Processes

The Changing Role of Change Management

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Birds on a wire, one offset from the rest
Source: Lightspring/Shutterstock

It seems trite to say that change is difficult. There is nothing simple about change or the numerous variables that go along with it.  Even the concept of defining change, as a process of interlocking steps, is complex and challenging.

When we think about our own personal reactions to change, how many of us have decided to do something differently just because someone else suggested we should? The answer to that is probably, never.

Most of us need multiple, compelling reasons to make changes in our lives, both positive and negative.  We need constant reinforcement along the path to making a successful change.  We need someone to push us forward when the backwards pull of inertia is too strong.  We need someone to shake us out of our familiar habits when they become far too tempting and we want to go back to the comfort of where we began.  We need someone to show us why we should make the change.  We need someone to give us concrete rewards once we have achieved success along the way. We need others to be engaged with us all the way along.

Having said that, there is nothing linear about the change management process.  It does not follow a straight path from the decision to make a change to a successful conclusion where the change is complete and nothing else happens.   For some of us, we go through significant changes without even realizing that they have happened until we have had time to reflect and observe that which is different in our lives between ‘now’ and ‘then’.  Again, we may need someone else to point out that we are in a different place, if we are not able to see it for ourselves when we get there.

In the complexity of the change process, we must rely on numerous sources to help us through the most challenging of times.  It is no different for organizations when they go through similar change processes.

Successful organizations must rely on the commitment from multiple sources to keep the change process moving forward.  Catherine Smithson outlines the need for a variety of roles within organizations managing change.

Click Here to Read the Article.

While Smithson is clear in identifying the need for a Change Management leader, she also identifies the continuing need to have multiple roles committed to the process in different parts of the organization. Organizational change does not happen through the allocation of a change management project to one person in particular. It happens by having different roles embedded and committed to making change happen. These roles must push, pull, challenge, reward, and reflect upon the complexities of the journey along the way.

Change might be good, but surely, it is not easy to do it alone.

Discussion Questions:

  1. When thinking about your own experience, when you wanted to make a change who did you rely upon to make that change happen?
  2. What types of pressures would force an organization to make changes?
  3. What types of rewards do employees need to stay on the path of continued change?
  4. How can organizations identify the completion of a change process?
  5. Which roles or functions in an organization must be involved in making change happen?

HR and the Interview Setting

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Should HR Practitioners know what they are doing in an interview setting?  Whose role is it anyway?

As Human Resources Practitioners, we are often called upon to be the organizational role model for employee behaviour. It’s easy, then, to become the target for how to do things wrong, when the expectation is that the HR Practitioner should always be doing things right.  Right?

Why is HR expected to be perfect? It is because it is so important to organizational success!

A great example of this comes from the following article which reveals that twenty percent of HR practitioners were involved in asking illegal interview questions!   How is that even possible?   If HR cannot get it right, what are supervisors expected to do?

man with fingers crossed
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Click here to view the article.

The article states that, in some cases, HR practitioners are involved in asking questions that focus on religious preferences and practices, disabilities, and gender based issues. When this occurs, the article recommends correcting the situation immediately by addressing the question of concern and ensuring that the person being interviewed knows that the question asked was inappropriate and is not an acceptable practice. Is this solution a little bit of “too little, too late”?

The article has some great comments – many of them harshly critical of the role of HR in the interview process, including the perception that HR practitioners are ‘liars’ and, “Liars are not leaders”. If HR practitioners are regarded as liars then what does that say about the rest of the organization as represented by HR?  The article and the comments may make for uncomfortable reading and show how quickly HR can lose credibility if we do not know what we are doing!   If HR does not have credibility, then what is its value?

Discussion Questions:

  • What are three practices that HR must include in preparing for interviews?
  • How will I address members of an interview panel when they go ‘off script’ or outside of legal boundaries?
  • Have I been in an interview where the HR practitioner has made me feel uncomfortable?
  • How will I lead in the role of HR to avoid being called a liar?
  • How do I continually improve the credibility of HR?
  • What will I do to address issues of accommodation when they come up in an interview setting?

 

 

The Painful, Yet Important, Job Analysis

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Why is Job Analysis so important and yet, so very very painful? Ask any HR Practitioner if they would rather; a) do a complete job analysis for every single position in their organization or b) have dental surgery performed without any anesthesia or freezing agent? Absolutely guaranteed that the answer will always be the latter. Job Analysis may not be fun, but it is a crucial step to ensure organizational success.

Source: Tumblr. The above content constitutes a link to the source website.

Job Analysis is a fundamental tool that every HR practitioner must understand and/or use at some point throughout their career. It provides a cornerstone to ensure that job specifications are built from a neutral perspective, job descriptions can be created, effective recruitment processes can be built and put into place, and good decisions can be made based on good processes established from the beginning.

Click here to view the article.

Good job analysis resources are available through an number of live websites including, the one provided above. There are not a lot of varying opinions about the need for job analysis.   This is one area of HRM where the ‘just do it’ approach comes into play. What may be an on-going concern for the HR Practitioner, however, is access to useful tools, methods and processes when taking on the task of Job Analysis.

Discussion Questions:

Given how critical job analysis is, especially when related to formulating a recruitment strategy, why are there limited professional perspectives on effective job analysis?

  • How do we, as HR professionals, ensure that we fully comprehend the importance of this approach?
  • How do we explain and use job analysis effectively when we engage with hiring managers as partners throughout the recruitment process?