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HR Question: To remain competitive in the marketplace, our company’s upper management decided to raise our minimum rate of pay. Unfortunately, HR was not included in this decision that has now led to salary compression and angry seasoned workers. How do you recommend for our human resources team to handle this? HR Answer: This is […]
HR Audit. No one likes to hear that word—audit. Assessment. Inspection. Review. Evaluation. Analysis. No matter what word you use, negative thoughts start to fill your head. I challenge you, however, to look at this event as a chance to review and renew. A properly conducted HR Audit can be (and should be) a welcome […]
Question: We are a small business trying to attract and retain staff in this competitive job market. We can only offer so much in compensation. Are there any low-cost benefit ideas you can recommend? Answer: With unemployment levels at a record low, attracting and retaining talent is extremely hard regardless of the size […]
Question: I’m an HR practitioner consumed by the day to day, how can I be strategic in my role? Answer: To answer this question, let’s begin by clarifying strategic human resources. According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), strategic human resource involves a future-oriented process of developing and implementing HR programs that address […]
Question: Our organization is about to go through some very high volume staffing this year. What measures should we put in place to ensure that we will successfully meet our hiring goals? Answer: In this candidate-driven market, it is a must that you have a robust plan or strategy in place to accomplish your hiring […]
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 […]
Question: With our low unemployment rates, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find and keep skilled workers. What are some things I can do from a training and development perspective to reduce potential turnover? Answer: You’re smart to be concerned, and even smarter to take a proactive approach. Training and development is a key component to […]
HR Question: Our business needs and demands have grown dramatically as a result of the pandemic, and this is putting a strain on our employees. I want to make sure that we approach the growing and changing needs strategically rather than using a band-aid approach for quick fixes. What do I need to do to […]
In June 2018, the EEOC’s Select Task Force on Study of Harassment in the Workplace reconvened after two years of work on the topic. According to Victoria A. Lipnic, Acting Chair for the Task Force, the number of charges of harassment have not significantly increased, which at first glance appeared surprising as we are well […]
By Cathleen Snyder, SPHR, SHRM-SCP One of the most frequent complaints that we hear about mid-level managers is, “They don’t manage their people.” A team isn’t meeting productivity goals, has high turnover, and/or low engagement. Add to that, that most companies evaluate their managers on productivity goals, but overlook how they achieve those goals. Are […]
Question: What are some tactics I can use to show the Executive Suite how HR impacts and contributes to the bottom line? Answer: Getting the respect from the C-suite that HR is a value added partner won’t happen overnight; it takes time, patience, and lots of work. There are some key competencies that you need […]
Question: Why does training sometimes not succeed or produce the expected results? How do I ensure our training programs will be beneficial and successful? Answer: Successful training programs are an essential tool that organizations must have in place to help employees continue to grow and develop. The type of training (in-house, on the job, out […]
HR Question: What are some fun and interesting ways to encourage employee engagement with my team that do not take tons of time or money? HR Answer: We spend so much of our time with our co-workers every week, and it is important to keep things exciting and to maintain open communication among the teams. […]
Senior HR Business Strategist
Question: I’m a new manager and I do not understand my role as a coach. Can you explain how coaching is effective? Answer: Effective coaching is about achieving goals. Coaching helps the employee set realistic goals and identify specific behaviors or steps for meeting them. As a Manager, you should help to establish guidelines and […]
Question: My employee asked about incorporating career development into their job. How can I do that? Answer: Aligning an employee’s career goals with the organizations can increase employee engagement and also help the organization achieve its goals as well. First, determine what the employee wants to achieve. Assess his or her current skills and strengths. […]
Question: I get complaints at times that I am too reactive to situations and that I need to be more strategic in my thinking. I feel like reactivity is necessary, in my job. Who is right? Answer: Well, you both are right. In human resources, we are required to react in many situations that arise…every […]
Executive Administrative Assistant
HR Business Advisor
Many of you are deep in the throes of your performance management process: reflecting back on 2015 and the performance of your employees and also looking ahead to how you can appropriately prepare your employees to tackle what needs to be accomplished in 2016. It never fails that the performance management document seems to have […]
