Strategic

HR Recruits HR

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Wanted: HR Professional with highly developed competencies as an organizational strategist, workplace advocate, and change champion. Must be dedicated to excellence.

Depending on the organization, the role of the Human Resources function can range from transaction based (focused on process), to operational (focused on goal achievement), to strategic (focused on organizational vision and mission). In many cases, all three of these components are required of the Human Resources function at any given time and in any given way in order to meet organizational demands.

How then, does the Human Resources professional recruit and fill a Human Resources vacancy? While this question may have a simple answer (use the same processes that are in place for all recruitment campaigns), there is an additional element of scrutiny that must apply when our profession looks to hire for itself.

A recent article posted on thebalancecareers.com offers some practical advice on the types of questions that HR professionals can use to recruit and hire for other HR professionals.

Click here to read the article.

As noted in the article, the questions suggested for use during an HR interview follow the range of HR competencies through each of the tactical, operational, and strategic requirements. We can also infer, through the types of questions asked, the role that HR plays within the organizational structure.

If the questions focus specifically on tactical, process-related issues it is possible to infer that the organizational need is for a tactical, process-oriented HR professional. Conversely, if the questions focus on organizational strategy, then the need is to fill the position with an individual focused on and experienced in HR strategy.

One HR question that pops out from the list identified in the article is, “What do you enjoy the most”? Hopefully the answer for each of us is linked somehow to the ability to influence the workplace (and its people) in a positive way. If we as HR professionals do not find joy in our work, then we are truly in the wrong profession. We must love what we do in order to do good work.

No matter what the organizational needs are, or how they are defined, the Human Resources professional must be able not only to meet them, but also to anticipate and respond to future demands.

So, in addition to the competencies identified at the beginning of this blog, we should add the talent requirements of flexibility, forecasting, and fun, along with an additional heap of love for HR.

 

Discussion Questions:

  1. How do HR-related interview questions reveal organizational commitment to the human resources function?
  2. Write three interview questions that you would like to be asked as an HR professional.
  3. In your opinion, should HR professionals be recruiting to fill positions for their own profession within an organization? What are the benefits and risks?

Top HR Trends for 2017

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What’s coming next in HR?

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Deloitte has produced a comprehensive document on the top HR trends for 2017. Some would be easy to spot if you are an HR professional that keeps current; others trends are not so easy to see. Here are some of the overriding trends in HR for 2017:

  • No organization no matter what size can survive without some type of HR. HR has permeated all organizations to their core.
  • Continue to move and improve HR systems away from transactional to not only strategic but to applicable, with the creation of technology apps that make workers more productive.
  • People or employee data analytics will become more functional, no longer just storing data but analyzing HR data for organization decision-making.
  • The use of data to influence performance management in a meaningful way. Many organizations will drastically re-invent their performance management systems with real-time assessment and employee engagement.
  • Increased emphasis on the learning organization; according to Deloitte millennial’s rate training and development as the top job benefit.
  • There will be a greater requirement for expanded recruitment sourcing.
  • There will be an explosion in new wellness initiatives in the workplace.
  • One of the most disruptive HR trends will be the incorporation of artificial intelligence into work.

If Deloitte’s trends and disruptive innovations are accurate there will be a lot of HR to do in the coming year.

Click here to read a summary of the top HR trends by HR ONLINE

or Click here to read the complete document.

Discussion Questions

  1. Review the nine HR trends for 2017. Which one do you feel will become readily accepted? Which ones do you feel will be challenged by HR or employees?
  2. Pick two up and coming HR trends and develop an action plan for what you have to do to become more knowledge about the trends.
  3. If you had to pick one trend to implement, which one would you pick for an HR department to implement and why? Defend you answer.

Faster, Better, Cheaper – Really?

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“Optus cut jobs by outsourcing HR and finance teams.”

How can outsourcing HR and finance staff, in order to cut costs, be a sound organizational decision? For HR professionals, the headline in the article for this particular blog topic brings up some key strategic questions.

Click here to read the article.

First and foremost, the decision to cut jobs is financial. Given that the biggest expenditure on a corporate balance sheet is usually employee compensation, it is a natural correlation to make – cut the biggest expenditure to curtail the financial losses.

It is, however, a deceptively easy solution that does not always produce the desired result.

In this particular article, the outsourced HR functions are in the areas of data analytics and trend analysis. These data management tools are used by HR to promote organizational and business systems decisions and sound strategic planning. If HR is to deliver value on these strategic functions, of course, the search for the ‘fastest, cheapest, best’ solutions should be an ongoing part of strategic evaluation. These are critical functions that HR should be driving in order to provide technology based solutions that contribute to lines of business success and organizational growth.

Outsourcing routine, technology-based processes seems to offer an easy solution. It may be ‘easier’ but, as a long-term sustainable solution, it too may miss the mark in supporting organizational success.

