EVOLUTION OF HR COMPETENCIES

I recently listened to a recording of HR Consultant Scott Comte talking about the changing role of the HR Function in business and thus the need to review the HR Competencies. The competencies below resonated to me because I am a great believer that HR is a core business section and that HR needs to buffer up its efforts to effectively cover it functional responsibilities as it evolves into a profit center with a strategic business focus.

Business Acumen

This involves the ability to understand the whole business cycle. It is about being able to understand the Financial, Commercial and Operational aspects of the business. It is about linking an insightful assessment of the external business landscape with the keen awareness of how money can be made. Business Acumen becomes more important as an HR professional's career progresses, Scott Comte notes. "A lot of people criticize HR for not understanding the reality of the commercial environment. At junior level it's not so important because it's more functional work that you do, but as you climb the ladder, it becomes a key competency."

Technical Mastery

Scott Comte says. “Technical mastery refers to the depth and breadth of an individual's knowledge and experience in the specific tasks, processes, skills, strategies, laws and regulations of the HR profession”. It is this that draws the distinction line between HR Professionals and other professionals; you can bring people from other professions to HR but they must have the Technical Mastery and they must have it based on solid theory not just practice.

Proactive communication

Here it is not just communication but PROACTIVE COMMUNICATION. “Proactive communication integrates the ability to efficiently plan communications, convey messages clearly and adjust the method used depending on the audience".

Strategic innovation

This involves looking at the business for the long and short term and coming up with new ideas that will drive change that will have a positive impact on business growth. Scott Comte says, to be effective, this type of thinking needs to be goal orientated and aligned with the business objectives of the organisation.

Tough Empathy

It is the ability to competently resolve problems while remaining sensitive to others' feelings, perspectives and concerns. According to Scott Comte, A key attribute of this competency is the ability to consider the feelings and emotions relevant to the problem at hand, without losing sight of the objectives that need to be delivered.

Action Orientated

This involves being outcome focused. It means if you set goals you have to see them through. It also means being able to make prompt efficient decisions. With this competency it means things have to keep moving and nothing stalls because a decision has not been made.

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS REVAMPED!!

Thinking out of the box or moving with the times….call it whatever you may think of but there are some emerging employee benefits that really define the times we are living in. Some may get you scratching your head like me and some will get you shouting “of course!”

·         Divorce Insurance;

What better way to help HR avoid the role of the marriage specialist than to invest in insurance premiums? It exists! Check out www.divorceinsurance.com

·         Pets can come to work too!

They say a pet can help its owners cope with stress and pressure so maybe employees could bring their pets to work and that could increase productivity and reduce stress at work.

·         Perks for single parents

In Greece a single parent with a child below 12 years get additional 6 days paid leave annually and if they have 3 or more children they get 8 days.

·         No Official Working Hours!

At the Netflix’s headquarters there is no 9 to 5; vacation days and work hours aren't tracked. The company only measures the actual work  done, so as long as employees do their work, it doesn't matter when or for how long they're in the office and they have a simple control to this, you abuse it…you lose the job!

·         Botox Leave

A new trend in the UK allows employees to take time off for some nip and tuck! After all you do want the employees to feel good about their looks and have self-confidence!

·         Time off for entrepreneurial experiments

In France, after completion of 24 months of service the employee can be allowed 12 months of unpaid leave to start his own business. If the business fails the employee can come back to his job with the same benefits and pay package.

It Is The Job You Have Now; Love It!

Your job takes up a great amount of your time and energy consciously and unconsciously daily  and to effectively perform  and to get that personal gratification you have to change the perception you have of your job and review the relationship you have with your job. You have to love it so that you are not spending the better part of your time doing something hateful. The points below among many others could help you shift your focus and help you be happier with your job and even help you towards career growth.

·         Understand that your job does not define you but how you do your job defines you.

Review your attitude towards your work, your colleagues and your work place. If you give your best and do your job with care, professionalism and passion; you will feel good about yourself, you will earn the respect of others and you will get that self and professional satisfaction. All these will create positivity that will make your work lovable.

·         Stop focusing on money

I know many people will disagree with me on this but if you look at it from my perspective maybe you will see the point. When you took up your job in the first place you knew just what you would be paid and you accepted it. If you link all your money problems to your job (Which are so many in most cases): you are bound to dislike (or say hate your Job). Plan your finances and find the solutions of your financial woes in lifestyle changes. Your work has got to be more than just the pay for it to be actually be fulfilling effectively

·         Find the value in what you do

Every process in an organization is in a place to facilitate achievement of that organization’s objective. Take your time to recognize the value of your role in the organization. Once you see the significance you will see your value and that will help you appreciate your efforts. You do not have to hear it from others, if you know it yourself it and you internalize it you will appreciate yourself and your job more.

·         Work towards developing yourself and your skills

Set objectives to learn something new and expand your skill set periodically. When you are you are working on something new, learning something different at your own pace and in your own way it will give you something interesting and challenging that will make you job more appealing to you.

·         Know and plan your tasks to make your job easier.

All of us have parts of our jobs that we do not like and those that we absolutely love.  Make a plan of your tasks and see how to schedule them to make your work more enjoyable. Do you want to start with the ones you do not like then go on to the fun part? Do you want to alternate between what you like and what you do not like to give yourself regular ‘breaks’? Whichever way you do it, make sure it helps make your job more pleasant for you.

