps people to get to know you and actually see you “at work” demonstrating your professionalism, expertise, and/or dedication. Networking will become easy when folks start coming to you for advice and tips at meetings and over the phone. More importantly, they will begin to recognize your name! 
  2. Writing
    Writing provides an opportunity to demonstrate your expertise, establish credibility, and gain visibility. There are many writing opportunities including articles, white papers, or even publishing a book.To begin writing, you need to brainstorm the topics or issues that you are confident you can discuss as an expert and then develop a draft outline. Before you begin writing, you need to do your homework by researching the topic. Find out what is already written on the issue so you avoid duplication as well as identify resources to reference. Remember, readers like to read information not advertisements so be sure your writing is informative.Once you have one sample writing, you need to decide who is your ultimate target audience and where you can reach a large group of individuals in that target audience. Consider the newsletter or publication for professional associations, business organizations, or even your local or national newspaper. Plus, don’t forget online options as well including your own website.Using the steps we discussed earlier, begin networking with your target groups to market your writings in their publications. And, be sure every writing includes a tagline: your name, company name, telephone number, email address, and website. Plus, don’t forget, once you are published, market it! Be sure to include copies of your publications in your promotional materials and on your website. 
  3. Speaking
    Speaking also demonstrates your expertise and establishes both credibility and visibility. As with writing, you need to determine the topics or issues that you are confident you can discuss as an expert, who is your target audience, and where can you reach a large group of individuals in that target audience.To market your presentation, you need to develop a summary paragraph, outline, and reasons why someone would want to hear what you have to say. Then, you can begin marketing, or should I say networking, with the target groups following the steps we discussed earlier.One great way to market your presentation is to host your own event at a nominal or no fee to participants. Be sure to invite individuals from the organizations that you would like to ultimately present to. Once folks see you in action, they are more likely to have you present at their organizations or hire you for future related work. Also, be sure to record your presentations both audio and video to market as well as use in proposals for future presentations. Presenting is a lot of work, but you will definitely gain name recognition. 
  4. Website and online networks
    Technology continues to provide us with many opportunities to network both locally and worldwide through online networking and websites.There are a number of bulletin boards and listservs on any and every topic. They too provide you an opportunity to give away a little while establishing your reputation, credibility and expertise. You may not instantly see folks flock to you for service but they will begin to recognize your name and will remember you when they have a need in the future.Plus, with technology has also come the increased need and use of a website. In a previous article on the our wesbite titled “Evolution of Your Website”,we discussed the basics of developing a website and will be sharing more information later on marketing your website. You can use your website as a tool to refer folks to, market your upcoming presentations, publish your written materials, and provide nuggets of free information. What you provide and how well you present it will help market your name and expertise. 
  5. Newsletters
    If you combine your article writing and website, you can create a regular newsletter that is distributed via regular mail or email (ezine) and published on your website. This is another excellent way to keep in touch with your network, market your expertise, and establish your credibility.To create a list of recipients, ask your network (including current clients) who would like to receive the newsletter and what topics would they be interested in hearing. Your list may start small but it will rapidly grow as the value of your articles is demonstrated. Folks will forward your newsletter to others who will also request to be added to your list. Plus, you can add an option for individuals to register for your newsletter on your website.Whether your newsletter is distributed daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly, you will be providing a free resource of information to your network that will help others begin to resonate with your name and expertise as one. 
  6. Referrals 
    One of the most powerful marketing opportunities is referrals. Whether your referrals come from clients, partners or affiliates, or even word of mouth, you will quickly find these are the leads that turn into clients the fastest.Developing referrals takes time and demonstrated expertise. By providing quality work to your clients, they will become a great resource for future clients. Be sure to obtain testimonials from them to include in your marketing materials (i.e. brochure, newsletter, website).Also, with referrals, it is import to remember who refers work to you. Be sure you are reciprocating, thanking them, or even rewarding them so they will continue to remember you.

Back to my rule of two, folks need to hear your name twice before they call you. So, by combining the marketing strategies mentioned above, you would be creating that name (twice or more) recognition in the marketplace. Plus, most of these strategies will only cost you some time. But, they will all demonstrate your credibility and reputation to help you build a network for today and tomorrow. There are also many other paid marketing options including sponsorship at a tradeshow, conference, meeting, or event; promotional mailings; advertisements on websites or in related journals; or joining affiliation programs that will send you leads or market your business for you.

Bottom-line, networking and marketing can take place anytime and anywhere. Both require you to give and receive expertise or information. By effectively networking, you and your consulting business will absolutely reap the benefits both now and in the future.

Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR, a Senior Human Resources Management Consultant is President of Strategic Human Resources, Inc. (www.strategicHRinc.com) and can be reached at Robin@strategicHRinc.com.

Initial Marketing Strategies

March 13, 2013/in HR Strategy /by Robin

by Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR

Marketing is a critical cornerstone for any consulting practice. It is imperative to begin your consulting practice with a well thought out marketing plan. While there are many marketing tools and options, the backbone of your plan should include the development of your brand identity. With a clear-cut brand identity, you can successfully tackle the development of any marketing tool.

Developing a Brand Identity

As defined by Brand.com, “Branding — the careful selection and use of trademarks, images, and messages – is the most powerful tool in the commercial world…Brand is the proprietary visual, rational, and cultural image that you associate with a company or a product.”

Branding your business is important whether you are selling a service or a product. When you hear someone talk about tennis shoes, what are some of the companies you think of — Nike, Reebok, Sketchers. We each have a brand that we immediately identify with. You need potential clients to think of you when they have a need related to your specialty.

But how do you get folks to think of you? First of all, as Linda Gravett mentioned in our last article “Where Do I Even Begin?” you need to determine your niche. Many times we want to try to offer everything to everybody because we are scared the work won’t be there. But to be successful, you need to identify a very narrow niche so you can focus your time and marketing efforts.

Next, you can begin branding your niche with your company name and logo design. Initially, my company name was Throckmorton Solutions with no logo. However, I quickly changed the company name to Strategic Human Resources to better describe the services, as well as designed a logo for my business. You may need to hire a marketing guru to help you establish your name and logo since this will be a critical piece of your business.

Once you have the name and logo designed, you are ready to begin weaving the same message into everything you do. Every tool you use to communicate to potential clients should incorporate your “look”. This includes business cards, letterhead, brochures, domain name, website, articles, or speaking engagements.

As an example, let’s use Linda Gravett and my online business, Strategic HR Inc. We began by selecting a name for the company that described our service and gave potential clients immediate access to contacting us on the Internet. In every marketing tool we use, we include the tagline “Providing you with on-line, quick, customized, solutions to your human resources issues” with our logo and company name. Also, we have used computer screen brushes with our logo and name on it as takeaways. We want potential clients, who are usually in their offices at their computers, to think of us when they have an HR question and need a quick answer.

There is still plenty of room for us to continue to improve our brand identity with our target audience. It’s an ongoing process. Once you establish your brand identity, remember to continuously re-evaluate and enhance them. Some additional tips to help establish your brand identity follow:

A 30-Second Commercial

It is critical that you create a brand statement or 30-second commercial. There will be numerous occasions where you will need to provide a quick summary about you or your business. This may be with face-to-face conversations and networking or for your written materials like marketing letters, proposals, and fliers. You need to be prepared so it flows naturally without missing a point.

Thirty seconds doesn’t seem like much time, but you can cover enough detail to capture someone’s interest. Each situation will be different and your commercial will need to adjust accordingly. You should be prepared with your core message – what your expertise is; what have you done to help your clients; what do your clients say about you; and what experience, education, or certifications you have.

Recently, I had an opportunity to hear Robert Middleton, a marketing guru at Actionplan.com, speak on this topic. He recommended that you develop this message around what people will get from you. Try to make the focus of the information you share more on THEM and how it will help THEM with their needs and less focused on YOU. While this can be difficult to accomplish on the spot, if you prepare your core message ahead of time you can customize it based on the situation with ease.

Business Cards

Business cards are the one marketing tool you will get in potential clients hands the most!!

First tip on business cards: Don’t get caught without one! Whether you are just starting your consulting practice or redoing material, you should always have your business cards with you. You never know when you will run into someone that is a potential customer. Scribbling your contact information on the back of their card, a napkin, or not at all will have a negative effect on your professional image. Even if you have to create a quick self-printed generic card in the interim, be sure you have something.

Your card should continue to build your brand identity by including the same logo, color scheme, and slogan used on the rest of your marketing materials. Key information that should be on every card includes:

  • Name (The name you want to be called and include credentials — i.e. SPHR)
  • Title (great way to market your expertise — i.e. Diversity Consultant)
  • Company Name
  • Address
  • Telephone Number
  • Fax Number
  • Email address
  • Web address

Business cards can be very unique but should portray your business image. There are a number of things you need to think about:

  • What will be the layout of your card — vertical or horizontal?
    (Do you want someone to be able to put your card the right direction in a rolodex?)
  • Will you use the front only or take advantage of the space on the back?
    (I have seen some sharp cards that use the back to list services, add a slogan, provide testimonials, or graphically continue the brand identity. Likewise, this can be a good spot for the receiver to write notes).
  • What color of paper and what type of paper will you use? (i.e. smooth, glossy, speckled, plain)
  • What color (s) will the text and logo be printed?
  • Is your font size large enough for anyone to read? (at least 9 point or larger).

There are many sources that provide business cards that you can print from home — Paperdirect.com, office stores, or copy stores. If you want to be able to modify and change information or print as needed, this may be a good option. Plus, it will provide you the choice of pre-designed cards with some color. The only draw back is you need a reliable quality printer and the patience to print your cards as needed. Plus, be sure the quality of the paper is thick and professional.

Hiring a printer, office, or copy store to help you design and print your cards is another option. You’ll have expert insight along with more options on the type and color of paper. The quality of the cards will be much better than the self printed cards. Obviously the cost associated with these services tends to be higher than the self-services, especially to add color.

Additional Marketing Options

There are many tools you can use to market your business and continue developing your brand identity. While many of these can wait to be developed until you need them, you will need to have something ready to provide to them when someone says “can you send me some information?” For me, it started as a bio, then a brochure, and now a website and a folder. A brief description of each follows:

Bio
This is an effective tool to have on hand when someone needs more information about you. Plus, the information is a necessity for a proposal, website, or marketing folder. You should summarize in no more than one page your credentials, years of experience, education, certifications, expertise, skills, successes, customer feedback, related volunteer work, publications, etc. Include anything that would add value in establishing your credibility. To view a sample of my bio, go to http://www.StrategicHRinc.com/About%20Us/robinbio.htm.

Brochure
There are many choices when deciding on your brochure. You can design the layout and content yourself, or you can buy pre-designed brochures that you customize and print as needed. As I shared previously, I’ve used PaperDirect.com in the past for many of my printing needs and have been very happy with the options and quality of the product offered. However, this option isn’t for everyone and you may prefer to have a professionally designed brochure. As with anything, seek referrals and ask for references and examples of their work. As far as content, you could include contact information, summary of your credentials, list of services, testimonials, and a list of customers.

Folder
This is a tool that I found to be most effective as my consulting business evolved. You can use a folder from a local office supply store and jazz it up a bit by adding a label with your logo and company information. Or, for an even more professional image, you could have folders printed with you logo on them. While this isn’t a tool for mass mailings, it is great for including items such as – bios, brochures, comments from customers, lists of references and services, training topics, or articles.

Website
As society continues to become much more technology driven, a website becomes a very effective tool in marketing your business. You can refer someone to it so they have immediate access to additional information about you and your business. Plus, it has the capability to generate business for you anywhere in the world as your business can be found through search engines. However, an effective website can’t be designed overnight and takes much time and thinking. The key will be to continue the same brand identity throughout the site and create ways to attract customers and get them to come back on a regular basis. Look for an article dedicated to this topic in the next few months.

You will have many opportunities to use these basic marketing tools throughout your consulting practice. By determining and developing them now, it will help you when the right opportunity comes along. Some marketing opportunities you may want to consider include mass mailings; sponsorship at a tradeshow, conference, meeting, or event; speaking engagements; publication of articles or books; volunteer work; website; and most often networking. We will be discussing many of these options in detail in our future articles. The key to the success of your marketing tools will be the development of your brand identity and continuous and consistent use of it throughout all your communications regarding your business.

Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR, a Senior Human Resources Management Consultant is President of Strategic Human Resources, Inc. (www.strategicHRinc.com) and can be reached at Robin@strategicHRinc.com.

Developing a Strategic Plan for Your Consulting Business

March 13, 2013/in HR Strategy /by Robin

by Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR

Strategic planning is like creating a map for an exciting journey you are about to take. The map will help keep you on course if you start going in the wrong direction but it isn’t so stringent that you can’t check out different roads along the way. After seven years of consulting, this is exactly what my strategic plan has done for me. Each year, I map out where I am, where I want to go, and how to get there. During the year, my plan is a guide for what I should be focusing on as well as a resource to help me do a “check” whenever I am tempted by something new and different. Sometimes, I rewrite my plan based on changes (i.e. technology, client request, economy, emerging trends) but many times it has helped me realize what is important and make the right decision with various opportunities and threats to ensure my long-term goals are met.

There are many formulas or formats used for strategic planning but for the most part they cover the same points and reach the same goals. I’m going to share with you the process that I use personally as well as with many of my clients. If you like pictures, the flow chart in Exhibit 1 will be a good tool for you to follow as you create your plan. Plus, I’ll describe each step below.

Internal and External Analysis

Remember, you are mapping out your journey. Your first step will be to determine where you are by doing the good old “SWOT” analysis — identifying your internal Strengths and Weaknesses as well as external Opportunities and Threats.

Internally, this includes assessing both the strengths and weaknesses of your human, financial, and technological resources, as well as the culture and values of the organization. The best way to do this is brainstorming. Create two columns — one for strengths and one for weaknesses and begin thinking and writing down anything that comes to mind as a strength or weakness to you and/or your consulting business. For example, one of my strengths is “True change agent — very flexible and adaptable as needed” while a challenge is “Young and female in a white, male profession.”

An external analysis requires you to evaluate what’s going on “outside” your business and how it may affect you. As discussed in Christine Keen’s book, Effective Strategic Planning A Handbook for Human Resources Professionals, you should consider issues in the following four categories: economic (i.e. unemployment, interest rates, recession), political (i.e. current or pending legislation or court cases), social (i.e. values, lifestyles, and demographics) and technological. For example, from my external analysis an opportunity was “Volunteer opportunities with complimentary organizations” and a potential threat was “Growth of individuals starting to do human resources consulting.”

