Decision Making

Putting Analytics First

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There are two components in the structure of the world of human resources. The first component is defined by the word ‘human’. The second component is defined by the word ‘resources’. The work we do as human resources practitioners is to manage the combination of both the human and the resource elements in any organization. Our job is to analyze and problem solve when that combination of both human and resource capacities become tangled in problematic inefficiencies or blockages that prohibit organizational decision making and growth.

There is an ever-increasing expectation that the HR practitioner will be the decision making problem solver. In order to do this, the HR practitioner must have the capacity to use facts and data to begin an analysis before even starting to solve a particular problem. Unfortunately, for many HR practitioners, the skills and techniques needed to enter into an analytical problem solving methodology are still in development.

As outlined in a recent article published by Queen’s IRC, the human resources practitioner must take concrete data-driven steps to analyze a problem before jumping to a resolution which may provide misleading results.

Click here to read the article

The author identifies three critical elements that lead to poor problem solving analysis on the part of the HR practitioner. To counter balance each of these, it is clear that in the study of human resource management, we develop expertise in the areas of problem definition, capacity for understanding numbers, and defining the depth and breadth of data to be used in order to facilitate organizational decisions.

It is interesting to note that not one of these three elements refers to the human side of the human resources equation. All three elements are focused on the resource side. What we must keep in mind is that the provision of expertise and support through the resources side allows for the human part of the equation to make data based decisions based on sound resource practices.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Based on the article, what steps will you implement, as the HR practitioner, in order to ensure the integrity of a data based project?
  2. What are the perceived ‘weaknesses’ that face the HR practitioner when dealing with data based decision making?
  3. How can the HR practitioner control the amount and type of data that organizations use for decision making?

Talent Shortage or Recruitment Skills Shortage?

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What does your company value more? The potential employee or the recruiting process? All organizations should ask themselves that question? Is there a talent shortage in Canada and the USA? Well, based on the following North America headlines one would definitely think so.

If these headlines are accurate, employers should be raising the alarms and screaming at governments, educational institutions, and HR departments to do something — anything!

However, according to Liz Ryan, CEO/founder of Human Workplace, and author of Reinvention Roadmap, the headlines are all wrong. Her opinion is that there is no talent shortage. Rather, it’s organizations that lack effective recruitment skills.

Click here to watch a short video on the five mistakes organizations make when recruiting.

Could the recruiting process itself be the problem, rather than a lack of suitable employees? Most HR departments pride themselves on their sophisticated recruiting systems. They have often created complex processes, which may include online applications, impersonal advertising, tedious screening tests, and uninspired interviews. HR carries out these screening activities for two reasons: to be duly diligent, and because they believe good systems will hire the best candidates. But, could these HR processes in fact be barriers to finding and hiring the best candidate? Perhaps in some cases the reason the best candidate wasn’t found is because he or she chose not to apply.

HR needs to start treating potential employees like customers, marketing to them, and treating them with respect. Companies need to be convey to prospective employees the message that, “we value you, not our recruiting processes.”

 

Discussion Questions:

  1. Think about the last time you applied for a job and you went for an interview. How was the process? What did you like about the process? What did you dislike about it?
  2. If you were an HR consultant called in to assess the company’s recruitment process, what recommendations would you make?

40% failure rate! What should HR do?

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If any organization failed 40% of the time with its product launches, or with the quality of its product, it would not stay in business. However, according to an article by Human Resources Director of Canada that is exactly what is happening with executive hires today.

Research shows that 40% of newly hired executives fail in their new jobs within the first 18 months – often citing a struggle to adapt to the new culture and difficulty getting up to speed in their new role.

Click here to read the complete article.

The question the HR department needs to consider is, what is the best practice for hiring? Is it best to h­ire externally or to select from within? Of course, there is no blanket answer to this question. However, the University of Pennsylvania found that external hires get paid approximately 18% more than internally promoted workers, yet they perform worse, based on peer reviews.

Let’s review the numbers. Hiring executives externally, the failure rate is 40% and it costs the organization 18% percent more for the privilege of having someone whose performance is worse than someone hired from within the organization. This does not add up to a successful HR practice.

HR must constantly reflect on all of its practices, from hiring strategies to employee development, and make sure that these practices are not only complementary to each other but the correct strategy to meet their organization’s strategic goals.

