CareerCurve™

We are all familiar with the ongoing debate about whether Human Resources is strategic, whether it should be, and what role HR plays in the business goals of an organization.  I was trolling Amazon and ended up reading one of their “Look Inside” sections of Stephen Covey’s The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness.  Suddenly, the importance of Human Resources jumped off the page and I can’t even see how it’s really debatable.  Now I know this is a book from the middle of the last decade with research from that time, but I don’t think the relevance has changed.

Human Resources has been defined as “the name of the function within an organization charged with the overall responsibility for implementing strategies and policies relating to the management of individuals.”   So, in the broadest terms, if your role is to manage your workforce, take a look at the following for examples of how pivotal HR is to an organization.

Covey, citing data from a Harris Questionnaire of 23,000 U.S. residents employed full time in key industries and in key functional areas, summarizes the research that explains what employees are thinking.  As you read these, think engagement, talent optimization, retention, culture, relaying strategic business goals, and all the other HR buzzwords and functions that make up the things you need to worry about as an HR professional.

• Only 37 percent said they have a clear understanding of what their organization is trying to achieve and why.
• Only 1 in 5 was enthusiastic about their team’s and organization’s goals.
• Only 1 in 5 workers said they have a clear “line of sight” between their tasks and their team’s and organization’s goals.
• Only half were satisfied with the work they have accomplished at the end of the week.
• Only 15 percent felt that they organization fully enables them to execute key goals.
• Only 15 percent felt they worked in a high-trust environment.
• Only 17 percent felt their organization fosters open communication that is respectful of differing opinions and that results in new and better ideas.
• Only 10 percent felt that their organization holds people accountable for results.
• Only 20 percent fully trusted the organization they worked for.
• Only 13 percent have high-trust, highly cooperative working relationships with other groups or departments.

I think anyone would agree that these are problems.  When it comes to fixing them, how could anyone BUT Human Resources be effective?   Managing the above IS managing individuals.    

And if skeptics don’t see the importance of addressing these misperceptions (remember, perception matters more than what is real here), give them Covey’s example:

“If, say, a soccer team had these same scores, only four of the eleven players on the field would know which goal is theirs. Only two of the eleven would care. Only two of the eleven would know what position they play and know exactly what they are supposed to do. And all but two players would, in some way, be competing against their own team members rather than the opponent.”

Do you think this team’s going to win many games?  Do any of the other issues that plague an organization matter as much if this is the mindset of its employees?  By managing the individuals, HR is laying the groundwork for the company’s success.

Is motivating unmotivated employees up to you?  And further, is this an effective performance management strategy?  Was the unmotivated employee a bad hire or was he/she a top performer and then became unmotivated?

HR is becoming more and more responsible for keeping their employees motivated at work.  But can you really succeed at this in the long run?

There are all kinds of recommendations and solutions to motivate employees such as incentives, coaching, disciplinary action, and counseling.  I’ve read of those who feel that this is a waste of time and money because you cannot motivate the unmotivated for any length of time. Period.  They are very black and white and blame it on a bad hire.  The wrong questions were asked, the employee was adept at interviewing and HR missed the most important aspects of the employee’s personality that would’ve told them this was not going to be a motivated employee; therefore, offering the above listed programs to the employee is throwing good money after bad.  Those with this stance also state that to increase performance management you need to cut ties quickly and stop taking responsibility for an employee’s lack of motivation.  By providing assistance you are giving the employee a scapegoat and he/she can now blame you for being unmotivated.  Admit it was a square peg/ round hole scenario, fire them and move on.  High performers always perform and don’t need to be motivated – they are motivated from within.

Can it really be that simple?  Is it that cut and dried?  I think there is a more effective path to performance management.  The first thing necessary is getting an understanding of why this employee lacks motivation.  Was he/she like this from day one?  (If yes, maybe the above isn’t so far off and you should reevaluate your hiring practices.)  If not, what happened?  Is there a problem with the team or manager?  Are there personal issues?  Has the employee exceeded expectations but received very little in the way of acknowledgement?  Have you provided support for the employee both professionally and personally?

Yes, high performers tend to be motivated from within and perform well despite all kinds of circumstances.  But that doesn’t mean a high performer can’t become de-motivated, and is not worth the time or energy to motivate.  Performance management tools are valuable. At a minimum they allow you to communicate with your employees, which ultimately helps determine the answers to most employee problems.  As I’ve said before, if you will listen, people will tell you what they want.

Those who are internally motivated can still become less so if the culture, environment and support are not there.  The best HR can do is focus on creating an environment that will optimize performance.  The level to which it succeeds is largely up to the employee, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t bother or are wasting money.