Gathering this internal and external information will give you a snapshot of where you are now — the starting point on your journey. However, a starting point, by itself, will not enable you to achieve your goals. Like going on a trip, you need both a starting point and a destination. Remember my favorite quote from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland:

  • “I just wanted to ask you, which way I ought to go?”
  • “Well, that depends, on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
  • “It really doesn’t matter,…” said Alice.
  • “Then it really doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.

Vision and Mission

We need to determine our destination — in other words our Vision or preferred future. A Vision is a short statement that is quickly and easily understood by anyone and describes something different for the organization. As a sample, below is Lenscrafters’ Vision statement (at one point in time):

“We will…be the best at helping the world see!”

Next, you need to develop your Mission statement or a statement explaining why you exist. Like the Vision, the Mission is also a short statement. But, a Mission statement describes what the organization does which will help it progress toward its ultimate future, the Vision. For example:

“To use e-technology to provide customized research and solutions to human resources management challenges and needs in business and industry.”

As you begin to develop your Vision and Mission, you will find it easier if you again brainstorm. This time think about what’s important to you and to your business — who are your customers, what makes you different, how would your clients describe you, what can you contribute or offer to others, what would you like to do or be tomorrow? Developing the Vision and Mission are the most difficult. Initially, this may take a number of rewrites with input from others, such as an advisory board. However, once you have both of them clearly defined the rest of your plan will fall right into place.

Objectives

Now to answer Alice’s question to the cat…Once you know where you are and where you want to go, you can then map the directions for getting there. In other words, you can identify the key objectives that must be met during this planning horizon to progress toward your Mission and Vision. Generally, your objectives should be specific and measurable. In addition, they need to be ambitious but realistic and only focus on what needs done not how, that’s next. For example, an objective may be:

“Develop a state-of-the art, user friendly web site.”

Your list of objectives will quickly grow but you have to narrow down the top four or five that help advance your business toward meeting your Vision and provide you with a competitive advantage. If the list is too long, your plan will quickly become a “dead” document rather than a “living” document that you can use and refer to throughout the year.

Action Plan

For each of your objectives, you will then need to create a detailed action plan or “how” you will meet the objective. I’ve had the most success with this by completing the following formula for each objective:

  • Desired Results
  • What are you hoping will happen or result if the objective is met?
  • How will you benefit?
  • Potential Obstacles / Barriers
  • What might prevent you from completing this objective?
  • Supports
  • What resources, people, or tools are available to help you with this objective?)
  • Process
  • What steps must we take to achieve this objective?
  • Be specific on each step indicating who will do what and when
  • Evaluation
  • How will we know when we’ve successfully met this objective?

This may seem like a lot of work for each objective but if you map out the answer to all five of these steps, you will have a very clear and unquestioned plan for how your objectives will be met.

Implementation and Evaluation

The hardest step in this process is the next one — implementation! Don’t let yourself do all of this planning and throw the end product on the shelf until next year. If you do, then where will you be and will you be any closer to your preferred future? To help ensure that you are proactively working toward these goals, you need to check back on things every so often — at least quarterly. Has anything changed? Are you on target? Do you need to modify any of the plans? This plan is a living document so it may change; this is okay as long as you are aware of the changes and make them yourself rather than them being made for you.

This isn’t an easy process and can be extremely exhausting. But, if you create an effective and realistic strategic plan, you will begin to focus resources today toward meeting your goals for tomorrow. Plus, you will have a tool to help you minimize the threats and maximize the opportunities. One of the most important benefits of effective strategic planning is that it provides you with a fresh start by clarifying where you are, where you are going, and how you are going to get there. You should re-evaluate your strategic plan on an annual basis using a planning horizon between 2-5 years. Each year, you may find that a great deal changes but your preferred future will stay status-quo until you reach it – and you will!

Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR, a Senior Human Resources Management Consultant is President of Strategic Human Resources, Inc. (www.strategicHRinc.com) and can be reached at Robin@strategicHRinc.com.

The Impact of the Economic Crisis on our Organization’s Human Resources

March 13, 2013/in HR Strategy /by Robin

by Laura Littlecott, PHR and Patti Dunham, MBA, MA, SPHR

In light of recent major events in the economy and financial markets, your employees may not be gathering around the water cooler to talk about the latest episode of “30 Rock” or what’s on their holiday gift lists, but instead may be speculating about the future of their holiday bonuses, raises, or even job security. Looking at recent survey data, their fears are not unfounded.

In an October 2008 survey, Watson Wyatt reported that 86% of surveyed companies expect the current economic crisis to have at least some impact on their business and many have already made changes that impact employees. The survey noted that 34% of employers have already made changes to their travel policies and 30% have entered into a hiring freeze. In addition, the survey reported some of the following potential actions within the next twelve months:

  • Expected layoffs or reduction in force (26%)
  • Expected hiring freezes (25%)
  • Expected increases in the amount of employee contributions to the health insurance (25%)
  • Re-visiting” merit increase budgets (28%)

According to a recent article on MSNBC, small businesses may be making the most dramatic changes within the month – reconsidering holiday bonuses and gifts. Some are doing away with gifts altogether this holiday season, while others are scaling back end-of-year bonuses. Of course, cutting out bonuses and holiday gifts altogether can have a negative impact, so some employers are getting creative while reducing costs. According to MSNBC, one employer is replacing bonuses with extra time off between Christmas and the New Year, while another is giving an allowance to be spent on wellness items such as gym memberships or toward the employee’s contribution of health insurance premiums. Some employers are still giving end-of-year bonuses, although the amounts are smaller than in previous years. The big blowout holiday party may be going the way of the dinosaur as well – employers are planning events such as on-premises luncheons as a less expensive option to show their employees that even in the current economy, they are still appreciated. Other options employers are considering include: reducing the workweek, mandatory holiday shut down, benefit program freezes, and training reductions. Obviously…not one size fits all and organizations must research the impact of such changes as deeply as possible prior to implementing such drastic economic measures. The overall challenge for employers, as it has been for awhile now, is to do more with less. We are all looking for creative ways to make this happen while still engaging our workforce, reinforcing productive and positive behavior, retaining staff, all while allaying their fears. No problem…right?!?

Tough decisions such as those noted above must be implemented in a compassionate and considerate way and human resources must lead this charge. There is a lot to consider when we are trying to make the right business decisions, determine how to do it, AND do it without adding to employee fears. So, what can employers do to stem the tide of worry among their ranks? According to Workplace Options, many employers are finding that work-life options are boosting employee’s morale. To help ease fears some employers are offering financial management resources like debt management, budgeting or foreclosure prevention as well as counseling resources. If your company has an employee assistance program (EAP), now is the time to remind your employees of your program and encourage them to use it, as many EAPs offer a wide range of services. Similarly, Jay Seifert, founder of Lonestar Wellness, states that “Tumultuous times call for stabilizing influences, and wellness is such an influence.” He urges employers not to cut wellness programs during tough economic times, but instead should bring wellness initiatives to the forefront. Seifert states that “…where workplace wellness programs are concerned, what starts out as a moderate up-front expense quickly becomes an investment with a demonstrable ROI.” A good wellness program can result in improved morale and productivity, as well as lower health care costs and reduced absenteeism.

Another way human resources can support employees and the business during these difficult times is to maintain communications. Watson Wyatt, Workplace Options, as well as a survey conducted by Weber Shandwick Worldwide reported by Business Week, have all found that employees believe that their companies are not communicating enough regarding the economy’s direct impact on their organization’s financial health. Company communication is absolutely crucial during tough economic times. The Weber Shandwick Worldwide (WSW) survey found that most employees are not receiving information from senior leadership regarding the impact of the financial crisis. Harris Diamond, CEO of WSW states that “…colleagues and coworkers talk about the economic issues, which feeds the rumor mill. Some of the rumors might be accurate, but most are false. The result? A demotivated workforce. People freeze up waiting for bad news.” Many companies incorrectly believe that saying nothing in such a climate is better than giving vague information. According to Carmine Gallo in BusinessWeek, simply acknowledging to your employees that you don’t know what the future holds gives employees the confidence that management is at least thinking about the issue. Discuss the specific issues facing your company, and increase your normal modes of communication – your staff wants to know what the financial crisis means to the future of the business.

While the full fallout of the U.S. financial crisis may not be known for some time, it is apparent that companies have made and will continue to make reductions in spending through revisiting merit budgets, bonuses, increasing employee benefit contributions; and in more far-reaching actions such as hiring freezes and layoffs. Employers can ease the concerns of their staff in these times by not forgoing bonuses and holiday gifts, instead making them smaller and tied to performance, offering supportive resources such as debt management and counseling, and by stepping up wellness initiatives to aid in morale and productivity. Lastly, don’t neglect the importance of keeping an open line of communication with your employees regarding the impact of the current economic times on your business. Human Resource professionals can take this opportunity to support the business to ensure that the most appropriate economic actions are taken while supporting employees through increased communication and actions that are in support of the organization’s vision/mission.

Laura Littlecott, PHR and Patti Dunham, MBA, MA, SPHR are Sr. Human Resources Consultants with Strategic Human Resources, Inc.(www.strategicHRinc.com). If you have any questions or would like to share your thoughts with either of these consultants, you can contact Laura at LauraL@strategicHRinc.com or Patti at Patti@strategicHRInc.com.

Employment Branding and Recruiting Videos: 3 Companies That Do It Right

March 13, 2013/in HR Strategy /by Robin

By Jennifer King, an HR Analyst for Software Advice

CareerBuilder customers receive a 34% greater application rate when they add video to their job postings. But what do those videos convey about the company’s employment brand?

I’ve seen plenty of recruiting videos, and there’s one thing that makes one stand out from the rest: a strong employment brand.

A recruiting video is a great tool to establish and strengthen your employment brand, or the way prospective applicants, candidates and employees perceive you as an employer.

Companies that effectively use video to promote their employment brand do so by showcasing their employees and work environment in the most realistic way possible. If job seekers can visualize what it would be like working at your company, you’re likely to attract a pool of enthusiastic applicants who truly know what they’d be getting into.

To convey an authentic employee experience, companies should focus on showing their true colors in their recruiting videos. Here are three videos that do it well.

  1. Zendesk provides a complete view of the company to give the audience a realistic yet entertaining look at the organization. The video highlights some of the small details, like the elevator, the door greeter or the company mural, to add some rich color to the personality and culture of Zendesk.
  2. The Rackspace video also gives potential candidates an authentic view of the company by letting employees tell their story in a less scripted way.
  3. HubSpot’s recruiting video also showcases its employees and work environment to shape the employment brand. This video also shines more light on the people who work at HubSpot as they’re filmed talking about the tools they use and the projects they’re working on.

What do you think of these examples? Hopefully they will help you think about your own employment brand and how you can use video to convey the employee experience.

Jennifer King is a HR Analyst for Software Advice (www.softwareadvice.com). Software Advice compares and reviews human resources software for consumers and HR specialists. To contact Jennifer or to read the full article, please visit her HR Blog.

Everything you Need to Start your Employment Branding

March 13, 2013/in HR Strategy /by Robin

by Debbie Hatke, MA, SPHR

Does your company have an employment brand? It should! No matter the size of your company or how frequently (or infrequently) you recruit, an employment brand is key to setting your company apart from the rest. As the labor market continues to tighten and finding qualified candidates becomes more of a challenge, standing out from your competition has definite advantages. An employment brand is just like marketing your product or services, except that in the case of recruitment, your competitors may comprise a much larger demographic. While your “widget” making company may only compete with the two other widget making companies in your region, when it comes to finding an accountant, receptionist or sales team, you may be competing on a much larger scale – not only with the other widget making companies you already compete with, but also with companies in different industries that haven’t before been your direct competition.

So let’s build a brand. It means just adding an employment webpage to your website – right? Wrong! Branding goes much deeper than your website. To brand employment you need to reach deep into your organization and brand from the inside out. It affects your website, your email signature, online job postings, recruitment tools (interview questions) your career fair booth, your application and any other collateral materials that are used for recruiting. It is often helpful to pretend that you are marketing your company’s product or service and apply those same marketing principles to your employment message. What is your marketing department doing to attract and retain customers? Apply those ideas to attracting and retaining your “customers” – your employees.

The first step in creating your employment brand is to consider your audience. In other words, who are the people that you hope to attract to your company and hire. It used to be as easy as saying we want the best workers of those that are out there looking, but today you have to expand that wish list to include not only qualified applicants that come to you, but passive job seekers as well. The folks we want most for our jobs tend to already have good jobs. We have to entice them to leave the comfort and security of their current job to take a chance on something new. That’s were branding comes in. The focus of branding is to create a message about your employment opportunities that make the job seeker want to work for you as an employer of choice. You can determine who your target audience is by looking at those in your current workforce and determining which ones are the “A” players. Then create a list of those characteristics they have that you want in your new employees, establish how to determine if a candidate has those characteristics and where those possible candidate might “hang out”.

Identifying the target audience is just the first, but a very important step. Next you have to craft your message. You’ll need to communicate distinguishing characteristics about your organization that makes it the best place to work. The strong brands have an Employer Value Proposition (EVP). The EVP communicates in actions and behaviors why you are the employer of choice and they often evoke emotion and provide tangible benefits. In marketing, we often rely on the four D’s, meaning your message must be:

  • Desirable – something that your customer (your future employees) want,
  • Distinctive – your organization provides something that is different from your competitors (different from their current employment situation),
  • Deliverable – what you offer potential employees must be accurate and truthful,
  • Durable – the message should be one that is durable over time (not that it can’t be tweaked and rewritten, but it must be a long standing attribute).

Your brand/message needs to focus on those key issues that matter most to the people you want the most. These attributes were likely determined when you identified your target audience. Remember, your communication of the EVP’s must be articulate, honest and appealing to all, not just to management or executives (unless that’s your target audience). Also, it’s important to remember that your current employees are the most effective communicators of your brand – make sure they understand (and believe) in the brand you are trying to communicate.

While the employment brand is present on many levels, it is true that most of us learn about a brand from the organization’s website. And as most job seekers are using the Internet for a large portion of their job search, it stands to reason that the company website is one of the strongest vehicles for the employment brand. Go out on the web and there are some really good examples of employment brands that you can refer to for examples.

  • Microsoft (www,microsoft.com) is not only a behemoth in the IT industry; it’s also has a well respected employment brand. Their career page asks “How far will you go?” and then goes on to answer the question for job seekers with additional employment links: a life@microsoft page, a meet our people video clips section, an online careers newsletter, and a fantastic blog. Microsoft goes out of their way to permeate the job seekers space.
  • Local employment giant Proctor & Gamble (www.pg.com) has a good employment brand as well. Their career page states at P&G there is “A new challenge every day” and defies the job seeker to “Discover your challenge. Discover your future. Discover P&G”.

