Archive for category Human Resources

Human Resources Strategies During Recession

Posted by in Human Resources on September 22, 2011

By Darwin Redshield

Is the recession over? Ask ten financial experts and only five of them will say yes. Of the other five, three of those will say there’s another recession coming, and at least one of those will tell you its going to get much worse. At no other time in history has the phrase “just for today” been more accurate. If you’re experiencing good times right now, enjoy them, but it’s important to plan for possible bad times. It’s not being pessimistic; it’s being practical. If the second recession never comes, you’ll be in better shape than your competitors if you follow these suggestions.

Efficiency is Essential to Success

This might be the most valuable piece of advice you get, in any type of economic times, good or bad. Efficiency is the key to success. Every dollar spent needs to be accounted for and every action taken should have a documented result. This applies to every facet of your company, from the recruiting and hiring of new employees to the final distribution of your product or service. When recruiting, use on demand recruiting software to be more efficient. When hiring, streamline the interview process and screen resumes more thoroughly. Check all references and make sure that the applicant you are about to hire is who they say they are.

For management efficiency, one of the best ways to run a company is to make sure everyone has a specific job. In a perfect world, everyone will do that job to the best of their ability and things will ruin smoothly. Unfortunately, when human beings are involved, nothing is ever perfect. Cross train your employees so someone can step in when another falters or calls in sick. You don’t want to have overlapping responsibilities, but you also don’t want lost production. Make sure, when you enter a new employee into your job applicant tracking system, that you list additional skills which can be helpful to your company. They may come in handy when you’re in a pinch and need to do more with fewer people.

Cut if you have to cut. Don’t Procrastinate.

Remember the Sword of Damocles? No one wants to live with uncertainty on the job. When a recession hits, you as a business owner have to make some cuts. Don’t procrastinate. Just get them done. An employee who knows they’re being laid off can plan accordingly. One who is waiting for the sword to fall will not be able to do their job properly. They know its just business. Make notes in your recruitment tracking system that these folks should be the first ones hired back, then move on. You have other issues to worry about during a recession.

Spend wisely, but don’t Stop Spending

A number of companies during the last recession made the mistake of halting all spending and went under because of it. You still have to operate your business, advertise, market, and distribute your products. Don’t make fear-based decisions and stop all spending. Some recessions can go on for years. Are you going to freeze outgoing funds for the entire time? You’ll be out of business in no time if you try.

No Comments

Three Actions to Focus on Good Problems and Not Wasteful Problems

Posted by in Human Resources on September 22, 2011

By Wally Hauck

Life is a never ending series of problems. Leaders cannot avoid problems nor should they want to. Problems bring about change. The key is for us to spend most, if not all, of our time on solving good problems while minimizing time spent on wasteful problems. An example of a good problem is, “we are growing so fast our systems can’t keep up.” This type of problem aligns your high performance people to improve processes to better manage and deliver products and services to new customers. This is a good (positive) problem to have. Good problems bring about positive change.

A wasteful problem example is, “Employees are complaining about the boss and many are threatening to quit.” This is a wasteful problem and most people avoid confronting it in hopes it will solve itself. They wait until the very last minute to address it and this causes the problem to intensify. Wasteful problems bring about wasted time and emotional upset.

What are the root-causes of wasteful problems? That is a challenging question. I can safely express my opinion and say that most wasteful problems exist because of a lack of trust. The higher the level of trust in an organization the more likely employees will identify and address problems before they become wasteful. Leaders can take three actions to minimize wasteful problems.

Action #1: Avoid hiring heroes and heroines

First, avoid hiring heroes and heroines. High performance talent can have big egos. Big egos can get in the way of high performance. Big egos require big feeding. I have seen talent who create wasteful problems just to be able to jump in and save the day and to be the hero. Design your hiring and screening process to uncover the individuals’ priorities and avoid the heroes.

The best way to do this involves first identifying the desired organizational values behaviors. You can then design your interviewing process and questions to solicit the candidates’ priority values. If you realize they often need to be the center of attention and/or they need to be the hero or heroine, run for the hills. They will create wasteful problems so they can look good when they solve them.

Action #2: Once you hire them trust them

Second, once you hire them, trust them right away! Tell them you have high expectations and that you don’t need to micro-manage because they are highly talented and trustworthy. Take every opportunity to trust them and be sure to communicate when you appreciate their actions. Also, get permission from them to give feedback when needed. Feedback is data not opinion. Tell them there is no need to evaluate their performance unless they want your opinions. There is a need to manage their agreements. Let them know you will give them feedback when they fail to keep expected agreements or expectations. Don’t forget to give them permission to do the same for you.

Action #3: Give them permission to experiment

Finally, give them permission to experiment. Let them know you trust their judgment to solve problems. Let them know you are available to brainstorm if they want help to create new solutions to the problems. Remind them they are talented and let them know as long as they are respectful, keep their agreements, and are willing to admit their mistakes, let them go. Let them ask for forgiveness instead of asking for permission. Forgiveness takes much less time. If they are willing to experiment and they make a mistake, but admit it, forgive them. The big wasteful problems will most likely be avoided. The good problems will be solved. Wasteful problems get worse when people make mistakes and never realize they made them.

No Comments

Human Resource Information Systems

Posted by in Human Resources on September 22, 2011

By Annette E Dixon

Almost all companies would want to take their business to the top. Pushing the company forward and being more productive is easily achievable if human resource information systems are working effectively. Occasionally, companies would try to evaluate themselves to see and discover what they can do better. This is where HR consulting firms work well. These firms will help identify and solve relevant problems and new and improved processes.

Human resources consulting firms assist companies on how they focus more on efficiency and use this to earn a place one step ahead of the competition. They provide their clients with ability to view things objectively. Years of experience make these HR consultants well equipped with the expertise to reform human resources management within a company.

What Makes a Good HR Consultant?

Knowledge and experience in different professions ideally makes a good HR consultant. Familiarity in the accounting, financial and legal fields provide consultants with ample know-how in handling the many different kinds of HR-related problems. Consultants should be aggressive, full of energy and are people who thrive in teamwork and the company of others to get the job done. Someone who has a background in industrial psychology is also advantageous.

Companies usually look for HR consultants with relevant education, but more importantly with the skill-set and expertise needed to handle HR problems. Usually, it’s best to seek an expert who is not part of the company so an objective assessment may be provided. This assessment will then be used to come up with more efficient methods and policies, eliminate unproductive measures and reduced business expenditure.

This will be very helpful to small or start-up companies. A lot of small businesses and start-up companies have no human resource team and they would benefit greatly with having an experienced consultant. Full grown companies and big businesses on the other hand, would often turn to HR consultants to get fresh ideas, improve or renew inactive programs. Programs may include training and development, policy implementation and benefits administration, among others. Once these are put into action by the company, the experts can walk away from a job well done. Big businesses are not exempted from needing the services of HR consultants, especially if their own human resource information systems are not that effective. Profits may be dropping down the drain as competition arises. Letting consultants in can help give the company a boost and the HR department gets restructured and improved.

Human resource consultants do not only exist to give businesses their expert opinions, they are great in maintaining relationships with people and can bring in excellent manpower that help could bring your business to the top. Having human resource information systems that would work efficiently for both the employers and the employee will be most beneficial for the company. Hr consulting is truly a guide for every company in all the significant phases of its development.

No Comments