I came across an interesting quote the other day from David Fairhurst, chief people officer at McDonald’s.  He said, “The more you give your people transferable skills, the less they want to transfer.”

Have you ever approached Career Training and Development in this way?  Now these things are more important than ever.  Many organizations have had to reallocate job responsibilities due to cutbacks so providing training is crucial just to get the job done productively.  But beyond that, this is a great engagement tool!  This is more important than ever as one of the biggest HR concerns is losing top talent.

In this day and age, there is as definite lack of loyalty both on the part of employers as well as employees.  It is incredibly rare to find employees who believe they will work for an organization for decades or have found their home, but ironically, offering employees options to move on tends to increase the likelihood that they will stay.  Why?

Career development and training keep employees focuses on internal opportunities.  It also makes them feel heard and valued as an individual with needs, one of the top job motivators.  It develops trust that there are growth opportunities and their potential to advance is recognized.  Investing in employees’ futures can remove the mindset that an employee would prefer to get a new job rather than deal with issues or concerns in their present role.  In short, it builds a sense of loyalty – if you do for them, they want to do for you.  It also increases their interest in going to work each day.  Being excited about the job equals engagement and engaged people want to stay.  They are also far more productive and will be a genuine benefit to your organization.

Think about this quote by Walter Chrysler.  ““I feel sorry for the person who can’t get genuinely excited about his work. Not only will he never be satisfied, but he will never achieve anything worthwhile.”  Don’t you want your employees achieving worthwhile things for your business?

How do approach training and career development?  Do you have the mindset that you need your employees to learn things just to help the company or do you approach it as a way to view your top talent as people with needs?  Do these things fall under the category of retention tools in your organization?

This is the percentage of top performers who plan to leave their company in the next year, according to research.  60%!!!   Out of one million employees, 600,000 of them will quit.  And these are your high performers. 

How many of these employees will be yours?  It’s been hard to avoid the fact that rumor has it people are done with “I’m just happy to have a job” and are currently laying the groundwork to move on.  But hearing about it and seeing the numbers are two different things. 

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey reported in October that the number of employees voluntarily quitting their jobs has surpassed involuntary terminations through layoffs and discharges.  According to the research, this shift occurred in August.  Okay, we’ve been hearing that too, but let’s take a look at these numbers.  In August 2010, 1.998 million people quit their jobs, while 1.830 million employees were terminated or discharged.

Couple these numbers with the fact that disengagement is higher than it usually is during economic times like these and making engagement and retention important business initiatives for the new year better be at the top of your agenda.

I’ve posted about most of these individually, but here is a short list summarizing some of the important ones:

Don’t just throw money at it.  When ranking motivators, high performers DO NOT list salary first.  It’s not even in the top 3.

Listen.  If you let them, your best employees will tell you what they want.  And you might be surprised to find it won’t cost you much.

Define and implement career development programs.  High performers want to know that they can advance and grow and what specifically they need to do to accomplish that growth.

Re-evaluate your management.  Employees quit managers more often than they quit companies.

Organize business objectives and bonus potential frequently.  This forces communication between management and employees and communication drives engagement.

Be as transparent as possible.  Or at least appear to be.  Perception trumps reality when it comes to your employees.

I posted a while ago about letting your employees teach you how to re-recruit them.  Then I read a really great blog post by a fellow blogger, Terry Seamon in October, about listening.  I’ve suggested in the past that listening is a great retention tool and and he is offering that it is an act of leadership.  Dwane Lay, another fellow HR blogger, explains in November how listening to your team will also develop trust.  I brought up a number of questions to ask and Terry developed a strategy for how to listen and then what to do with the answers.   Dwane suggests numerous reasons why listening to your people means you are listening to the right people and how this will ultimately assist you in making sound business decisions. 

Retaining top talent is one of the largest concerns HR has right now and that is not going to change anytime soon.   Because there are multiple reasons for this problem, there are multiple solutions as well.  But a common denominator to the success of these solutions comes from listening.  

What does listening cost the company?  Nothing.

Yes, I and others strongly recommend that once you hear, you take action.  But even if you can’t make sweeping change to your organization right now, the benefits of sincerely listening will still be felt.  Employees want to feel validated and work in an environment where their opinions and ideas matter.  If you don’t listen sincerely, trust that your employees will know it and you’ll end up with the attitude I discuss here.

Changing the organization’s style will pay off in increased trust, higher engagement, better retention, and ultimately greater production.  As these things occur, you can then invest more and more into implementing changes your employees recommend.  Start small and start with developing your listening skills.