True these are all multi-million dollar organizations with a lot of marketing (and recruitment) dollars to spend, but the principles they use can be applied to even the smallest of employers on a less-grand, budget conscious scale.

An employment brand isn’t something that can be determined in an afternoon meeting. Neither is it a “program” that can be created and rolled out to the organization as a transformation initiative. The employment brand is a reflection of what your organization represents as a culture; it is deeply rooted and above all else is truthful. On the outside, your employment brand is an expected employment experience, while internally it’s how you treat your employees and a mirror image of your organizational culture. If after examination you find that your culture isn’t creating the type of environment that creates a positive employment brand, then it may be time for a cultural assessment and transformation. But that’s another topic…

Debbie Hatke, MA, PHR is a Human Resources Management Consultant with Strategic Human Resources, Inc. (www.strategicHRinc.com). If you have questions or comments about this article, you can contact Debbie at Debbie@strategicHRinc.com.

To Outsource or Not? That Is the Question!

March 13, 2013/in HR Strategy /by Robin

by Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR

This has become an increasingly popular topic within the human resources field. Gartner Dataquest reported that human resources outsourcing in the Unites States is expected to grow from $21.7 billion to $58.5 billion by 2005. But why? Well, as we all know, our human resources departments are getting leaner and leaner but are expected to still do more and be more strategic. So, is outsourcing the answer? “It depends…”

First, let’s be sure we all are on the same page on what outsourcing means. To me, outsourcing is the process of using outside expertise and / or support to perform a specific need. A specific need does not necessarily mean the entire human resources function; it can also include pieces such as a special project (i.e. revamping the performance management program), interim support (i.e. during a medical leave or peak demand), or specialized function or service (i.e. recruiting or benefits).

What could you outsource? Mary Cook states in her book Outsourcing Human Resources Functions that “…up to 94% of companies outsource at least one human resources function.” According to Glenn Davidson’s article “Companies Increasingly Seeking to Outsource Human Resources,” the most often outsourced areas include 401(k) programs, health benefits management, and pension benefits. Some other areas that are often outsourced include payroll, recruiting services, compliance management, compensation analysis, training, cultural surveys, coaching, and special projects.

How do you know what you should outsource? The best place to start is by creating a strategic plan for human resources. (For tips on strategic planning, see our previous article “A Fresh Start…” in the February 2002 issue of GCHRA Resources) You need to have a clear vision and mission and the related goals and objectives needed to meet them. Once you have this spelled out, you can evaluate your internal resources to determine if you have the time or more importantly the expertise to meet those goals. Conduct a cost benefit analysis of the activity internally versus externally and I don’t just mean dollars but also time frame, quality, and of course sanity.

To help you with this analysis, let’s talk about some of the reasons or advantages of outsourcing. In Glenn Davidson’s article, he states the “top reasons for outsourcing include cost savings, higher service quality, access to expertise and technology, and the ability of staff to focus on core activities.” In Outsourcing Human Resources by Thomas, she even states that companies end up saving 30 – 40% of their cost through a reduced headcount. She goes on to say that quality is higher because you have more options for automated services and the opportunity to use an expert to fulfill the need. Plus, vendors can provide neutral advice without regard to the office politics. Most importantly, we can’t do everything and outsourcing let’s us focus on what we do best and have an expert do the other things best as well.

But, outsourcing isn’t always the answer. There are some potential disadvantages that you will want to consider. To begin with, the activity does not entirely go away. You will still need someone to be responsible and accountable for the activity and maintain communication and coordination with the outsourced vendor. Plus, sometimes the outsourcing can demotivate employees because they feel it is work they could have done or would have “grown” by doing if given the time and opportunity. Another disadvantage is that you are putting your company and confidential matters in the hands of an outsider. You will need to address each of these disadvantages as well as the cost to be sure you and the vendor you select can turn them into advantages.

Okay, now you have decided you want to outsource, let’s talk about how. As with anything, the number one way that you are going to find a vendor that can do the job for you is networking. Talking with others that have done the same thing to learn who they used and why. But, if you have nobody to talk to, there are many other resources to help identify vendors: national and local associations, outsource suppliers, schools, online contractor services (i.e. experiencenet.com; jobfolder.com; eLance.com; bid4geeks.com; freeagent.com; or even a recruiting websites like Monster.com).

Once you identify potential vendors, you have two options. First, you can meet with each vendor to discuss their background, strategy, and fee structure with regards to your need and ask them submit a written proposal. Or, you can develop a written Request for Proposal (RFP) and send it to interested vendors to complete. Your RFP should include details of the services required, activities to be performed, and end results expected. To avoid multitudes of calls, be sure to include as much detail as you can but definitely the deadline for submission and date a decision will be made.

As you review the proposals from your vendors (and yes, I would get it in writing from anyone you are considering friend or not), there are some simple things you can consider. First of all, you will want to determine if the vendor has similar values and thoughts to yours but will also introduce new ideas that you may not have thought of. You will want to assess their skills and experiences with the task you are outsourcing with specific criteria or needs in mind. Ideally, you’d like the vendor to have related industry experience. Also, be sure to find out the vendor’s availability to do your work in the time frame required. And, of course, you need to consider price. I save this for last because it is an important piece to your selection puzzle but shouldn’t be the only piece. Remember, you get what you pay for – so don’t always go with the cheapest.

Once you have selected your vendor, you need to formalize the arrangement in writing. Your vendor may provide you a contract or you may need to draw one up yourself but be sure to include the duration of the assignment, when and what payment will be, who will have ownership of materials, and an option for either party to terminate the contract if needed.

Also, you will want to assign a point of contact on your staff and with the vendor’s staff. These two individuals must have regular and ongoing communication. Upfront and throughout the project, the needs should be clearly clarified so you know who is doing what. Also, you may want to establish milestones and/or metrics to monitor productivity, quality, and customer satisfaction. Be sure you give your vendor credit when credit is due. They are human too and need your feedback both positive and negative and will be even more valuable to you if they feel beneficial to you.

Since outsourcing is a very broad term and can mean one project or the entire HR function, it is worth mentioning there are a number of legal issues to consider. To begin with, you will have to be able to show that your vendors are contractors and not employees. There is an excellent tool on HRTools.com to help you conduct the independent contractor test. But in general, you should consider who has control over details of the work, who provides supplies and office, how long is the assignment, what is the method of payment, is the work a regular part of your business, and will you be including the vendor in company programs or events. Plus, you will also need to determine who is responsible or worker’s compensation and unemployment insurance, especially if you are outsourcing your entire human resources function.

Bottom-line is you can’t do and be everything to everybody no matter how good of an HR manager or director you are unless you are willing to work twenty-four hours a day seven days a week. Use some of the tips in this article to help you assess what activities are important and need kept in house and which ones just make common sense to outsource.

Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR, a Senior Human Resources Management Consultant is President of Strategic Human Resources, Inc. (www.strategicHRinc.com). If you have any questions or wish to share your comments, you can contact Robin at Robin@strategicHRinc.com.

Ten Step Plan for HRIS Software Selection

March 13, 2013/in HR Strategy /by Robin

By Clay Scroggins with CompareHRIS.com

This HRIS Software or HRMS software selection advice is based on my experience of more than 15 years within the HR software industry. I have seen hundreds, if not thousands, of companies during that time do a good job and unfortunately, many who did a poor job with this process. You certainly don’t want to go through the process a year or two down the road again because you ended up making the wrong selection. That type of thing is what’s called a career limiting move.

Ten step plan for HRIS Software Selection

  1. Improve your HRIS software knowledge
  2. Determine your Needs
  3. Create a detailed HRIS software needs and requirements spreadsheet
  4. How much can you spend?
  5. Pick a handful of HRIS software systems to evaluate
  6. Demo advice
  7. Research the short list
  8. Determine the implementation scope
  9. Make the decision
  10. Getting approval

1. Improve your HRIS software Knowledge

Before you can determine your needs, budget, or anything, you have to understand what the overall capabilities, features, and options are of the various HRIS software applications. There are a number of ways you can educate yourself on these capabilities. One is to look up articles, such as this one. There are tremendous online resources and articles created on this exact subject. There are also a number of sites that show a number of HRIS software applications and provide helpful information for your education, as well.

2. Determine your needs

Everything you read about buying HRIS software is going to say exactly the same thing. Telling you to determine your needs is nothing new. The concept is used so often it is almost considered a cliche. The point of this section is to tell you what this statement means and why this step is extremely important when starting your search for HRIS software.

There are currently hundreds, if not thousands, of HR software providers doing business in North America. There are numerous vendors who list themselves as either an HRIS vendor or as an HRMS vendor. There might be as many as 100 of these companies. When creating your needs and requirements for either HRIS Software or HRMS software, you need to think of your job as narrowing this list from 100 vendors down to 10 or fewer.

I have reviewed a large number of these HRIS systems. In my opinion, these vendors offer 60% of the same functionality. So if you approach 100 of these companies and state that your requirements are to have a system that tracks job history, performance review dates, birthday report, turnover reports and other reporting capabilities most, if not all, of these applications will show you the same capability. This would be like looking for a house and telling the realtor that you need any number of bedrooms, any square footage, and in any neighborhood.

When creating your needs and requirements, look at it from the perspective that if you were to design an HRIS software application what would you include in the software. Exactly what reports do you need, what data do you need to track, how would you populate the database fields, and would you need to interface with any of your other software applications?

In this process of determining your needs and requirements, make sure to also confer with other departments who might end up utilizing portions of your HRIS product, as well.

3. Create a detailed HRIS software needs and requirements spreadsheet

You will likely look at a number of systems and, like looking for a house, eventually you are going to forget which system did what and offered what advantages. I recommend creating a detailed spreadsheet to assist with this process. Down the left side, list your needs and across the top, list each vendor. If you want to offer more detail, you might end up reviewing several HR information systems to score each product.

4. How much can you spend?

Now that you have improved your HRIS knowledge and you have a detailed list of your needs, you need to determine how much you can spend before deciding which applications you want to evaluate.

How much you can spend can be a little tricky because of the various pricing options vendors offer. Hosted solutions will offer their applications at so much per employee per month. The advantage is that over the short term, your upfront investment is going to be far lower with these applications than purchasing an application, where the investment is largely made on the front end. Even with purchase options, you might look at a lease to own contract where you pay for the software over a five year time frame and you own it at the end of the contract.

5. Pick a handful of systems to evaluate

The first thing to do is find the short list that seems to meet your needs. Perform a few searches and you will find a hand full of sites that list a number of HRIS systems on their sites. Some even offer the capability of filtering the products by options or features.

The hard part is figuring out which systems not only meet your needs but also match your budget. In a perfect world, buying HRIS software would be like buying a car. With a car you can go to a web site, type the kind of car you want, the price range, and you get a list. This is, unfortunately, not the case with HRIS software. The less expensive systems will gladly provide their prices. The more expensive systems are, in general, going to expect you to run through the whole dog and pony show before providing the prices.

The sales people for those companies, while they might not offer the prices up front if you call and tell them what your max budget is, will at least tell you if that is possible or not. At the end of this process, you should have your list scaled down to four or five systems of which you will want to see a demo.

6. Demo advice

With each demo, have your spreadsheet in hand and make sure that each need or requirement you have identified is shown during the demo. With your score spreadsheet in hand, provide a score for each need. This step is actually pretty easy because you did your homework up front.

7. Research the short list

After reviewing the four or five products, you will likely cut this list in half. From here, do a little research on each company. Ask for references, see how long the company has been in business, and how many installs they have. To receive unbiased opinions, hit the SHRM technology boards and post a message asking if anyone else has used the product and see what their opinion is. Add scores, the prices, years in business, and the number of installs to your spreadsheet.

8. Determine the implementation scope

You will know exactly what you are paying for the software, service and/support. Some companies may fix cost the implementation costs. Others will provide an estimate of time to complete the work and training. In either case, if the scope of the project is not determined in detail before the project begins, this is where you are going to go over budget. Make sure you receive an implementation quote that shows hours for each phase of the project. Look it over and make sure that each of your needs is met with the process.

9. Make the decision

Looking over your spreadsheet is the easiest step in the entire process. By now, you have likely narrowed your list to two or three systems and there is no confusion because the best solution is scored the highest on your spreadsheet. Of course price, references, and your company research will play a part, as well. Congratulations on a successful search!

10. Getting approval

Sadly, many companies view HR as a cost center. As a cost center, it can be difficult to get approval for a system that may benefit a single department. This is part of the reason, under determining your needs, I recommended involving other departments. Determine what the company objectives are and try to tie your case for HRIS software to these objectives. A system that benefits the entire organization makes a stronger case for need.

Clay C. Scroggin has over fifteen years experience in the human resources software industry. Clay is President and Owner of CompareHRIS.com, a web site dedicated to assisting HR professionals with their search, selection, implementation and use of HR software. CompareHRIS.com offers an extremely comprehensive HRIS selection tool to assist you with your HRIS, HRMS, or Human Resources software selection process. Make sure to download CompareHRIS.com‘s free HR and Payroll Software Buyer’s Guide.

Social Is Here To Stay – Now What?

March 13, 2013/in HR Strategy /by Robin

by Debbie Hatke, MA, SPHR

I recently read a great article that talked about social media being here to stay and that it’s not really necessary to make a distinction when talking about “social media” versus online activity in general – since everything we do online is essentially “social”. It’s true, any thought that social media was a “fad” and would die a quick death has been recently forgotten. Social networking and using social sites to connect with others globally is as ingrained into our normal daily activities as picking up a phone or getting an email. So now what?

While the revolution may be over, the evolution continues. Social media is constantly growing, increasing in membership and reinventing itself. It’s embedded itself in all things we do, business or otherwise. And although not a “new” medium by any definition, there are varying degrees to which people understand and use these tools. Attend any social media class and you will find experts, average users and late adopters all in the same room. The nature of social media is such that there is always something new to learn, regardless of how experienced you are.

So what’s an HR professional to do now that it’s apparent we must somehow use social media to move our businesses forward? To make things simple, let’s focus on Linked In, but you could actually substitute your social media of choice (FaceBook, Twitter, Google+, etc.) for most of this conversation.

LinkedIn is by far the most recognized and respected social media tool related to business – and is the oldest of all the recognized social network sites. There are over 150 million users worldwide (58.5 million from the US alone) that generate over 300,000,000 hits per month. LinkedIn users grew by about 45% over the last year with the 18-24 year age group growing the most significantly. The most prolific users are men (representing 57% of all users) and those between the ages of 25-54 (67% of all users). College graduates account for 49% of LinkedIn users with another 23% having graduate degrees. Members from the U.S. comprise 40% of all LinkedIn users.

