metrics

Monitoring HR Practices

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Organizational strategic planning has three distinct components. The first component is the establishment of the plan, which includes the high-level setting of vision, mission, and organizational objectives. The second is making the plan operational, and includes the implementation of the plan throughout all levels of the company, so that departments and business plans align in support of the planned strategy. The final element is that of monitoring all of the organizational activities, which is critical for ensuring the workforce is moving in the direction set by the plan, in order to meet the strategic objectives.

While HR plays an integral role throughout the strategic planning process, workforce monitoring (the third step) is the purview of the HR function. It is the role of HR to track and measure what the workforce is doing. HR provides the monitoring framework to ensure that not only is everyone headed in the same direction, but that the workforce activities are meeting timelines and required projections.

The concept of monitoring the workforce is not new. The means in which workforce monitoring takes place, however, has adjusted significantly with the evolution of HR technology. For example, the use of artificial intelligence platforms allows for computer keystroke monitoring. This is used as a measurement tool to track and report on employee performance levels. While the impetus for this type of monitoring stems from the need to track, measure, and report on productivity as a performance metric, it does come with a negative perspective. As noted in this article, keystroke monitoring has a distasteful aspect of spying or snooping on employees. The use of this intrusive software is made worse in these days of remote workforce management, due to the impact of the COVID-19 crisis. Is the continued practice of workforce monitoring with spyware necessary?

A recent post in the Canadian HR Reporter provides us with a refreshing approach to meeting the current challenges that face the remote work environment. The article highlights the real opportunities that HR can put into place by eliminating unnecessary practices in order to sustain business continuity for the organization. Rather than obsessing about employee productivity levels, through the elimination of unnecessary and intrusive practices, a simplified HR approach can lead to a new way while still maintaining support for the organizational strategic plan.

Discussion Questions:

  1. To what degree do you think the employer should be able to monitor the remote workforce?
  2. Instead of keystroke monitoring software, what other mechanisms can be put into place to track and report on employee performance?
  3. How would you react if you found out your employer was using spyware to monitor your work patterns? Explain your rationale.

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?

Does It Work in the Real World?

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In our training and development studies we spend a lot of time discussing the need for proper measurement and evaluation of employee learning or training programs. While these discussions may be theoretical in nature, it is critical to find resources and supports that provide us with practical strategies to be applied in the ‘real world’ that exists beyond the classroom.

The American-based Association for Talent Development (ATD) is one of the many resources used by learning and training professionals around the globe. Recently, ATD posted some very practical advice on how organizations can use data analytics effectively to track, monitor, and evaluate the success of employee learning, training, and development programs.

Click here to read Part 1 on how to use L&D data effectively.

Click here to read Part 2 on how to use L&D data effectively.

As noted in both articles, the methodology for determining what types of learning or training data should be collected and used for evaluation purposes is fairly simple. It follows the basic practice of asking the 5W questions (Who? What? Where? When? Why?) from the beginning of the planning process for collecting, monitoring, and evaluating data in order to ensure the effectiveness of learning and development programs. In fact, both articles suggest using the 5W framework in order to perform a data-based needs analysis.

As we have learned elsewhere in our training and development studies, the needs analysis process is one of the critical first steps that must be taken when applying the structure of the Instructional Systems Design (ISD) model. It is both comforting and encouraging to note that these theoretical tools do make the transition into the practical application of processes that evaluate learning and training programs. When used effectively, they also provide the path to organizational outcomes that drive and thrive on data-based decision making.

Keep your textbooks, the need for data-based evaluation is real.

 

Discussion Questions:

  1. How does your current workplace keep track of employee learning and development?
  2. How would you apply the needs analysis process to training-related data collection for your current workplace?
  3. As an employee, how do you know what types of training or learning programs you are required to achieve? Who is responsible for keeping track of your professional learning plans?
  4. How can an organization’s Human Resource Management System (HRMS) be used to track and measure organizational learning and development programs? What types of employee learning and training data do you think should be collected through the HRMS?