The end of the year and beginning of the new year always seem 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 […]
Talent Acquisition Consultant
By Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR “If the rate of change outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is near” by Jack Welch In the workplace today, there is so much change taking place, we can’t escape it. But, we have to decide how we are going to handle or cope with […]
Question: I have a cross-functional team of very competent employees that used to be effective, but recently they seem to have lost their way. There is occasional in-fighting and now I am seeing some group paralysis and they are starting to miss deadlines. What’s going on and is there something that I can do to […]
Senior HR Business Strategist
Performance Management is not a “nice to have” process to give employees feedback – it is an absolute cornerstone of good HR practices and employee relations. But perhaps even more important is that performance appraisals, when handled poorly, can open your company up to legal issues from a disgruntled employee. A good performance appraisal process […]
HR Business Advisor
Senior HR Business Strategist
HR Business Advisor
Question: I’ve always heard that Total Rewards Statements were a great tool to provide to employees the ones I have seen seem very difficult to understand. How can I provide a Total Reward Statement that is valuable, easy to understand, and will help my employees truly understand what their total compensation is? Answer: While knocking […]
Do you have a brand new work team that needs to quickly get up to speed and meet business objectives? Need to give a renewed spark to an existing team or resolve issues in a dysfunctional team? Have a new team leader or member who needs to assimilate quickly and effectively? You’ve come to the right […]
Question: What is the difference between a Leader and a Manager? Answer: According to Peter Drucker, “Management is doing things right; Leadership is doing things the right way”. For an organization to achieve strong results, both leadership and management need to be present. Management allows for leadership, and leadership invites development as people stretch toward […]
Senior HR Communications Advisor
HR Business Advisor
Question: What do I need to think about when creating a competency based performance management system? Answer: As with any type of new program being introduced to your employees a lot of planning needs to go into creating a performance management system. Start with a clear idea of the business challenge or problem you need […]
Question: What should go into a communications plan and why do we need one? Answer: Although it may seem like a daunting task, a well-defined communications plan is definitely worth the effort. A written communications plan will give your day-to-day work a focus, help set priorities, provide a sense of order and control, protect against […]
Question: Our company is going through a lot of changes lately… any ideas for how to best deal with these changes? Answer: There is so much change taking place in the workforce today, we can’t escape it. But it can’t just be ignored, we have to decide how we are going to handle or cope […]
Question: I’m concerned about productivity during and after the holidays. How can I communicate my expectations in a friendly yet forceful manner? Answer: It’s a wonderful time of the year — shopping for gifts, decorating our homes, baking, traveling to be with family. Stress can also increase for many people during the holidays with the overall […]
Whether you are currently unemployed, thinking about making a job or career change, or feeling frustrated or stuck in your current career, a Career Coach from Strategic HR can assist you in designing a customized career plan to capitalize on your strengths and increase your personal and professional satisfaction in your job. Why use a […]
Question: One of our Department Managers wants to keep his own set of personnel files for his employees at his desk. Is there a legal reason for him not to do this? Answer: There is no law forbidding your manager from maintaining separate personnel files (i.e., “desk files”) for their employees. However, there are many […]
Question: Should I really be worried about employee retention during economic downturns when unemployment numbers are so high? Answer: YES!!! It is still a shock to the system when we give presentations to HR professionals and small business owners and ask “what are you doing about retention?” and we get these looks like “retention” why […]
Updated February 2021 Creating a strategic plan for your business or new division is like creating a map for an exciting, but unfamiliar, journey. This map will help to 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 […]
by Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP Each year whether we are in a recession or boom, we continue to hear statistics ranging from 60 – 85% of our workers are actively seeking employment. Employers often find themselves in disbelief that these numbers apply to them, especially if they’ve been lulled into low turnover rates – […]
by Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR Do you remember how much time and energy you put into setting goals for yourself and/or your business earlier this year? Do you even remember what those goals were? What actions have you taken toward accomplishing them? Each year, January 1 is a milestone that forces me to establish both […]
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