The membership statistics are impressive, but what do we do with all this information? It’s one thing to be “linked in”, but it’s another to actually use LinkedIn as a business tool. Give some thought to how you might use LinkedIn to further the needs of your company. LinkedIn is used to source for talent by 75% of fortune 500 companies. They know that 83% of the fully-employed professionals on LinkedIn would consider themselves “passive” candidates and are often open to job opportunities. With this in mind it seems obvious that LinkedIn is a great source of talent for those seeking to fill job openings. But aside from finding recruits (by sourcing for candidates or posting jobs), what else can HR use LinkedIn for:

  • Gaining candidate information for use in interviewing (recruitment)
  • Obtaining reference information for candidates (background checks)
  • Networking with thought leaders to share information (best practices)
  • Gauging the health of a particular industry or company (manpower planning)
  • Scoping out the competition (competitive intelligence)
  • Sharing information about employment brand (visibility and recruitment)
  • Creating talent communities via Groups or Company Page (talent pipeline)
  • Learning about or advertising online classes or events (training and development)
  • Researching anything and everything you need to know (education and development)
  • Searching for ideas for your HR blog/newsletter (see Research above)
  • Engaging with current employees and alumni (networking)

LinkedIn is a treasure trove of people engaged and willing to interact socially, albeit primarily online. It is a free resource that includes professionals, associated groups, and companies that are available to us with a simple touch of a key and an online connection. The ways in which we can use LinkedIn, and other social networking tools, are limitless and constantly changing and will continue to transform how we interact with and engage others across the globe for some time to come.

Debbie Hatke, MA, SPHR is the Talent Strategy Manager and a Senior Human Resources Management Consultant with Strategic Human Resources, Inc. (www.strategicHRinc.com). If you have questions or comments about this article, you can contact Debbie at Debbie@strategicHRinc.com.

NOTE: the stats available online are a bit sketchy but a decent source of LinkedIn data comes from http://bit.ly/SNSstats.

Part 2: Is This a Solution to Help You Become More Strategic?

March 13, 2013/in HR Strategy /by Robin

by Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR

“Business changes come as waves gathering shape, gaining energy and momentum, then crash across the companies that find themselves in their path. Those companies that anticipate and respond quickly to these waves of change can often rise with the tide; those that don’t are often crushed on impact.” 
– Michael F. Corbett with Corbett & Associates, Ltd.

In our Emerging Issues in HR article last month, I presented you with the steps involved in deciding whether or not outsourcing is a solution for your organization to consider:

Step 1: Create a Team
Step 2: Conduct a Process Review
Step 3: Review Strategic Plan
Step 4: Identify Core Areas
Step 5: Decide What to Outsource

If you moved to Step 5 and still felt outsourcing may be a solution for you, you then decided what you may want to outsource. Whether you are outsourcing all or part of the human resources function, the decision involves more than just HR and cannot be taken lightly. You will need to follow the next five steps to ensure success.

Step 6: Strategic Alignment

Whether it be a piece or all of your HR function, you need to create a business case to justify how the decision supports the company’s strategic plan. A great way to pull together the information for this “business case” is to complete the same five steps you did when you created your team but now with a focus on outsourcing:

  • Desired results: what does this team hope to accomplish by outsourcing? What are the potential benefits?
  • Potential barriers / obstacles: what are some potential costs and barriers that may prevent outsourcing from being successful? How will you address those issues?
  • Supports: what resources, people, or organizations could help the team?
  • Plan: what are the specific goals and expectations that you will have for a vendor providing the outsourced service?
  • Evaluation: how will you measure the success of the outsourcing?

Be sure when you capture the results and obstacles that you analyze the cost and benefits of outsourcing the program versus retaining it in-house. Include in your costs and benefits the dollars, time, quality of work, and pure sanity or hassle of doing the work.

Step 7: Evaluate Vendors

The “business case” you create in Step 6 will also become the details of an RFP. Your RFP should be very clear on exactly what you are expecting from vendors. In your RFP, request that vendors provide you with facts and check lists and limit the amount of narratives that are provided to help you in your evaluation of the vendors.

If you need help identifying potential vendors, you may find the following resources helpful:

  • HRO Today www.hrotoday.com
  • Outsource Institute www.outsourcing.com
  • SHRM www.shrm.org – (New HR Outsourcing Forum recently established)

As you evaluate each vendor response, some things you may want to look for include:

  • How large the vendor is? Can they handle your capacity?
  • What is the size of their typical client?
  • What are their payment terms (i.e. travel, phone, email, emergencies)?
  • How do they stay up to date on new technologies and HR issues?
  • What is their specialty or expertise?
  • What recommendations or referrals do they offer and what do they say about their services?
  • How will the vendor’s culture mesh with your culture?

As you select your vendor, keep in mind this is a relationship that you will be building and maintaining hopefully for the long-run. Both you and the vendor need to benefit from the relationship and have very clear cut goals and expectations to succeed.

Step 8: Put It in Writing

Never rely on a handshake agreement but always put it in writing. Be sure the contract clearly maps out the scope and expectations. The contract should be very specific on the terms including fees and guarantees. It should also detail how to terminate the agreement and what must be done upon termination (i.e. what needs returned). It is tough to write a contract that is all encompassing of every issue you may encounter but be sure to anticipate possible issues that need both parties agreement. It will aid in resolution down the road and ensure an ongoing relationship and success for everyone.

Step 9: Communicate

This step is probably THE most important step to ensure the success of your outsourcing endeavor. How many times have you ever been told by your employees that you communicate too much? This is one of those situations where you need to communicate as often as you can as much as you can. Do not underestimate how the change of outsourcing will impact each employee. Without details from you on what is happening, why, and how it will impact each of them, they will fill in the blanks themselves. As a result, you could see a huge impact on morale, productivity and loyalty.

Recently, I had a client who decided to outsource their IT function. Due to the timing and sensitivity of the issue, the client chose not to communicate much if anything to the employees. The employees felt something was happening but were not sure what. When all was done, the IT function did get outsourced but morale and productivity in other areas of the company suffered immensely especially when groves of individuals from areas not even impacted by the outsourcing voluntarily left the organization for more security.

Don’t get caught losing key employees due to lack of communication. Be sure you communicate the good and the bad as much as you can. Also, be sure you prepare your managers for what to communicate and how to handle the situation since they will be the front line and first resource for communication with employees.

Step 10: Re-evaluate

Once you’ve begun outsourcing with the vendor, be sure to set dates to re-evaluate how it is working. You will want to evaluate your decision to outsource based on the actual costs, benefits, and return on investment. Is outsourcing giving you the results that you had anticipated during Step 6? Also, be sure you evaluate the vendor. Is the vendor meeting the goals and expectations you had for them? Are you getting the feedback you anticipated from employees on the service being provided? Do the goals, expectations, and/or fees need adjusted in any way? You should do this re-evaluation as often as necessary to ensure the relationship and need stays on track, which will only add to the success of your decision.

Hopefully, I’ve armed you with the facts, thoughts, process, and tools to anticipate the outsourcing wave so that you can rise with the tide as needed rather than getting wiped out…remember…

“Business changes come as waves gathering shape, gaining energy and momentum, then crash across the companies that find themselves in their path. Those companies that anticipate and respond quickly to these waves of change can often rise with the tide; those that don’t are often crushed on impact.”
– Michael F. Corbett Corbett & Associates, Ltd.

Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR, a Senior Human Resources Management Consultant is President of Strategic Human Resources, Inc. (www.strategicHRinc.com). If you have questions or comments, you can contact Robin at Robin@strategicHRinc.com.

Is This a Solution to Help You Become More Strategic?

March 13, 2013/in HR Strategy /by Robin

by Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR

“Business changes come as waves gathering shape, gaining energy and momentum, then crash across the companies that find themselves in their path. Those companies that anticipate and respond quickly to these waves of change can often rise with the tide; those that don’t are often crushed on impact.” 
– Michael F. Corbett with Corbett & Associates, Ltd.

This quote from Michael Corbett really hits home for most of us as we deal with different business changes each day. I know there are many days that I feel like the guy standing one step ahead of the wave ready to crash. The key is we need to stay one step ahead (more would be better) in order to succeed and thrive in the business world. We have to be ready to embrace change and always be charging forward as proactively as possible.

In this article, I want to help you evaluate a specific business issue that many organizations large and small are considering – human resources outsourcing. Truly, HR outsourcing is nothing new. We’ve been outsourcing benefits administration, payroll, and retirement plans for years. But the outsourcing wave is “gathering shape, gaining energy and momentum” to include much more.

Why…what’s driving this change? Is it a fad or the future? According to Accenture, the increase in HR outsourcing is the result of increased pressure to reduce costs, improve employee service, and maximize resource availability while becoming a strategic partner. We can’t be everything to everyone but we need to meet these demands. As a result, SHRM has found in the last five years the US market for HR outsourcing has doubled. And, The Yankee Group predicts the global market for HR outsourced services will be $80 billion by 2008 with the US accounting for half of this.

Now, I’m not saying that HR outsourcing is a solution for everyone. Nor, am I even elaborating on exactly what you could outsource. As with most HR decisions, this depends. But, let me share some facts with you so you can make a fair decision on whether you should consider outsourcing. Outsourcing could be a solution for you if it…

  • Increases your focus on strategy
  • Reduces operating costs
  • Limits your legal risks
  • Helps you tap into talent / expertise that doesn’t exist in your organization
  • Increases your focus on your core business / competencies
  • Reduces your investment costs in technology
  • Provides you with staff flexibility to expand and retract as the business necessitates

This list could go on and on…Another way to think about whether outsourcing is a solution for you is to look at the actual makeup of your HR function. According Karen Roberts with Aon Consulting, most organizations spend 10% of their cost and efforts on strategic issues, 30% on HR services (i.e. recruitment, succession planning, performance management), and 60% on administrative (i.e. record keeping, compliance, paperwork). If this mirrors your organization, would you be much more proactive and successful if you could outsource some of the 60% of administrative tasks and focus more effort and dollars on the strategic and HR services? Absolutely!!!!

But with anything, you need to look at both the pros, cons and costs. You need to consider and overcome a variety of obstacles if you decide to outsource any or all of your HR function. How will outsourcing:

  • Impact the customer service to your employees?
  • Limit your opportunity to develop the expertise and skills of your employees in anticipation of pending skill shortage by 2010?
  • Be accepted or rejected by employees and even others in HR?
  • Impact the organization’s culture
  • Increase the amount of your time required managing vendors / projects?
  • Increase potential costs you haven’t considered?

Now, you have thought it through and have decided that outsourcing some or all of your HR function MAY be a solution for you. Let’s discuss a general process you could follow to further explore the feasibility of outsourcing in your organization and how to implement it if you decide to go forward.

Step 1: Create a Team 

Yes another team, but this isn’t a decision that should be made in a silo. You need decision makers and stakeholders involved to ensure you are considering all angles and options. Begin by creating a project plan by completing the following:

  • Desired results: what does this team hope to accomplish?
  • Potential barriers / obstacles: what is going to prevent this team from reaching this result?
  • Supports: what resources, people, or organizations could help the team?
  • Plan: what are the steps the team needs to take? (hint: steps 2 – 5)
  • Evaluation: how will the team know it has reached it’s goal?

Step 2: Conduct a Process Review 

To get a clear idea of what could be outsourced, the team will need to start by mapping all the HR processes from A-Z (i.e. recruitment, payroll, benefits, performance management, etc.) Determine what is done, by who, and for how long. Just going through this process should identify some potential inefficiencies that could be addressed through outsourcing or simple improvements that will streamline your HR functions.

Step 3: Review Strategic Plan 

Once you’ve mapped your HR processes, compare those processes to the company strategic plan. What activities support the plan? What activities need to be done but do not have a direct connection to the plan? What else can human resources do to help support the company strategic plan that may not even be identified yet? Addressing the answer to these three questions will help you begin to make a link between HR and the business plan.

Step 4: Identify Core Areas 

Based on your findings in Step 2 & Step 3, you need to identify the core areas HR needs to focus on because of in-house expertise. To determine your core areas, ask yourself these two questions:

  1. What expertise does your current staff possess that should be capitalized on internally?
  2. What efforts can or should only be done internally?

Your answers should help you identify your core areas that you should be focusing on performing internally.

Step 5: Decide What to Outsource 

The team needs to use all the information gathered during steps 1 – 4 to decide whether or not AND what to outsource. Remember, the advantages and obstacles we discussed earlier in this article, these will be critical issues to consider in deciding to outsource and evaluating what to outsource.

These first five steps will help you determine if and what you may want to outsource. If you decide you want to outsource anything, you’ll want to read our article next month that will cover Steps 6 – 10 on facilitating the outsourcing process.

To be continued…

Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR, a Senior Human Resources Management Consultant is President of Strategic Human Resources, Inc. (www.strategicHRinc.com). If you have any questions or wish to share your comments with Robin, you can contact her at Robin@strategicHRinc.com.

HR New Year’s Resolutions

March 13, 2013/in HR Strategy /by Robin

By Cathleen Snyder, CIR, SPHR

It’s that time again. Along with the New Year, January brings an opportunity to look back at the previous year, what worked, what didn’t and what just didn’t happen. It’s also a time look ahead at the coming year. Many people will make their New Year’s resolutions to lose weight, become more fit, rebuild the relationship with your sister…

HR should be no different. January is an ideal time to take a hard look at your organization. What were the good things that happened last year that you want to make sure are carried forward? What were the not so good that you can learn from? What did you intend to do but never got to? What changes occurred in your organization and what was the impact on HR that needs to be addressed?

Some key areas to consider:

Job descriptions — When were they last updated? For many organizations, job requirements changed out of need. One employee was laid off or left and not replaced, so those duties were absorbed by another. Are these changes going to remain permanent? Also, some of those changes resulted in the realization that certain duties were a better fit for the alternate position. Now is the time to make it official and update job descriptions.

Social Media — It’s everywhere, and as much as some may want to ignore it, you can’t ignore the potential impact on your business, both positive and negative. Facebook is now considered to be the new search engine response driver. The more content you have on your Facebook page the more likely you are to appear on top of search results. Is your company getting the maximum benefit from social media? It’s also important to consider what your employees are saying about your company via social media. Do you have a policy in place regarding the use of social media? Does HR monitor social media outlets to see what is being posted about your company? What liability exposure needs to be considered? This is an area that is evolving daily, literally. The company that chooses to ignore it does so at its own peril.