Think about it this way.  How much time do you spend pretending to listen to comments and concerns in order to show employees you care?   What does that cost you?  Are you actually just letting them vent or are you honestly considering what they have to say?  Have you ever tried to make listening to your employees a top business priority?

I posted last week about a dilemma that stemmed from organizations who will not consider hiring the unemployed.  In the past I could understand to a  certain degree why companies would’ve shied away from those who were laid off simply because traditionally, the majority of employees reduced in a layoff were let go because they were not as productive as the workforce that remained. 

But is it fair to assume that this is still true in this economy, where employees may have made it through the first 3 rounds of layoffs, but have now been let go?  We are talking ROUNDS of layoffs and I can’t imagine THAT many unproductive employees would’ve stayed on the payroll through multiple layoffs.  The world has changed and I don’t think you can safely assume that the unemployed were all a part of a reduction in force due to their own actions. 

That being said, here are some other reasons it makes sense to consider hiring the unemployed.

Better retention – Those without a job are not going to be eager to risk one once they get one.  They may even help retain your current employees by sharing the struggles they endured while they were out of work.

Strong employer brand – Now that it is common knowledge that many companies won’t even consider hiring the unemployed, think about what it will do to your employer brand that you do.  You are open-minded, non-discriminatory, and have a heart – all things that attract talent and inspire loyalty.

Updated skills and a different perspective – Many of the unemployed are using this time to brush up on their abilities, learn about trends and build up industry knowledge.  They just may be able to provide valuable insight simply because they invested time in learning while they were off.

New networks – Candidates looking for work spend a considerable amount of time networking.  These relationships could prove very beneficial to your business in the form of customers, industry experts, and additional highly qualified hires.  A lot of success comes from who you know.

The Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act  – Many organizations can take advantage of tax breaks by hiring the unemployed.  This can help your company recover financially as well as help the entire economy move forward.  There isn’t much time left though, unless it is extended.

What do you think about hiring the unemployed?

I’ve posted previously about the culture of an organization and the various roles it plays in retention, trust, engagement level, and overall productivity of the company.  I’ve also said that culture is to an organization what character is to an individual.  But did you ever think about the connection between an ethical culture and effective compliance programs?

A strong ethical culture exists when doing the right thing takes precedence over getting the job done.  In short, HOW things are done matters most.  The Ethics Resource Council has published many fascinating studies on numerous topics related to ethics but one I found particularly interesting discusses the effectiveness of workplace compliance programs depending on the ethical culture.  This study also discusses the most important factor in establishing a strong ethical culture.

Compliance programs are meant to both reduce misconduct and increase reporting of misconduct.  If you have a strong ethical culture your employees feel less pressure to commit misconduct. Because they don’t feel pressured they are also far less likely to observe misconduct by others.  In strong cultures employees are much more likely to report misconduct and the retaliation rate drops considerably.  This means your compliance program is far more likely to be effective.   To me it seems as though a strong ethical culture is key to uniting the organization toward a common goal where those that want to break the rules are not welcome and should be reported.

So what is the most important component in creating a strong ethical culture in your organization?  The behavior and perceived behavior of top management and executives. 

Keep in mind that most of this is based on perception.  When considering ethics, perception is reality.  It doesn’t matter nearly as much WHAT is happening.  It’s all about what the employees THINK is happening.  The actions and perceived ethics of top management drive the culture and the culture has the largest impact on the critical components of compliance issues. 

To  implement effective compliance programs building and maintaining a strong ethical culture needs to be a business goal.   This has an impact on the risks and costs of misconduct (legal action, turnover, retaliation), as well as company reputation and employer brand.  Creating this culture has to start at the top and can be accomplished by transparency, communication, building trust, and walking the talk.

This is one situation where a top down business model is still the most effective.

Do you have effective compliance issues?  Do you have a strong ethical culture in your organization?

It’s no secret that turnover in your organization costs a lot of money.  Estimates on what those costs are vary widely from 50% of the employee’s salary to 400%, depending on the nature of the job.

The projection is that a turnover storm is on the horizon due to layoffs, cutbacks and stress during the economic downturn.  Have you spent time preparing for this?  Do you know what to expect? 

The impact of turnover has another result that you may not have considered carefully enough.  It is very difficult on the remaining employees – the ones you NEED to keep.  Many times these employees are the ones who have to take on the burdens left behind when a colleague quits.  They have to deal with staffing shortfalls and absorb more responsibilities.  They have to communicate with dissatisfied customers due to quality concerns, slower production, and reduced customer service. They have to manage the stress that comes with watching co-workers leave the company and questioning whether sticking with the organization is the right move for them.