On the other hand, digital systems integration and data-management platforms can harness the technical complexities of critical HR systems. Automated processes can be implemented internally to produce significant cost-savings and improve operational results.

Outsourcing appears to be a cheap and fast solution. Is it the right solution? In this case, we do not have the full account of facts and insights behind this specific organizational decision.

It does, however, emphasize the need for HR to understand and monitor technology-based systems. Further, HR must have an active voice as part of data based operational processes so that outsourcing any function (including HR) comes as one alternative in a range of sustainable solutions.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Why do you think Optus is choosing to outsource as the preferred solution in this case?
  2. Identify four HR administrative functions that can be automated using current technology based solutions.
  3. As an HR professional, what advice will you give to Optus about the impact of outsourcing on employee engagement and morale?
  4. What decisions would you make about outsourcing HR functions in this particular case?

Planning for Excellence

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“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there.”

– Lewis Carroll

One of the many fun things that comes from working in Human Resources is trying to pull together the pieces of an organizational puzzle.  It helps tremendously when we can find patterns in the form of ideas or concepts that are applicable and transferable from one area of the Human Resources function to another.

For example, in the video clip below, “Culture Shock with Shawn Galloway”, Mr. Galloway introduces the concept of strategic planning, specifically, in relation to Health and Safety assessments.

Click Here to View the Clip.

While the focus of this clip is on Health and Safety, Mr. Galloway’s comments regarding the concept of excellence as the big-picture goal relate directly to the strategic human resources planning concept of setting an ideal vision for organizational success.

No matter how big or small an organization may be, if there is an over-riding and established standard of excellence, everything that the organization does must be measured and evaluated against that standard.

What excellence in action looks like, and how it is achieved, may vary between departments or organizational business lines, but it should in each case be defined clearly.  When a department or business line starts to waver or lose effectiveness in its activities, the question can be asked, ‘how does this action tie into the strategic standard of excellence?’.  If the answer is that it does not, or that there is no available evidence of activities that support the standard, then it is time to get those actions back on the path of achieving excellence. If the standard does not require adjustments, then the actions needed to achieve that standard, must be changed accordingly.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What does excellence look like for you in your current actions as a student?
  2. What does excellence mean for you, as you think about yourself in the role of Human Resources Professional?
  3. What motivates you to achieve a standard of excellence and how do you know once you have achieved that standard?  What types of evidence or indicators do you look for?

HR Analytics – Use it. Own it.

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It is time for Human Resources to own the numbers.  After all, the words ‘Human’ and ‘Resources’ are used together for a reason.  Human Resources is not just about leading the humans.  It is also about the powerful management and leadership of resources associated with what the humans bring to the success of the organization.

Our role, as effective Human Resource leaders, is to ensure that we are constant in bringing forth both the human and the resource elements to the strategic management table.  One of the most powerful resource tools at our fingertips is Workforce Analytics.  Using the analytics tool effectively is key to ensuring both functional Human Resources and operational strategic success.

When we fail to bring both parts of the human and resources equation forward, we fail at our jobs as Human Resources leaders.  Failure is pretty easy as noted by Mark Barry, a successful Human Resources leader in the United States.  Mr. Barry offers us a step-by-step approach to how HR Analytics should be used as the resource tool, from the perspective of learning from one’s mistakes.

Click Here to Read the Article

What we learn from our mistakes, is how to change the outcome from failure to one of success by using HR Analytics effectively.  Of the seven Human Resources lessons learned from this article, there are two in particular that bear closer scrutiny.

First, where does HR Analytics report?  If the function of Human Resources is not responsible for the ownership of resources through understanding the people numbers, implementing the metrics, evaluating the measures, and leading everything that is data driven and comes from the organizational workforce for purposes of decision making, then the Human Resources function is not accountable for any of it.  If the Human Resources function is not responsible nor accountable for analytical resources, then that resource part of the Human Resources equation is lost.

When the power of analytical resources goes to others in the organization, Human Resources will have given up the fundamental strength that comes with workforce planning and development, which must be vested within the Human Resources function.

This leads to the second lesson, Human Resources needs to position itself strategically.  Again, if the Human Resources function is able to leverage the knowledge that comes from owning the resource of analytics, we can influence decision-making based on the powerful combination of putting the humans together with the resources to drive organizational success.

Discussion Questions:

  1. If analytics are not vested in the Human Resource function, where would they reside in an organizational structure? What impact will this have on Human Resources?
  2. What are the benefits of having organizational analytics available through the Human Resources function?
  3. Identify three Human Resources activities that can be measured and link directly to effective organizational performance.
  4. Identify three strategic decisions that HR can influence by bringing forward both a human (workforce) and resource (analytical) based plan or proposal to the corporate table.