Workplace Harassment — This past year seemed to bring a rise in Workplace Harassment issues. Companies are seeing an increase in harassment and discrimination complaints. Whether your company experienced this trend of not, it is important to evaluate whether you are positioned to weather the potential storm. Do you have a Workplace Harassment policy? When was the policy last updated? Has it been communicated to employees recently? When was training last conducted? So many companies think that these issues don’t happen to them – until they do. Make sure you have taken the necessary measures to handle any complaint that may arise. The upside is by raising awareness the result is often a more positive work environment.

Compensation Survey and Review — The past couple of years may have seen salary reductions in order to survive the economic downturn. With the economy finally starting to recover, a review of your salary structure may be warranted. Have you reinstated those pay cuts? What about 401k matches? Are you still paying competitively? This is especially important as companies begin hiring again. The coming year promises to be a tight hiring market. You will want to position yourself to attract the best candidates and retain your superstars.

Training and Development — What does your training budget look like for 2011? For many organizations, this is an area that has been slashed in recent years. We have all heard that as the economy stabilizes, employees may be more open to changing jobs. What are you doing to retain your top talent? There has never been a more important time to show your commitment to your employees, by offering opportunities for learning and growth, before they head for the door. 

Recognition — While the past three years has been tough on business, it has also been tough on employees. More has been asked of them during these rough times, as business tightened its belt. How have you shown that you recognize and appreciate those that got you through? Budgets may still be tight. This is an opportunity to get creative in showing your “human” resources how much they are valued.

These are just a few areas worth looking at when considering what you will choose as your New Year’s resolutions. Some may be easier to keep than others. If you don’t already do so, identifying a strategic plan for the coming year is instrumental in ensuring these resolutions are met. Some resolutions may involve changing direction, some may involve formalizing a direction that is already underway. Either way, it’s a brand New Year and a clean slate.

Cathleen Snyder, CIR, SPHR, is a Senior Human Resources Consultant with Strategic Human Resources, Inc. (www.strategicHRinc.com) and can be reached at Cathleen@strategicHRinc.com if you have any questions, comments, or success stories.

Green Is the New Black

March 13, 2013/in HR Strategy /by Robin

by Debbie Hatke, MA, SPHR and Laura Cranston

As my favorite amphibian is known for saying “it’s not easy being green”. But it is becoming easier as more companies embrace green technology and are providing more options and products to help us go green. No longer just a fad of the 1970’s, it’s now in vogue to be green; in fact, it’s been recently reported that “green, is the new black”.

So what exactly is being “green”? A green company is one that is socially responsible when it comes to choosing and using resources within their organization that may impact the environment; such a company is said to have a “green culture” or is, more simply put, “environmentally friendly”. But this concept isn’t necessarily “new”, as many organizations have been using “green” practices for many years. Recycling is more commonplace than ever before and as consumers we have been seeing more options when it comes to choosing environmentally friendly products. This includes everything from making recycling readily available (i.e. through recycling programs and curb side pick-up) to providing items for purchase that are made of post-consumer waste, or items we have already used once and remade into items to use again. This is an exciting time for the environment.

Defining the elements of “green” can be boiled down to three things: reduce, reuse and recycle.

  • Reduce: Do what you can to reduce the use of some products (i.e. taking your office paperless to eliminate costly paper, storage systems and filing time/labor).
  • Reuse: Take steps to reuse, or allow someone else to reuse, a resource that you have already used (i.e. washing dishes versus using disposable paper or Styrofoam products).
  • Recycle: Separating items for reconfiguration into something that is useful again. (i.e. using bins for recycling common products like paper, plastic, glass and aluminum).

If some of this sounds familiar to you, your company may already be “green” and not know it. If you’ve heard about efforts to create a paperless office, that’s a step toward being green. Buying recycled office products to take advantage of post-consumer waste is an easy way to start a green program in your company. Offering benefits to employees who carpool or otherwise try to save resources via their commuting style (by biking, taking public transportation or telecommuting) is a green benefit. Conserving energy by changing out the light bulbs in an office building from incandescent to compact fluorescent is another green initiative. Turning down thermostats and turning off computers when not in use are all ways we can conserve energy and help our companies become green (and save money).

But today’s “green” isn’t just all about the practices involved with being green, it’s also about instilling a green culture and creating an environmental statement that incorporates “green” into everything a company does. A green company will create policies that direct the purchasing of environmentally friendly products or raw material for use within the organization. Such a company might create an environmental plan that includes water and energy conservation or prevents pollution and reduces waste in the products they produce. Being green permeates the organization and is present in everything that the company does. This includes marketing and promotion, as what a company does to uphold being environmentally friendly is becoming as important as actually doing it. As you surf the Web it’s increasingly easy to find companies that tout their “greenness”. Green companies are quick to show their allegiance to the green movement by showcasing their environmentally friendly efforts for the public. The color green in print is being used to indicate environmentally friendly initiatives and websites are literally “green” with copy and are decorated with the well-known symbol for recycling.

Not only are companies telling environmental groups, consumers and investors about their environmentally friendly initiatives, but it is becoming increasingly important to share that information with future employees during the recruitment process. Today’s employment branding includes “green speak” and targets those potential employees that look to a company’s environmental policies as starting points in the job search process. Sharing green initiatives appears not only on employment Websites, but is also included in other recruitment materials such as in brochures and offer letters. While not all job applicants put as much emphasis on a company’s greenness, it is estimated that one third of US adults would prefer to work for an environmentally sensitive company and an increasing number of Gen Y applicants demand it as they grew up environmentally conscious. On a more global scale, when recruiting overseas a much larger portion of the applicant pool views environmental policies as favorable due to many more years of environmental sensitivity in Europe and Asia.

Kudos to your organization if they have green policies in place. As HR professionals we can do a lot to help our organizations get the word out about the important things we’re doing to be green. As members of senior leadership, HR managers can help initiate green policies and practices and further develop those already in place into a more formalized green strategy. As change agents, HR professionals are instrumental in creating a green culture. We can create green teams to help formulate a plan for taking the company forward with their environmentally friendly changes. And HR is instrumental in the development of communications, programs and training for the new green initiatives. More significantly it’s important to realize that the green movement is becoming more than just a movement – it’s becoming an acceptable, and maybe someday perhaps requisite, way of doing business and companies need to adapt to this trend or be left behind.

Debbie Hatke, MA, PHR is a Senior Human Resources Management Consultant and Talent Strategy Manager Strategic Human Resources, Inc. (www.strategicHRinc.com). If you have questions or comments about this article, you can contact Debbie at Debbie@strategicHRinc.com. A special thanks goes out to Laura Cranston for her help in writing this article!

Goodbye 2012…Hello 2013. What trends do you have in store for us next year?

March 13, 2013/in HR Strategy /by Robin

By Debbie Hatke, MA, SPHR

As we near the end of 2012, and possibly the end of the world for those of you who still use the Mayan calendar, it seems fitting to take a look back at some of the projected “trends” of 2012 and look to what’s possibly ahead in 2013.

When it came to predicting Human Resources trends for 2012 much of what was predicted last year seemed rather expected versus earth-shattering. Many companies saw job growth, continued globalization, an increase in the use of workforce analytics and reporting (due to the growing use of cloud computing), the development of talent pipelines and creation of leadership pools (for succession planning), and witnessed ever increasing government regulation. Much in the business world tends to have a trickle-down effect from larger companies to the midsize and smaller companies. It is anticipated that many of these trends will continue to evolve for larger organizations and will start to touch smaller companies in the coming year. The year 2013 is expected to experience these HR trends:

Recruitment (Job Growth)

  • Intense hiring competition for hard-to-fill jobs
  • A focus on sourcing (online) which will play a bigger role in recruiting
  • Employee referrals to be a key recruiting tactic and will benefit from social media platforms
  • More attention paid to the candidate experience
  • Demands for a quick hire putting recruitment over development
  • Continuation of remote work as employee work option (and recruiting tool)
  • Mobile platforms (smartphones and tablets) continuing to evolve in their role with candidate communications and interaction
  • HR turning to traditionally marketing-based techniques such as: employment branding, SEO, pay-per-click, email marketing, social media, etc. to reach candidates

HRIS (Workforce Analytics)

  • Recruitment metrics will be focused on future needs, rather than looking back at the past
  • Consumer use of technology (particularly social media and app-based communication) will integrate with HR systems, such as ATS
  • Social media will become more data driven and useful for analytics

HR Strategy

  • HR will need to prove return on investment for HR activities
  • HR will become more decentralized with segments pushed to managers as HR takes on more strategic role working with HRIS systems and streamlining processes
  • Retention issues will increase as employees get recruited for better opportunities elsewhere

Compliance (Government Regulation)

  • More aggressive enforcement in the DOL (Job Classifications), the EEOC and NLRB.

Recruitment and the demand for skilled labor will continue to take a front seat as companies struggle to fill jobs that are increasingly technological in nature. The need to attract, and retain, a robust workforce will be key to survival, particularly for small companies and start-ups.

In 2012 the hunt was on for qualified applicants to fill many open positions. However, the current talent mismatch put the kibosh on what many thought should have been easy pickings from the vast number of unemployed when it came to hiring. So creative recruitment ensued which included hiring bonuses and other enticing forms of additional compensation, as well as things such as fitness and yoga classes, wellness initiatives, tuition reimbursement, legal assistance, office parties, monthly BBQs, and other miscellaneous perks. But there were a few standouts who opted for more unusual offerings:

  • Unlimited Vacation
  • Morning Breakfast
  • Catered Lunches and Dinners (sometimes provided daily)
  • Noise-Cancelling Headphones
  • Treadmill Desks
  • Office DJ Booth (for letting off steam at the quarterly office party)
  • Nap Pods
  • Volleyball Courts
  • Veggie Gardens
  • Field Trips
  • Spanish Lessons
  • Pet Insurance
  • On-Site Doctors (at a non-health company)
  • Mentor Moms

Much of the creative hiring practices were employed by technology and start-up companies vying for a limited number of talented individuals vital to their growth. But as hiring becomes even tighter in the coming year, look for a greater number of mainstream companies to start using creative incentives to increase their workforce numbers. If you are considering offering some creative hiring (and retention) benefits in 2013, keep in mind they should be benefits that your employees actually want – don’t just offer miscellaneous benefits because they are “cool” or different.

Debbie Hatke, MA, SPHR is a Senior Human Resources Management Consultant and Talent Strategy Manager with Strategic Human Resources, Inc. (www.strategicHRinc.com). If you have questions or comments about this article, you can contact Debbie at Debbie@strategicHRinc.com.

Are You Ready For The “What If”? – Get Your Plans In Order

March 13, 2013/in HR Strategy /by Robin

By Debbie Hatke, MA, SPHR

Last week Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced he was taking a leave of absence for health reasons. This announcement rocked the investment world and has many, including Apple employees, wondering what the future is for Apple with its dynamic, charismatic and very visible leader missing from the helm. What if he doesn’t return?

Hopefully Apple has a succession plan in place.

In the fall of 2008 the Tri-State area was whipped into submission by a powerful storm that produced winds strong enough to tear off roofs, knock down trees and power lines, and send communities into darkness for days. Many companies suffered as well, as the lack of power meant they could not open for business as usual. What if that happens again?

Hopefully your company has an emergency plan in place.

According to a recent Right Management survey of 1,400 US workers many companies may lose some of their top employees in 2011. Seems that the past few years of downsizing, stagnant wages and constantly doing more with less has taken its toll and employee discontent is rising. If the survey is accurate 84% of current employees could seek new jobs if the job market picks up. What if the employee leaving is one of your key employees?

Hopefully you have a retention plan in place.

If you ask any human resources professional what they consider to be their main function at their organization, you will get many answers: generalist, manager, recruiter, compensation specialist, benefits administrator, trainer, safety officer, counselor, mentor. I doubt that any of them will respond “I’m a planner”. But planning plays an integral part of human resources and is vital to how we to react to changes within our organization, whether those changes are anticipated or not. The beginning of the new year is a time when many organizations present their corporate strategy by sharing the goals and objectives for the coming year (or for a few years into the future). Now too is the time for human resources to reevaluate, revise and renew their HR strategies and “What If” plans.

Let me share what I learned in Strategic Planning 101 (I actually have a degree in planning). These are the three P’s of planning:

  • Policies define an organization’s overarching strategic direction. They are typically generic, to-the-point, and provide general direction. They define the “What” and the “Why”. Policies can often be referred to as Strategies. For example:
  • It is our company policy not to employ persons who use illegal drugs or abuse alcohol. As such we reserve the right to require employees to submit to testing for drug and/or alcohol use as a continuing condition of employment as deemed necessary to the safe and efficient operation of our company.
  • Plans are more tactical in nature. They can be, and often are, changed and serve as a guide for how you will achieve the stated policy. Plans are also referred to as Tactics (they are also confusingly called “Policies”). For example:
  • In accordance with our drug and alcohol policy, random drug and alcohol screening shall take place regularly. Human Resources will be responsible for coordinating random drug screening of employees with our third party vendor AcuScreen.
  • Processes or Procedures define the implementation steps. They provide the framework for how specifically things are to be done – the “Who, What, When and How”. These are specific actions or tasks that execute the plan. Often the processes are included within the plan. For example:
  • Human Resources will select and notify the employee to be screened using the random selection process.
  • Selected employee will be sent a copy of the Drug Policy, a lab form and instructions for making an appointment with the screening vendor. Etc.

It is not critical that what you call your policies, plans, procedures, or processes match those of other organizations or adhere to the definitions above; only that you define and communicate your particular methodology to your organization and, more importantly, that they are written and followed.

The three examples provided above (succession plan, emergency plan and retention plan) are all instances where human resources needs to pull out their “Planning Manuals” and plan for the “What If”. For succession planning, that means evaluating the KSAs of current employees to determine if your next CEO, CFO or CIO is among them. For an emergency plan it can mean making sure emergency documents are up-to-date and the emergency chain of command isn’t “broken”. And for a retention plan it might mean taking the pulse of your organization to gauge employee satisfaction and interviewing terminating employees to find causality in turnover.

For some organizations, the policies and plans created to address these issues are already in place, the procedures may just need to be updated to reflect changes in staff, changes in job responsibility or changes in information. Now is a great time to review those policies and make sure they still reflect the needs of the organization, especially if the strategic direction of the organization has changed. Also review them with an eye toward the economic climate and other external factors (such as legal compliance) which may affect the policy or resulting plans.
For others, though, these policies or plans have yet to be written. But there’s no time like the present to begin. Stay tuned to learn more about strategic planning and policy development.