 

Discussion Questions:

  1. Conduct some research and identify two organizations that primarily use the “selection from within” process. Prepare to present why they have chosen this HR selection practice and what their successes from hiring from within are.
  1. Identify the most significant and compelling reasons why an organization would choose to hire externally for senior executive positions?

The Joy of Talent Management

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For an overview of the importance and impact that recruitment has on any organization, a recent interview with Patty McCord provides both inspiration and motivation.

Click here to read the interview.

Ms. McCord speaks to the very real perception that the recruitment aspect of the Human Resources function can be (and often is) relegated to a ‘workmanlike’ status.  It is, after all, a process-based series of steps that puts a candidate through multiple sets of assessments and events in order to determine whether or not the employer should hire them. If the Human Resources practitioner approaches recruitment from that perspective, it can be perceived as a tedious set of tasks for both the practitioner and the candidate.  The result may be the same, the candidate gets hired or not, but the value and the joy of the process is missed by everyone involved.

Recruitment is only the beginning of the talent management journey. It is, as Ms. McCord notes, the first step to ensuring employee retention is perceived as a mission linked to organizational success. If an organization is committed to being great, then they must hire and retain great people. That gives purpose and passion for every step and every process that the Human Resources practitioner is involved in.

It also makes the decision easier to not have people who are not so great. When a candidate joins an organization, they do so under a specific set of circumstances and understandings which start to change almost immediately. First, their role changes from candidate to employee. For both the employee and the employer, expectations become more clear, duties and responsibilities expand or contract, working relationships develop in both positive and potentially negative ways.

When there is a clear approach to employee development as part of a positive talent management strategy, the employee is able to accept and adapt to these changes in a constructive way. If there is no strategy in place, the employee’s experience is disjointed and, in many cases, unhappiness sets in.  The employer must decide whether or not the retention of unhappy employees is good for the organization. If it is not good, then the right decision is to relieve everyone of their unhappiness and end the employment relationship.

The ending of the employment relationship comes back to the beginning — recruiting with purpose and passion as the mission for organizational success.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Based on your reading of the article, identify three key effects that successful recruitment has on organizational success.
  2. How do organizational values shape or influence the hiring decision?
  3. If you were able to implement some of the suggested staffing strategies, which one would you pick? Explain your rationale.

 

It’s Time!

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Trudeau feels it’s time for employers to Step Up.

Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, is challenging the business leaders to a call for action. He stated while on tour in Germany:

“When companies post record profits on the backs of workers consistently refused full-time work – and the job security that comes with it – people get defeated,”  Trudeau said.

 

Prime Minister Trudeau feels that:

“We have to address the root cause of their worries and get real about how the changing economy is impacting peoples’ lives.”

Click here to read Trudeau’s thoughts on this topic.

He is right – here are just some recent headlines:

  • Apple reports a quarterly profit of $18.4 billion, the largest in history
  • Airlines report record profits even as customer complaints soar
  • GM earns $9.43 billion in 2016; UAW workers get record profit sharing
  • Canada’s Food Manufacturing Industry to See Record Profits in 2016
  • US banks just recorded their most profitable quarter ever
  • Amazon just posted a record profit for the third straight quarter
  • Canadian banks made $31.7 billion last year

These above headlines are not “Fake News;”  this is what is going on in business right now in North America. A significant number of organizations are doing well, and many are doing very well and some are doing exceptionally well. But what is happening in the labour market with all this economic and business growth?

In December 2016, Statistics Canada noted that for the second month in a row, all the gains were in part-time positions, and noted the jobless rate fell because fewer people were seeking work. Some 8,700 full-time jobs were lost in November while 19,400 part-time positions were added.

These kind of statistics are not breeding optimism in the Canadian worker. Trudeau states very clearly what he believes should happen:

“For business leaders, it’s about thinking beyond your short-term responsibility to your shareholders,” he said. “It’s time to pay a living wage, to pay your taxes and give your workers the benefits – and peace of mind – that come with stable, full-time contracts.”

For an employee to feel engaged they must feel part of the organization. To increase workplace loyalty one place to start is for employers to provide full-time job opportunities to workers especially when they are seeing record profits.

Discussion Question

  1. You have been asked to by your VP of HR to assist her in developing a business case about the benefits of hiring more full-time employees over contingency workers. Conduct some research to defend your arguments in the business case.