Firstly I think it pertinent to let you know why you need HR support, even if we are not the worlds’ most popular people. This is of course unless it’s pay review time and you are waiting for an imminent salary re band to occur, or we are about to support you manager in releasing and under performing employee or someone who tried to feel you up at the last client appreciation day. Yes, this still occurs, unfortunately.
The world of HR is about as clear as your windscreen on a frosty morning, we spend a lot of time de fogging the windows in order to ensure that we can see our way through to answers that are ‘fair and reasonable’. We are closely related in many ways to lawyers in that what we do can often be open to interpretation and have many grey areas. We are a bit better off in the popularity stakes as our job descriptions do not include defending guilty murderers or fraudsters. I will point out that many lawyers have nothing to do with that area either. It is important to mention though that we don’t always have clear-cut briefs which can be sorted out with a flick of a pen and a firm handshake. (Just on that if you are looking to hire a HR Manager and you have just interviewed someone with a limp, dead fish type handshake, look for reasons not to hire him or her. HR people need to have some guts and strength about them folks!
We are required so that the business you work for, own, or are a manager of, make good solid decisions that are fair and legally above board when it comes to people. We exist to support new leaders in managing their people better and increasing motivation levels. HR people are the ones who support managers with good advice and need to be able to ‘know when to hold em and when to fold em’ to quote Kenny Rogers.
These are 5 of my TOP watch points for business to know whether their HR world is the way it ought to be or whether it needs a serious shake up.
1. High levels of attrition because people hate where they work
This equals either soft HR processes, which do not allow for senior managers to be managed appropriately OR poor leadership, which needs support by HR to ensure a change. Either way, the HR side of the business is not working and needs either new blood in the role or the HR person in the role requires a longer lead to be able to move their weight around more freely. People only hate where they work if they are not being valued and developed, assuming that there is some kind of recruitment process to ensure that the person is at least a reasonably good fit for the role.
2. Seriously alarming behavioural and conduct based issues
If you have people ‘running amok’ and getting away with serious issues such as arriving drunk to work, swearing and excessive arguing in the workplace. Or constant truancy, or issues which can become serious such as lateness, poor performance or any other type of unacceptable behaviour going on in your workplace, this is a bad sign. If it’s on a regular basis with no signs of improvement, get some HR support or get some NEW HR support! Whether it’s their direct fault or not, if a HR person cannot make a difference and is not being heard, they are not the right fit for that organisation.
3. Lack of policy and procedural information causing inconsistency and a ‘fly by the seat of our pants, she’ll be right’ attitude is the norm
If a company or business with staff has no employment contracts and lack lustre policies around terminations, performance management, induction, code of conduct, social media, e-mail usage, IP and all other personnel based subject matter this should be sending alarm bells immediately. If there is no process for performance based appraisals, career planning and training, this needs to be rectified.
****People want to work for companies who appreciate and develop them**** Nothing is more off putting than starting a new role and feeling totally unsupported with no documentation and no induction! This lack of process leads to poor decision, IR nightmares and ends up with points 1 and 2 being common place.
4. The head of HR or the CEO/MD thinks there is never any need for a lawyer within the business
There may never be a need for legal advice, fingers crossed, but it’s far better for senior managers to accept that they may not know everything and at least be prepared to get some of their own assistance if required. If HR does not even see the need for legal advice from time to time, this is a pretty poor picture indeed.
5. No one is ever fired from the company even when there are performance issues with individuals that have been in existence since the late 80’s
People get fired, it’s a fact of life. They certainly should not get fired if they are performing well and demonstrating behaviours in line with values that the company lives by. (Where possible employees should be part of the value?s establishment process as well. oh, and companies should have values that have not been ?Google?d? just to be seen to ‘have a mission statement’, I am talking real values.) However, there will be some employees who just are not the right fit for a role or an organisation and quite simply should not be there.
HR should support a robust and fair performance management system that enables for employees to be FAIRLY managed out- In other words FIRED! If there is nothing in place and so no one gets fired, the company will be absolutely under performing. Having said, this, it is equally important to REWARD AND RECOGNISE high performing staff, it does not necessarily have to be with a pay rise. People are motivated by different things, again, HR should support this.
So, at the end of all of this, have a think
about the place you work at and ask yourself whether the HR support
you have or don’t have, is helping and supporting you and the business to grow,
develop, make more money to be as great as it can be, or not! If the answer is no, give Emma at Coaching
Combinations, HR
Consultants Perth a call todayHR consulting