Debbie Hatke, MA, SPHR is a Senior Human Resources Management Consultant and Talent Strategy Manager with Strategic Human Resources, Inc. (www.strategicHRinc.com). If you have questions or comments about this article, you can contact Debbie at Debbie@strategicHRinc.com.

Performance Management: The Individual Strategic Plan

March 13, 2013/in HR Strategy /by Robin

by Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR

Performance management has become an ever-increasing critical tool to success for businesses. Within the last year we have experienced both a booming economy as well as a recession; a historically low unemployment rate combined with massive layoffs and business closings. But the bottom line to all of this is people! AND, we are human and as such are typically much more productive when we have clear goals, expectations, and feedback.

“Would you tell me please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where-” said Alice
“Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
     – from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

If you have had the opportunity to attend one of my strategic planning sessions, you’ve seen me use this quote in reference to developing a company or department’s strategic plan. But, a strategic plan is a waste of time and effort if it does not get communicated and tied to the performance of all employees through Individual Strategic Plans. Whether this is a formal process or informal process depends a great deal on your particular organization.

Let’s start with the informal process… If your organization can effectively communicate and link the strategic goals of the organization to each individual’s goals AND regularly provide feedback to an employee, then you may be able to succeed without a formal performance management tool. Even with an informal process, you will need to develop a system with specific checkpoints to be sure the communication is constant and two-way to ensure that the employee is on-track and getting both positive and constructive feedback in a timely manner.

If the world were perfect, I would encourage everyone to use an informal process; however, time seems to get the best of us. Without a formal process, goals are unclear at best, and feedback is rare. To facilitate a process that is successful for both the employee and the organization, a formal performance management system can “work for you.” A well-designed performance management system should make your job easier not more cumbersome.

To begin developing a system or any new program or initiative, I like to use Development Dimension International’s (DDI) six Checkpoints for Implementation:

  1. OUTCOMES — What results am I looking for?
    • For your performance management system, you’ll need to think about what you hope to gain from the system. For example: increased productivity, improved retention, increased employee morale, and improved communications.
  2. BENEFITS — Why is this important? (Payoff — What’s in it for me?)
    • Both the company and the employee need to know why they are doing this in order to feel ownership for the system. Your organization may see the benefits as some of the outcomes listed above, as well as a method for linking individual performance to the organization’s performance. Individuals may see it as a way to continue to develop and grow with the organization while adding value back to the company. Remember, growth opportunities and meaningful work are two of the top reasons employees leave their jobs.
  3. BARRIERS — What might prevent me from being successful?
    • In order to ensure the success of your system, you need to anticipate any barriers and identify what you will do to prevent or minimize the impact of those barriers. Some examples may be: resistance to change, time constraints, or lack of management support.
  4. SUPPORT — What resources are available?
    • You’ll need to clearly identify what resources or individuals are available to help you develop and implement the system. Once you have identified your resources, you’ll want to include them in the process as much as possible in order to obtain their buy-in and benefit from what they can offer. Some examples of support are: top management, employees, expert consults, other organizations, budget, and customer needs.
  5. APPROACH — What steps must I take to achieve my goals? (Be specific — who, when, duration, etc.)
    • By identifying the outcomes, benefits, barriers, and supports, you will be better able to begin mapping out the approach for developing and implementing your performance management system. Some questions you may want to consider include:
      1. What exactly do you need formalized to help facilitate goal setting, feedback, and documentation?
        • Many times organizations assume performance management is the evaluation at the end of the review period. However, an effective performance management system begins with the development of a performance plan at the BEGINNING of the evaluation period. This performance plan or individual strategic plan is a living document that may need updating throughout the plan year.In general, systems should include both competencies and goals. With most of my clients, we develop a group of core competencies or behaviors that mirror the values of the organization. Plus, we develop individualized goals for each employee that are tied to the goals of the business.There are many canned and customizable systems out there that can help you identify what you want to include in your system. To help you generate ideas, you may want to seek samples from other companies or resources (i.e. Performance Appraisals: A Collection of Samples by SHRM Information Center ~$35.00 or Performance Impact by KnowledgePoint). Be sure any piece of information you include on the form adds value rather than creates work for others. Plus, be sure the form is a tool not a rule!
      2. How often do you need to formally discuss goals and feedback versus informally?
        • Like your business plan, a performance plan is a living document and the goals and feedback should be ongoing and constant. However, it often takes a formal get-together for this to actually happen. If your organization is not one to proactively meet throughout the plan year, then a formal meeting, even if short, should be arranged at least quarterly to ensure an employee is getting timely feedback and still supporting both their individual and the organization’s strategic plan(s). Plus, if you summarize this quarterly meeting your end of the year review will be a breeze.
      3. Who needs to be trained on performance management and coaching?
        • We all could benefit from training on performance management and coaching. Even if you are the best manager, a refresher on performance management simply helps you continuously grow as a proactive manager. Formal training can also help ensure all managers are working with the same set of tools, including assistance with the seeming struggle about how to be a manager and a coach at the same time. Learning what has been successful and not successful with others will help everyone in the organization succeed.
      4. What will you do to involve both employees and management in the process?
        • Employees and supervisors will not take the time for performance planning and reviews if management does not support it. Management has to realize the value added (i.e. increased productivity, improved morale, retention) of performance management and demonstrate their support of the system to all employees. This may require involving a key management player in the development and implementation of the system.Like management, employees will be more encouraged to take the feedback and direction of performance management seriously if they are involved with the development of the system. To do this, you can either survey employees to identify their needs or include them in a team tasked to evaluate and develop a program. COMMUNICATE!!!
      5. How will the system be tied to compensation?
        • Of course, any system is going to be much more open and honest when there is little or no connection to pay. The catch is, that you need to have some way to measure employee performance, in order to provide performance based increases. You’ll need to develop a clear philosophy and supporting policy for merit increases. Because this will depend on your budget and values, each organization may have a totally different philosophy and policy on pay increases. By making this policy clear and communicating it up front, the link to compensation will have a better chance of being both objective and effective.
  6. EVALUATION — How will I know when I’ve reached my goal?
    • Too often this last checkpoint in implementation is skipped. It is very important for you to constantly evaluate your program. Some ways you can do this is through focus groups, employee surveys, or interviewing management. The key is to schedule it and just do it!

Remember, you don’t want your employees feeling like Alice did in Alice in Wonderland. You need to be sure you are communicating the expectations and goals of the organization and tying them to each employee’s Individual Strategic Plan in order to realize success. Whether this is a formal or an informal process doesn’t matter as long as you are doing it!!

Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR, a Senior Human Resources Management Consultant is President of Strategic Human Resources, Inc. (www.strategicHRinc.com). If you have any questions, wish to share your comments, or your organization needs individualized help developing a successful performance management system, you can contact Robin at 513-697-9855 or Robin@strategicHRinc.com for more details.

Can Your Business Succeed in an Unexpected Tomorrow?

March 13, 2013/in HR Strategy /by Robin

by Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR

With the events of 9/11 and even some unexpected tragedies locally, I have been surprised by how many companies are not prepared to handle the loss of a key player in their organization to a tragedy or just a sudden job change. Whether we are human resources professionals or business owners, we know what positions are critical to the organization and know we need to have a contingency plan or succession plan in place to minimize the impact of a loss.

However, statistics show that less than 15% of businesses actually do have a plan. But why? Some of the most common answers I get to this question are: it takes too much time to create a succession plan for all our critical positions; the plan changes too often with our business needs; or how likely is it to really happen anyway? But, depending on the position, the impact of a loss with no plan in place can have many affects up to and including closure of the business; loss of productivity for six months or more; turnover of other key employees; or loss of customers. If you do the cost benefit analysis, you’ll probably find yourself creating a succession plan for every employee in the organization.

For now, let’s stick to the critical key positions and later you can add the other positions as well. (Remember, every position in your organization affects the business or you wouldn’t need the position at all). So, how do you identify what positions are the most critical to business operations? This is a job for human resources AND top management, which are probably the first positions you will have on your list as critical. Together HR and management need to evaluate all the positions to determine which positions are likely to:

  • impact daily operations of the business
  • have the most visibility to the customer
  • be key to meeting business objectives / goals
  • be very difficult to replace in this marketplace

Once you have your positions identified, you are ready to begin developing the plan. There are four basic components that I recommend your plan include:

  • Component 1: Profile of the Position(s)
  • You will need to develop a detailed profile for each of the identified positions which should include key responsibilities, education, skills, experience, and any other needs that make the person in the position successful. This isn’t a job description but very close to it with much more detail. You need to know exactly what an incumbent in the position needs to have and do to succeed. To develop this profile, you will want to involve both the incumbent and the supervisor to be sure it is specific and accurate.
  • Component 2: Identification of Successors
  • Now that you have a detailed description of the position, you are ready to begin identifying the potential successors for each position. It is important to remember a successor doesn’t have to be in the same department. So, don’t miss quality candidates just because they aren’t right under your nose. Also, you may find the best successor could even be outside the organization with a competitor, customer, or vendor. As with the first component, be sure to involve both the incumbent and the supervisor to develop a list of successors. And, yes, you will probably want to identify more than one individual to ensure you are all in agreement on the successor and have a backup.
  • Component 3: Plan to Prepare the Successors
  • Next, you are ready to begin preparing the potential successors. To do this, a detailed plan will need developed to help ensure the successor is ready when or if the time comes for them to step into the position. Your plans need to be very specific on what education, experience, or skills the person needs to have before they will be ready; plus, when and how you are going to ensure they get it. This may require them to take on special projects outside their current job to ensure the experience is gained. In addition, you may want to develop a mentor program to help ensure the candidate has someone to help them along the way.
  • For internal successors, you will have to decide if you will tell them or not. Nine times out of ten you are probably better to tell them than not. It would be a shame to do all this work and have them leave the organization because they didn’t know what was being planned for them. At the same time, if you tell them, have a plan for what you will do with them until or if the time never comes so you don’t lose them.
  • Now, if the potential successor is an outsider, there are still things you can do. Talk to the person – either to build a relationship and credibility with them or to actually tell them your thoughts. If they aren’t interested at all, it’s better to know now than when the crisis happens. If they seem at all interested, start building the relationship and talking to them about any skills and experiences they could be developing.
  • In all these cases both internal and external, you need to be sure you make it very clear that this is developmental and future focused and by no means a promise or employment contract. But, continue to maintain communications and relationships with the individual so they don’t either leave your organization or become prejudiced against it because they feel that they are ready but the opening isn’t there.
  • Component 4: Identification of Other HR Implications
  • Last, you need to determine any other human resources implications that each succession plan may have on your business. Think about how the plans may impact other staffing needs (i.e. domino affect of moving one person), group training requirements, temporary support during a special project assignment, the need for special project assignments, or bonus/compensation increases to accommodate an individual learning new skills but not getting promoted yet.

Keep in mind, these four components don’t make your succession plan. They must go hand in hand with policies, procedures, and tools that support your business needs and culture. You can learn a lot from what others are doing or not doing with succession planning but remember what you need in your organization should be customized to meet your organizational needs. The most important key is to have a plan that will minimize the impact on the operations of your business so you can succeed tomorrow!

Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR, a Senior Human Resources Management Consultant is President of Strategic Human Resources, Inc. (www.strategicHRinc.com). If you have any questions or wish to share your comments, Robin can be contacted at Robin@strategicHRinc.com.

Diversity Efforts Can Support Business Imperitives

March 13, 2013/in HR Strategy /by Robin

by Linda Gravett, PhD, SPHR

It’s no secret that in today’s global marketplace, competition is keen and the skills, knowledge and abilities required to keep up with, let alone lead, the competition are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Supplier relationships are often spread across the globe and can become very complex, given language and cultural barriers. The demographics of the existing or potential customer base of many organizations is a moving target. In the meantime, shareholders in private sector companies and stakeholders in public sector organizations have high expectations for profit or results as a return on their investment in time, money, or both. Additionally, this society has become very litigious and we’ve seen an increase in costly sexual harassment , racial harassment, and other diversity-related lawsuits in the U.S. These factors support the need for strategic planning and a diversity initiative as a component of that planning.

Organizations today spend a great deal of time, effort and money on sending their leaders to off-site retreats and conducting an annual strategic planning session. Typically, a major portion of the time is devoted to establishing a Mission Statement (Why are we here?) and a Vision Statement (Where do we see ourselves going?). Unfortunately, these plans often don’t focus on implementation tactics for achieving the Mission and Vision, taking into consideration environmental barriers and support mechanisms that the organization faces. Some companies develop tactics; that is, methods to carry out their objectives and goals, but don’t establish a series of process checkpoints and measures to assess how well those tactics are being carried out.

In order to achieve its Mission and Vision, your organization will require specific competencies to ensure survival and success. For example, do you have employees who know how to find potential customers for your product or service? Do you have staff who know how to craft the message that will appeal to these potential customers? If you wish to expand your marketplace into South America, do you have employees who understand the language and culture in target countries? Do you have Human Resources staff who are conversant with the labor laws of the target countries?

Perhaps your organization has established the objective of enhancing its image within the community as part of its strategic plan. The concept of responsible corporate citizen’ may be different in other countries. In Swedish companies, for example, parents are often allowed to take paternity or maternity leave at their discretion. The desire for balancing work and family life has been a mainstay of their society, and an expected work benefit, far longer than in the U.S. Swedes frequently surprise their international clients when they leave at 5:00 p.m. with the announced intention of spending time with their families. U.S. business people might judge this behavior as a lack of commitment to work, when in fact the Swedes are demonstrating their strong commitment to quality of life. If a U.S. organization plans to build an organization in Sweden, tactics to address this conceptual difference must be developed.

Years ago, I was carrying out a segment of my organization’s strategic plan which was to develop and deliver training for new accounting procedures in the public sector. Sounds pretty straightforward, right? The organization where I was employed was in the Far East, and my trainees were all Japanese. Since I could speak the language, I was under the mistaken impression that conducting the training would not be a problem. Indeed, during the workshop my students were smiling and nodding and had no questions when I asked if anyone needed clarification. Following the workshop, I was totally frustrated when all my students (who were also my direct reports) continued to use exactly the same accounting procedures that they were using before the training!

I called upon a Japanese colleague for some advice, and he reminded me of Japanese cultural norms. The ‘boss’ is revered, as is a teacher. In this case, I was both. If the students had asked questions during the workshop, it would have caused me to ‘lose face’ because I couldn’t teach effectively. I had to find another way to educate my students and ensure they had their questions addressed. During the follow-up workshop, I designed small mini-quizzes and provided individual feedback to clarify points that weren’t being grasped. This time, the training was successful. However, I had wasted a training day in terms of my time and the time of five employees!