These things can quickly lead to a mass exodus. This will leave you with a weak employer brand which means you not only lose many good employees, but you are unable to attract quality replacements.  The cost for this damaging scenario is impossible to calculate. 

How do you prepare for market conditions suggesting you are primed for this? What can you do to reduce the amount of employees who leave and to support the employees who stay?  What steps will minimize the damage?

Become more human. 

If you recognize that your employees have aspirations, concerns, needs, and wants you can direct your interaction accordingly.  You can become more appreciative, more communicative and ultimately be more connected to your workforce.  You will be amazed at the loyalty that can be generated just by approaching your employees as human beings.  In addition, as you try to replace those that have moved on, you can be responsive, respectful of candidates’ time and need for feedback, and just generally kind.  This will do wonders for your employer brand.

It is easy to forget during tough times that not everything boils down to dollars and cents.  You can get so caught up in the daily numbers needed to survive that you ignore the big picture.  Yes, your employees are either assets or liabilities, but they are also human beings.  If you would like to generate loyalty, have some consideration for the fact that they are much more than machines that simply produce or don’t produce and interact in a way that makes them feel valued.

One of the most common factors influencing job satisfaction is career development and training. Yet during and post recession, this is many times one of the first things to get cut. In fact, in Accenture’s High Performance Workforce Study, organizations ranked training and development dead last when asked to name the most functional areas within the company. Last. Even behind logistics and distribution. And only 11% of respondents thought it should rank in the top 3.

If employee engagement is so important right now, why is that an area of business considered the least important?

Understandably, cutbacks have had to take place and something’s got to give. But what if you were able to streamline your training programs to ensure they will really have an impact?

Psychometric testing uncovers many variables about your employees such as personality, intelligence, attitude and beliefs. These tests can be administered to groups with results available quickly. Doesn’t it stand to follow that these results could then be used to guide the training and development programs that you offer employees?

How many of the programs you offer actually achieve the desired goals of providing value to your employees and demonstrating your investment into their career? It’s like anything else, if the effort doesn’t resonate with the employees it is nothing more than a feeble attempt to show you care. (Read my previous post about surveys to understand how counterproductive this is.)

There are many, many types of psychometric tests to choose from and used effectively, you should be able to learn about your employees and cater training and development programs to focus on what they want to learn. This allows the company to nurture employee strengths and cultivate their talent, which is to the organization’s benefit. This is in conjunction with motivating employees by giving them what they want and proving that you care about their careers and their futures.

Do you use psychometric testing in other areas besides recruiting? Does it make sense to drive training and development with the results of these tests? Could this turn training and development into a retention tool? Share your thoughts and stories in the comments.

Seeing as I’ve written so much on the topics of trust, inspiration, transparency, and engagement etc. the natural progression seems to be empowerment.

My definition of empowerment in this context is you helping your employees grow and become more confident in their abilities.

As I look at the outline in my mind of how to achieve talent optimization, high levels of engagement and retention, and the effective recruitment of top talent, it seems to me that empowerment needs to be addressed.  (After establishing trust, of course.)

Employee empowerment has a significant effect on creativity and creativity has a strong effect on innovation.  Successful companies are innovative.

So how can you empower your employees and encourage creativity and innovation?

Many of the things you can do will be the same exact things that you do to instill trust and increase engagement.  Once you have a decent level of trust established, try some of these suggestions and you will not only bolster that trust but also encourage creativity.  They all go hand in hand.

Believe in them – and let them know it.  Show them that you have all the faith that they will do their job well and also that they will continue to improve in their role, even if they make mistakes.

Give them freedom – freedom to make decisions quickly without a bunch of hoops to jump through.  Freedom from a ton of rules and regulations that stifle creative thought and make it not worth their time or energy to institute creative problem solving.

Align values – sorry, I’m saying it again.  Let your employees understand the values and goals of the company and how each of them fits into this overall corporate picture.

Have them participate in important decisions.  I’ve said this before too but it is such a factor in engagement, inspiration, empowerment and innovation.  How can an employee feel connected to the ultimate goal if he/she is not part of the process?  Ask for their advice or suggestions and listen to what they have to say.  You might even learn something.

Empowering your employees is going to do wonderful things for your organization.  Remember, business today is no longer about commanding and controlling with a top-down hierarchy.  Organizations require a connect and collaborate mindset and empowering your employees will not only make them more creative but will reinforce the connection and the fact that everyone is in this together.