CEO Perspectives

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How does an organization implement corporate strategy successfully? Chris Catliff, the CEO for BlueShore Financial, offers three key leadership techniques that focus on high employee engagement as a driver of corporate strategy. According to Catliff, successful strategy implementation begins with employees understanding what the strategy is and why it is important for organizational success.

Click here to read the article.

Catliff’s article focuses on the primary need for leaders to ensure that all employees are able to drive the mission and vision, because they (the employees) are empowered to do so. Of the three key tools that the author advises leaders to use, the need for tapping into legitimate authority stands out as a critical piece of this particular leadership puzzle. Legitimate authority, according to Catliff, is the application of consistent and dependable practices that allow employees to know where a leader stands from a values point-of-view, without needing to be told.

The article goes on to describe the need to support creative talent, flexibility, and the implementation of new ideas when the need for change is evident. What is notably absent, however, is the role that Human Resources could and should be playing in the delivery, support, and implementation of a leadership vision through effective employee engagement.

This is where the use of Human Resources research and analysis becomes critical. Catliff notes that only 29% of employees can accurately identify their organization’s strategy. In order to increase this percentage, the Human Resources function should be actively engaged. The Human Resources focus should begin with an evaluation of the effectiveness of the leader’s key drivers and messages.

As leadership’s ambassador to employees, Human Resources is the purveyor of legitimate organizational authority. In this capacity, Human Resources must uncover and address information gaps by delivering consistent and dependable findings that evaluate real levels of employee engagement in order to drive organizational success.

Discussion Questions:

 

  1. If you were the Chief Human Resources Officer for BlueShore Financial, what types of metrics would you put into place that would measure employee engagement that aligns with its corporate strategy?
  2. How can the Human Resources function assess the impact of legitimate power within an organization?
  3. How can the Human Resources role identify the gaps between what an organization’s leader wants and what the workforce is actually doing?

Measuring What is Needed

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Image of young businesswoman sitting on chair under spot of light
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The Human Resources professional’s role is not always in the organizational spotlight. That space is reserved for the organizational leader. Once in the spotlight, all of the characteristics of the leader are highlighted, from both a positive and a negative perspective. In either case, there is increased focus on the need for the leader to improve upon any perceived negative leadership traits in order to increase the level of positive leadership.

 

Where then should the focus be in order to support positive leadership development?

We need to let the statistics do the talking.

As noted in a recent article provided by the Society for Human Resource Management, there is an alarming rate of leadership development programs resulting in failure for the very leaders these programs are intended to assist.

Why? The statistics seem to indicate that the professional development being provided is not in line with the practical needs of the leader. What is needed by the leader is not what is evaluated by the organization. Evaluation comes with measuring real results and adjusting the organizational course when it is clear that those results do not meet organizational needs.

Click here to read the article.

The article raises an important distinction between ‘edu-trainment’ and true learning based on objective measures for the development of sustainable leadership capabilities. The Human Resources role is integral in maintaining learning programs where results are intentional, observable and measurable, ensuring the right kind of leadership development programs for all leadership roles within the organization.

As Human Resources professionals, we have the capacity to observe what is needed outside of the glare of the spotlight. From that perspective, we can see what is real; where the problems are; discern the difference between insipid inspiration and true leadership competencies; and establish learning outcomes for leaders that are measurable and sustainable. The Human Resources professional has the capacity and the obligation to ensure that valid organizational metrics are established. These should evaluate leadership development through a direct connection to the performance of employees and the results of the organization that the leader serves.

Human Resources will have its time in the spotlight when it is needed. In the meantime, there is always leadership work to be designed and done.

Discussion Questions:

  1. From your reading of the article, why do you think the author recommends that we ‘stop chasing inspiration’ as part of leadership development?
  2. Identify five specific metrics that an organization should implement that measure leadership development and provide a connection to organizational impact.
  3. Do you agree that HR is able to design programs that leadership development in a positive way? Why or why not?