A critical component of strategic planning is implementation. I know of no organization today that can afford to omit tactics that address the diversity of its customers, suppliers, shareholders and employees if it wants to ensure that it successfully achieves its Mission and Vision.

Your Diversity Initiative Can Enhance Recruitment and Retention

A 1999 joint survey conducted by Saratoga Institute in New York and Interim Services found that lack of a tailored career development program is one of the top three reasons that the ’emergent employee’ leaves an organization. The ’emergent employee’ is not only the often-described Gen X’er who wants to balance work and family life, he or she is the employee of any age who desires to work with the employer to match individual interests with organizational objectives. The study found that other drivers for retention are the quality of supervision and the scope and flexibility of work. Regardless of the reason employees leave, turnover is expensive, and proactive efforts to retain qualified employees are required to ensure that the best and the brightest don’t defect to your competitors.

A well-crafted, carefully planned diversity initiative can bring many positive results to an organization, one of which is improved recruiting and retention capability. I’m referring to a diversity initiative that’s multifaceted, not simply an Affirmative Action Plan. If your organization’s mission and vision require specific core competencies, the diversity initiative should revolve around these fundamental questions:

  1. Do we currently have the skills, knowledge and abilities we need to ensure that this organization meets its long-term objectives?
  2. In those areas where there’s a shortfall in core competencies, where can we obtain the most qualified people?
  3. Do we have employees who currently have the potential and interest to expand their knowledge and skills? If we do, how can we develop these capabilities?
  4. If we don’t have employees now with the right mix of skills – or potential to acquire them — what are the recruiting sources available to us?
  5. What will it take to attract the people with the skills we need? Does our organizational culture provide the kind of environment that potential employees want?

There is ample data in industry that demonstrates the positive correlation between organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Likewise, evidence supports the positive correlation between job satisfaction and productivity in terms of both quality and quantity. A diversity initiative that contains a focused recruiting plan and targeted retention methods can improve the odds that more of your employees will have a high level of job satisfaction and organizational commitment.

you may still be wondering how a recruiting plan can be a part of a diversity initiative. Let’s say that your organization has decided to pursue the business of a growing segment of the marketplace — Hispanics. You’ve conducted strategic planning among your leadership and found, during the environmental scanning phase, that Hispanics have not only language differences but cultural differences such as family norms and buying habits. After checking your internal candidate inventory you find that you don’t have any employees within the organization who are Hispanic, speak fluent Spanish, or have experience with the Hispanic culture. This leaves you with the option of recruiting outside the organization, but will simply placing ads in the classified section of the local newspaper attract applicants with the skills and experience you require? Probably not.

To ensure that recruiting efforts stay ahead of the need for Hispanic employees, your Human Resources strategic plan would need to incorporate ways to build a relationship with the Hispanic community and to locate Hispanic web sites and periodicals in which to place ads. The Human Resources efforts would also have to reach into the training and education arena to ensure that current employees and supervisors understand and appreciate the cultural norms of (future) Hispanic coworkers. The plan should include ways to build the capacity within your organization for team efforts in problem solving and resolving conflicts among a workforce that has a different cultural heritage, to enhance productivity and profitability.

Retention efforts are a critical part of the diversity initiative. Even though there are some ‘givens’ that enhance retention, such as quality of supervision and meaningful work, other drivers of organizational commitment vary in relation to one’s age, race, personality, gender, education or any number of other factors. Since replacement and retraining costs are very high, especially in technical positions, well-planned retention efforts can have a definite, positive impact on profitability. One size does not fit all, however, when it comes to peoples’ reason for staying with an organization.

According to research conducted by Cornelius Grove and Willa Hallowell and reported by the Society for Human Resource Management, native white males will make up 38% of the U.S. workforce, compared to the current 42.5%. Today’s workforce is more racially and ethnically diverse than ever before (20% is non-white). More women are in the workforce than 20 years ago: 48% of today’s workforce is female. In 1994, the median age of workers nationwide was 38 years. The median age projected for the year 2005 is 41. As we become increasingly diverse, individual, tailored efforts in the form of benefits, telecommuting, and career development will be required to keep qualified employees.

I believe it’s time now to begin recruiting for requirements, not tradition, and to hold employees accountable for the skills, knowledge, and behaviors that are necessary to ensure our organizations’ survival and success.

Diversity Results in Various Phases of the Initiative

In this Western culture, too often we expect results — productivity, return on investment, profit — almost immediately. U.S. companies are not always willing to invest in the future if the ‘future’ is a year or more away. Like any other change in an organization’s approach toward doing business, the results of a diversity initiative are not always immediately apparent. I’d like to explore the different phases of a diversity initiative and describe the bottom line results that a company can expect in each phase.

In the status quo stage, an organization’s leaders focus on recruiting and retaining a workforce that is pretty much like them. This can be the case whether the leadership is white male, Black female or college educated. People at top levels either consciously or unconsciously seek out new employees who are like them in terms of both appearance and world view.

A status quo organization has limitations: limited perspectives about making a product, delivering a service, building a customer or client base, marketing the product, and other aspects of the business. The cost in terms of lost sales, failure to add to the existing customer base, and technological advances will vary from organization to organization — however, there is a cost. Perhaps the leadership assures itself that ‘things are OK — we’re making a profit.’ The question becomes, “can we continue to expand, meet customer demands, and stay competitive for another five years?” The company may not have the right core competencies to answer in the affirmative because it’s hiring based on tradition, not requirements.

A company in the reactive stage is one that has grown large enough to have a person on staff who understands the need for compliance with protective labor laws such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act , or a company that is seeking a government contract and must have an Affirmative Action Plan to bid for that contract. Whatever the situation, the company reacts to a law, or a specific incident such as a sexual harassment claim, rather than articulating a diversity initiative to meet their strategic objectives.

Companies in the reactive stage find that they’re spending money on grievances, law suits, managerial time spent in resolving conflicts, and turnover. Daily firefighting is more the order of the day rather than taking an objective, long-term approach toward attracting, developing, and retaining people with the core competencies the company requires.

In the proactive stage, key people within the organization plan ahead for the needs of the company and take steps to prevent absenteeism, turnover, inadequate supervision, and poor customer service. For example, the Human Resources Department stays abreast of pending legislation and develops and recommends policies that will communicate how the organization will comply with new laws. When problem solving or process improvement teams are developed, an intentional effort is made to include employees across functions and demographic groups to ensure that different perspectives are represented and creativity is enhanced. The company begins to experience sounder decisions and a workforce that is more committed to providing quality work.

As companies progress along the diversity continuum, the leadership decides to include the diversity initiative as an integral component of its strategic planning process. Instead of engaging in recruiting, training, and employee development activities because of the law or public pressure, the organization makes a conscious effort to include diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and talents based on individual talents rather than on factors such as age, race, ethnicity or gender.

During the redefinition stage, organizations establish and focus on business imperatives and take steps to ensure that they have, or obtain, the right mix of skills, knowledge, and abilities to achieve those objectives. The financial benefit comes to the company when, instead of scattering its resources in terms of people, time, and money, it remains focused on the priorities that will maximize its competitive edge. The company’s Human Resource professionals can develop recruiting methods,compensation and benefits, and educational programs that support company objectives rather than using the ‘shotgun approach’ toward achieving goals.

Few organizations are truly in the final stage of the continuum, managing diversity. Managing diversity is a process that includes performance management systems, communications systems, and career development initiatives. In short, managing diversity is the day-to-day focus on concrete, specific ways to enhance the synergy that results from systems that promote the utilization of 100% of every employee’s skills, 100% of the time. This is a high standard and takes ongoing creativity and effort to maintain.

Study after study has demonstrated that organizations that manage diversity effectively experience less absenteeism and turnover, less managerial time and energy spent on resolving conflicts that could be settled between and among employees, improved productivity and safety, and a more positive public image. Each of these results can be quantitatively measured to demonstrate a return on investment for the time and money spent on diversity efforts. Diversity initiatives are not simply ‘feel good’ activities; they positively affect the organization’s ability to remain viable in a highly competitive global marketplace.

Dr. Linda Gravett is with Gravett & Associates (www.Gravett.com). If you have questions or wish to share your comments, you can contact Linda at Linda@Gravett.com.

Determining Return on Investment for HR Interventions

March 13, 2013/in HR Strategy /by Robin

by Linda Gravett, PhD, SPHR

A few years ago, I taught a graduate-level course on Measuring Human Resources Effectiveness. One of my students told me after the quarter was over that her major objective was to make it through the class each week without hyperventilating! She was pleasantly surprised to discover that it isn’t necessary to be an accountant to be measurement oriented in the field of Human Resources. I’d like to address the importance of assessing the return on investment for HR activities and interventions in this article…..in a way that keeps the reader from hyperventilating!

Because of our experience and expertise in the field of managing people, there are some “givens” that we understand and take for granted, such as:

  • Treat people with respect to get respect in return
  • Provide education for newly promoted supervisors on management issues
  • Job satisfaction is highly correlated with organizational commitment

Unfortunately, some of our “givens” aren’t as readily apparent to other leaders within our organization, and an intervention that to us seems intuitive isn’t readily accepted by others. I’ve found a straightforward approach that resonates with CEO’s, CFO’s, and line managers that I’d like to share. I call this approach simply the R.O.I. approach, for Return on Investment.

Step 1: Clearly state the business problem. For example, our organization has a turnover rate of 32% for computer programmers.

Step 2: Calculate the cost of the business problem. For example, calculate the turnover costs for separation, replacement, and training for each computer programmer that left the organization last year.*

Step 3: Identify a potential solution to the business problem based on historical data or benchmarking. For example, a study of exit interviews may reveal that key first-line supervisors aren’t effective managers. A combination of training and one-on-one coaching may be a viable solution.

Step 4: Calculate the cost of the solution. For example, you could price having a consultant conduct a series of supervisory training workshops and the time for an HR staff person to develop and conduct a series of coaching sessions with individual supervisors.

Step 5: Implement the solution and monitor results. The planned for result, of course, would be lower turnover of computer programmers after three months, six months, and a year as a result of more effective supervision.

Step 6: Calculate the improvement benefit with this formula:

Cost of business problem before implementing solution (Step 2)

(Minus)

Cost of business problem after implementing solution, less cost of solution

Example:

$585,000 Annual t/o cost in 2000 for programmers

$300,000 – 50,000 Annual t/o cost in 2001, less solution cost

$585,000 – $250,000

$235,000 Net Improvement Benefit

Step 7: Calculate the cost-benefit ratio as follows:

Net Improvement Benefit (Step 6) / Cost of the Solution (Step 4)

Example:

$235,000 / $50,000 = 4.7 to 1

For every $1 spent for a solution, $4.70 was saved!

If $50,000 sounds like a lot of money for an intervention, you can point out that for each dollar spent $4.70 in expenses was saved over the prior year. In other words, you’re getting a return on your investment.

This approach can be used for any HR activity, as long as you’ve documented (or can benchmark) the cost of a business problem.

Dr. Linda Gravett is with Gravett & Associates (www.Gravett.com). If you have questions or wish to share your comments or you’d like a worksheet on calculating the cost of turnover, you can contact Linda at Linda@Gravett.com.

Setting Up an HR Department

March 13, 2013/in HR Strategy /by Robin

by Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR

Because I was able to attend the annual SHRM Conference in Las Vegas on June 25 – 28, I wanted to share with you some of what I learned from the presentation on Setting Up an HR Department by Nina Drake.

If I had to re-title Ms. Drake’s presentation, I would call it “The HR Audit.” Basically, in the short amount of time that she had with us, she provided us with a brief outline that could be used to audit our current human resources function.

Right off the bat, Ms. Drake’s first recommendation was to “listen…observe…listen”. By this she meant, find out what the company’s strategic goals and culture are, identify what the CEO wants you to focus on, and gather any information about what was done in HR before you. Most of this can be done by conducting a needs assessment to find out what HR functions are in place and what still needs to be done.

To conduct the needs assessment, Ms. Drake broke down the assessment into basically ten different human resources areas:

  1. Recruitment and selection (i.e. job descriptions, selection tools, background checks, offers)
  2. Compensation (i.e. methods, consistency, market)
  3. Employee relations (i.e. labor agreements, performance management, disciplinary procedures, employee recognition)
  4. Mandated benefits (i.e. social security, unemployment insurance, worker’s compensation, COBRA/HIPPA)
  5. Optional group benefits (i.e. insurance, time off benefits, flexible benefits, retirement plans, employee assistance programs, perks)
  6. Payroll (i.e. internal vs. external options, compliance)
  7. Recordkeeping (i.e. HRIS, personnel files, confidential records, I-9, other forms)
  8. Training and development (i.e. new employee orientation, staff development, technical and safety, leadership, tuition reimbursement, career planning)
  9. Employee communications (i.e. handbook, newsletter, recognition programs, announcements, electronic communication)
  10. Internal communications (i.e. policies and procedures, management development, management reporting)

Once you have carefully evaluated each of these ten areas, you are ready to put together your strategic human resources business plan. This will help you map out exactly what you need to do and how it impacts the bottom line, plus when you will need to do it. With a good grasp on this plan, you are ready to sell it to management. Some tips that Ms. Drake offered to successfully make this “sell” included:

  1. Prepare prepare prepare
  2. Focus on bottom line results
  3. Compare to competition (do your homework)
  4. Highlight benefits of implementing the plan
  5. Promote better labor relations
  6. Investigate legal requirements
  7. Be brief
  8. Build consensus

As you begin this process, don’t go at it alone. There is an enormous amount of resources out there including ours – don’t forget you can ask the team of experts at Strategic Human Resources, Inc. any question related to HR Audits and Start-ups to help you in this process. Plus, we would be happy to share any additional resources that we would recommend given your specific situation.

Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR, a Senior Human Resources Management Consultant is President of Strategic Human Resources, Inc. (www.strategicHRinc.com). If you have any questions or wish to share your comments, you can contact Robin at Robin@strategicHRinc.com.

How Human Resources Can Help Build an Ethical Organization

March 13, 2013/in HR Strategy /by Robin

by Linda Gravett, PhD, SPHR

How many times have you heard statements like these from your employees?

A Human Resource practitioner, or anyone who serves in a leadership capacity within an organization, is often faced with multiple choices about how to handle ethical dilemmas.  Laws such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and The Americans With Disabilities Act provide legal guidelines for handling employee relations issues; however, it’s possible to comply with the law and still not be on solid ethical ground.  With the assistance of legal counsel we can determine the law.  We can partner with Finance and Accounting professionals to calculate the financial impact of decisions. However, determining the right choice when people are involved can be challenging.  A complicating issue is the fact that the concept of ethics means different things to different people.

The field of Human Resource Management has evolved into a strategic, technical, and measurement-oriented area in the past decade.  The field will continue to grow in sophistication and complexity as a reflection of the world in the 21st Century, presenting difficult ethical dilemmas.

This article describes what an ethical organization looks like; indicators of a weak ethics system; and the Human Resource professional’s potential to contribute to the development of an ethical organization.

What An “Ethical Organization” Looks Like.

Individuals within an organization can hold and practice core values; however, that doesn’t mean that the organization as a whole is ethical.  To build an ethical organization, its leadership must establish, publish, and model the company’s core values.

While each organization should establish its own ethical framework, I suggest that two cornerstones must be in place in order to build an ethical organization:  mutual trust and respect.  In personal interviews conducted with 100 Human Resource practitioners across the United States in 1999 and 2000, these two characteristics surfaced time and again as critical components of ethical organizations.

Figure 1 depicts a high trust – mutual respect organization.

In an organization in which respect is a demonstrated value, employees and managers treat each other with dignity and make it known that they care about the work they perform.  The organization’s leadership fosters initiative and creativity. Individual differences and perspectives are appreciated and promoted.  All employees, regardless of their position, are recognized and rewarded for their contributions.

In an organization where trust is prevalent, information is accurate, timely, and complete.  Coworkers share their ideas and concerns.  People at all levels accept suggestions for ways to improve the work.  Alternatives are discussed freely, and clear and concrete goals are developed and shared across the organization.

There are clues within the organizational culture if trust and respect are not part of the cultural fabric.  Here are some indicators of a weak ethics system:

“Scapegoating.” If “scapegoating” is a common phenomenon in your culture, this is a red flag that failure may not be tolerated and it’s necessary to hide mistakes or errors in judgment.  When customer complaints occur, perhaps employees blame everyone else, or every other department.  When goals aren’t achieved, there may always seem to be someone’s else’s doorstep on which the lay the fault.

Abdicating Responsibility. When the time comes to make a decision and stand by that decision or action, how do people in the organization respond?  If common excuses are, “I’m not aware of any problems – I asked Joe to handle that” or, “I assigned that to a member of my staff – I don’t know what’s happening”, this is an indicator of abdication behavior.  Members of an ethical organization accept responsibility for themselves and their direct reports, if they have them.  Period.

Overpromising. “This company is the best place to work in the county!”  “The promotion path here is extremely fast.”  “We’ll be going public within the year!”  Are managers using these kinds of statements frequently without knowing whether they’re really true?  If the norm is making brash, optimistic (possibly untrue) statements to achieve a short-term result, this is an indicator of a weak ethics system.

“Turf Guarding.” In today’s rapidly changing marketplace, companies must be highly flexible to meet customer demands.  The result is that employees must be prepared to shift gears and learn new skills or serve on various work teams to complete projects.  If an organization has employees that hoard information and jealously guard their turf for any reason, productivity may suffer and resentment can build.  This kind of behavior indicates that people don’t trust their knowledge or expertise in someone else’s hands.

Underachieving. Are employees allowed to barely “get by” and still be rewarded with a paycheck and even promotions?  Is mediocrity accepted because it’s too difficult to fire people who aren’t really competent?  If an organization takes the easy way out and tolerates employees who are negative and only partially productive, long-term success is jeopardized.

Three Ethics Tests for Individuals

Human Resource professionals are in a unique position to observe the organization’s ethics and serve as a catalyst for change if the ethics system is weak.  Human Resource professionals can, and should, serve as role models for the organization’s core values.  How can one determine if an action he or she is planning to take is “ethical”?  After reading Lawrence Kohlberg’s research about stages of moral development, I’ve concluded that there are three tests individuals can use for making a decision.

Test #1:  The Butterfly Test

Prior to making a decision or engaging in a behavior, some people get “butterflies” in their stomach.  This is a physical, involuntary reaction to stressful situations that causes people to take notice of what they’re about to say or do. This uncertainty may be precipitated by doubts that a proposed action is the best for all stakeholders.  Perhaps there’s a concern about the impact of an action on employees or coworkers.  This instinct is important and should be trusted, for it’s a sign that it’s necessary to pause and reflect on one’s own and the organization’s values.

Test #2:  The Authority Test

When someone uses the authority test, he or she thinks about a person whose opinion is highly valued and asks, “what would that person do in a similar situation?” or, “what would that person think about how I reacted to this challenge?”  The authority can be a mentor, a trusted peer, a teacher, or anyone viewed as competent in the area in question.

Test #3:  The Public Scrutiny Test

People about to make a decision or engage in a behavior that’s questionable should ask themselves, “can I accept public review of this decision or behavior?” What if an article about my actions would be published in the local newspaper or headlined in the evening news?  Decisions or actions must be defensible in a public forum.  This isn’t to say that every single person would agree with the decision made or actions taken, but the underlying values that precipitated an action are clear.

Human Resource professionals are likely to be challenged daily with issues that present ethical dilemmas.  The choices that HR professionals make, or guide others to make, may affect the productivity, profitability, and the public image of their organization. 

The Human Resource Professional’s Responsibilities

I believe that HR practitioners can be a driver for building a strong ethical foundation, although one person – or one department – cannot single-handedly change a culture that has some of the indicators of a weak ethics system mentioned earlier in this article.

An organization’s core values are manifested by its culture; that is, in the basic ways that business is handled, such as how decisions are made and how rewards are distributed.  Employees learn these ways of doing business through observing coworkers and leaders.  If no expectations are established and effectively communicated, employees will “make it up” as they go along when faced with ethical dilemmas.  Does your organization have a Code of Ethics or Statement of Core Values?

Supervisors and managers in organizations are often afforded a level of respect from employees because of their leadership position.  I believe that HR professionals are in leadership roles by virtue of their visibility and influence, if not always in terms of title.  Employees look to the leadership as role models to guide their own behavior.  This is especially true when organizations are weathering difficult times, such as mergers or acquisitions.  A written Code of Ethics cannot be institutionalized unless organization leaders show their respect for individuals and the organization by engaging in legal and moral behaviors.  Employees will learn to trust and respect each other and managers only if they observe characteristics that merit that trust and respect.

Putting a Code of Ethics in place and encouraging leaders to model desired behaviors are important steps toward creating an ethical organization.  Each employee must understand his or her role in carrying out the organization’s values, as well.  Expectations around standards of behavior in everyday situations must be established and enforced.  By the way, the 2000 National Business Ethics Survey finds that employees have high expectations for their organizations.  Ninety percent say they expect their organizations to do “what is right, not just what is profitable.”

After expectations are initially established, ongoing and open communication systems must be in place to ensure a forum for discussion exists regarding ethical issues.  Informal meetings and accessibility are two ways that supervisors and HR practitioners can keep the channels of communication flowing. 

Human Resources can influence organizational culture.  The stories you tell and the events that you comment about illustrate what matters to you and what you consider acceptable behavior.

Dr. Linda Gravett is with Gravett & Associates (www.Gravett.com). If you have questions or wish to share your comments, you can contact Linda at Linda@Gravett.com.

HR as a Strategic Planning Partner

March 13, 2013/in HR Strategy /by Robin

by Linda Gravett, PhD, SPHR

As I’ve guided Human Resource Departments through their planning processes over the last several years, I’ve found that not all Human Resource professionals are convinced of the necessity of strategic planning.  If you’re one of those nonbelievers, in this article I’ll attempt to persuade you of the importance of strategic planning.  If you already believe this is a critical process, I’m also offering some guidelines on establishing an effective strategic planning process.

The first order of business is to clarify what strategic planning is and is not.  The process is not goal setting.  Goals can’t be effective in a vacuum – they have to be aligned with specific objectives in order to be meaningful.  You can say that you’ve set a goal for recruiting and hiring 50 employees this year who are fluent in Hindu.  Unless your organization has a need now or in the future for employees with this ability, why set this goal? Even if a goal is meaningful, there still needs to be a plan (tactics) for actually implementing the goal.  Strategic planning is not a one-time event, but rather it’s an ongoing process that must be fluid to address the changing environment in which your organization exists.  Even though you establish specific, sound objectives and goals in January, be prepared to adjust if a major change occurs in your organization or industry in June.  Strategic planning is not short-term – i.e., one or two quarters out.  Strategic planning is a future oriented, with a vision that stretches out into three or five years so that you can actually have time to set goals, carry them out, and measure the results.

Strategic planning is a dynamic process that must constantly revisit how the world events of the day are affecting your long term objectives.  The strategic plan can serve as a road map, providing tactics to achieve your department’s (and your organization’s) vision and mission.  A vision without a plan is a group of lofty words…and that won’t move you closer to getting results.  The purpose, then, for establishing a strategic plan is to:

  • Decide where your department is going over the next three to five years
  • Establish an action plan (tactics) to get where you want to go
  • Help your staff focus on the truly important activities
  • Define the resources you’ll need to accomplish your objectives
  • Create a plan to acquire necessary resources

My experience has led me to a strategic planning framework that I’d like to share.  The first step in this framework is position planning.  By that I mean, how do you as the HR leader want to be viewed within your organization?  Perhaps you want HR to be seen as an internal consultant, or a business partner, a change agent or a profit center.  Decide first how you want to position yourself.

The next step is data gathering to find out whether there’s a gap in how HR is actually perceived and how you want to be perceived.  There are some excellent survey tools available on the SHRM website (www.shrm.org) that HR can use to survey its internal customers. Maybe you’re thinking that you don’t want to hear what people are thinking.  I encourage you to be proactive and find out how you’re perceived before your CEO gets negative reports.  You can’t act on data you don’t possess.

After you receive input about what services employees, managers, and organizational leaders want from HR, you’re in a position to assess the implications of this information.  Do you have the right staff (number and skills) to provide the level of customer service that is expected of HR?  If not, this is the time to develop an action plan to update the skills and competencies your staff need in order to be effective and credible.  In other words, enhancing skill levels or number of staff should be one objective in HR’s strategic plan.

Next, it’s time to establish an action plan.  This is the heart of the strategic planning process.  If you’ll note in the attached strategic planning framework, strategic planning starts with a Mission Statement (why are we here), a Vision Statement (where do we want to position ourselves in the future), a candid analysis of environmental barriers and support mechanisms that help or hinder HR effectiveness, and then objectives, goals, and tactics.  Many HR Departments have great fun spending time pondering over a Mission and Vision statements, or even go on to establish objectives and goals.  But don’t forget the tactics:  that’s the action plan for how, who, and when. 

At the end of each year, I recommend that you set time aside to evaluate how well your department has met its strategic objectives.  Did you set success criteria when you set your goals?  Did you meet those criteria?  What prevented success and how can you change your approach?

If you want to take your strategic planning to the next level, encourage breakthrough thinking when your department sets its objectives.  By that I mean, ensure that objectives you set accomplish at least one of the following:

  • Provide a significant benefit to the customer
  • Change the basis of competition
  • Require a radically different allocation of resources
  • Create a new standard or system

I’m suggesting that you endeavor to set objectives that provide your organization with a distinct competitive advantage in recruiting, developing, and retaining employees.  What can your organization do that’s different or better than other companies?

If you engage in strategic planning and measurement of results, there are some clear advantages:

  • You’ll be perceived as a business partner who understands “the business of the business”
  • You’ll have increased credibility when you request resources
  • You’ll strengthen your influence within the organization

Dr. Linda Gravett is with Gravett & Associates (www.Gravett.com). If you have questions or wish to share your comments, you can contact Linda at Linda@Gravett.com or by phone at 513-753-8870.

The Future of Learning Agility

March 13, 2013/in HR Strategy /by Robin

by Linda Gravett, Ph.D., SPHR

After researching and working in the area of enhancing learning agility for the last five years, I believe that learning agility will continue as a key topic of interest and study over the next decade. Organizations are faced with a global, highly competitive marketplace, and to remain in the forefront they must be agile, learning organizations. Learning organizations are powered by people with learning agility.

I’m seeing that Human Resource professionals are ramping up their interest in neuroscience in order to understand how they can foster a workplace full of individuals who are energized by innovation and continuous improvement. Medical researchers are already studying what occurs in the brain when people are placed in an interactive, motivating environment. This is information highly relevant to those of us who want to select, develop and leverage the talents of a workforce that has learning agility.

I’ve observed that some astute training and development professionals are taking into account already the important correlation between participants’ positive mood and learning outcomes. Research by Caruso and Salovey for their 2004 book, The Emotionally Intelligent Manager, found a direct relationship between positive mood when learning new information and recall ability. I’ve observed more trainers and educators recently who are considering ways to foster a positive, interactive and fun learning environment to promote learning agility. The learning environment is not necessarily in a classroom for a finite period of time – it’s across the entire organization and across time.

There’s a plethora of web site and journal articles about the renewed energy around my cohort’s (Baby Boomers) desire to stay in the workplace longer and continue to learn new concepts and skills. The old adage, “use it or lose it” is actually true when it comes to brain fitness. If older workers don’t stay open to new information and approaches, the brain can lose some of its plasticity and ability to absorb and use information. The challenge for education and training professionals is to keep learning experiences current, varied, meaningful and broken into small segments – for learners of all ages.

I’m seeing more and more organizations focus on providing employees with an active role in their own development and learning. Additionally, I’ve seen more leaders intentionally tie their employees’ roles and ongoing education to growth needs of the company. When employees understand how their role, and their development within that role, specifically contributes to the company’s ongoing success, they can focus on key priorities for education.

My recent focus has been studying and measuring the impact of self-awareness, a dimension on Emotional Intelligence, on learning agility. Self-aware individuals take an intentional, laser-like focused approach on how they learn best, and under what circumstances. For example, if a person discovers that online learning provides the best kind of stimulus for learning and retaining information, he or she can build those types of learning opportunities into their development.

As leaders, we can foster an environment of learning agility by providing ongoing, daily opportunities for employees to learn new information and skills. There are many forms that this daily stimulus can take: teachable moments where managers take a few minutes to explain or demonstrate a new concept or approach; brown bag lunch discussions around a thorny issue or problem that needs to be solved; or ad hoc brainstorming meetings to develop a fresh approach to a customer request. We’ve long been concerned with physical wellness and fitness for our employees, and I believe the future will bring a keener interest in brain fitness for the enrichment of our employees and organizations.

Dr. Linda Gravett, Ph.D, SPHR, works with Gravett & Associates (www.Gravett.com). If you have any questions or wish to share your comments, you can contact Linda at Linda@Gravett.com,

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