PERSONAL BRANDING - HAVE YOU STARTED YET?

Have You ‘Branded’ Your Self?

I do not mean donning or consuming branded stuff; I mean packaging and presenting yourself as the best brand of whatever your clients (employers) are looking for.

We know what brands are, don’t we? Samsung, Gucci, Toyota, Ford, KFC, McDonald’s…. We all know that these have been synonymous with business development however recently Branding has become an ‘it’ word in Recruitment, Job Hunt and Career Development and it has been introduced as ‘Personal Branding’.

                          

It is time for us to learn from the big business brands, this lesson is vital for anybody who is interested to succeed in the ever-evolving job market. You have your resume, cover letters and education certificates, which are very important, but you need to do more.

Employers will Google you before they invite you for an interview, they will try to find out how you interact with people both online and in real life and what they gather will be a key reference point on whether they will select you or not.

Regardless of your age, career stage or specialization, personal branding is crucial especially in the current times swamped with social media. You must be in control of your personal brand online and offline because your clients are always watching.

Brand ‘you’ has to be documented and clearly marketed online. Social Media has made this so easy for us so all we have to do is put it into good use.

Facebook: Put a photo that reflects what you want ‘brand you’ to do for you. Whatever you choose to write should not be a nail in you brand’s coffin and watch what is written on your wall. Your profile should highlight the parts of your life that will work for you. Very few people have actually maximized Facebook for personal branding yet it has such a large audience.

Twitter: Choose your photo wisely, tweet regularly and actively take part in relevant forums. Twitter allows you to connect with your Facebook Profile and post a link to your website or blog; make use of those.

Have a blog or website, and use it to market yourself.

LinkedIn has provided a forum for professional networking where you can put out your resume, get references, take part in forum discussions and apply for jobs. Keep your profile here updated and honest. You can connect to your website or blog too.

Major Highlights of your brand:

1.       Have a ‘brand statement’, a clear summary of what you stand for and what you can offer and this should be highlighted on all your online profiles

2.       Show your ‘clients’ what you have done, what you are doing and what you plan to do.

3.       Unify your online brand agents, make sure there is consistency of information in all your online profiles and try to create a link from each of them to the others.

4.       Market your brand.

Finally, there is a lot of information out there, mine is just a wake up call, you have to dig deeper and get the juicy morsel then get to work!

GETTING A NEW BOSS? IT MEANS YOU HAVE A FAIRLY CLEAN SLATE!

Getting a new manager is something we are all probably going to encounter in our careers at some point and like most unknowns it generates quite a bit of anxiety or even terror.

With a proper strategy and tact we can make it a comfortable experience and even use it as a stepping stone in our career growth.  Below is a skeletal guide on how to ‘work around and with’ your new boss.

Take the initiative to know your boss: Aside from that first formal meeting where you will be introduced to the new boss, you should initiate a one on one meeting and get to know your boss. Among the things you should seek to know is what his expectations are. Over time you should know his work and communication styles and any other details that may make your work easy and boost you career growth. Now when I say ‘over time’, I am not saying you have forever.

Anticipate and Accept Changes: Of course everyone has their own way of getting things done and you have to expect that the new boss will make changes (major and minor) to get things working the best way he believes. If you expect this and accept them and even contribute to them to make them work for you too then you will survive the new boss.

Educate Empower and Support: Like all other new hires, the new boss needs help knowing how things run it the company. Be as supportive as possible, provide all the necessary information to enable him to get around and fit in the system. This portrays a professional person and it will earn you points at some point.

Strategize with your colleagues on how to work with the new boss: Team work can help you get more information about the new boss. Create a support network for each other to help you manage the change presented to you in a professional and comfortable manner.

Bearing that bosses are human beings we all have to be human and flexible. Remember that your encounters at work should be helping you grow in one way or the other. 

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT MEANS BUSINESS

I have attended many Human Resource Department meetings and HR Conferences and I have noticed something, we love cost cutting! And we seem to dance around it in everything we say and plan.

Cost cutting is an important concept but the essence of a business in revenue generation and it is about time that HRM started focusing on growing business profit margins. It is easy and almost logical for us to quickly ‘delegate’ or deny this essential function but we should remember that we manage the lifeline of the business and by shifting our focus and practices, we can change the perception other business functions have of HRM.

Let’s start thinking profit and see how HRM can focus on revenue generation.

1.   When looking for income generators; be specific with the recruitment strategy, start head hunting and do it efficiently and precisely. Put all research and negotiating skills to their best use, identify the candidates, be it from your competitors or whichever source your research leads you to and do your best to get them to your organization.

Headhunting refers to the approach of finding and attracting the best experienced person with the required skill set. Headhunting involves convincing the candidate who already has a good if not the best job to join your organization

2.  From the very first induction that new employees get in your organization, it should be comprehensible the generating income is the basic and the nucleus of the business. All new joiners should understand that regardless of their job in the organization they should all work towards generating money. So go back and look at your induction procedure and see how it reiterates the point of revenue generation in the organization

3.  How effective is performance management in your organization? Using the performance management tools in your company, you have to effectively identify the poor performers and release them. This should be followed by fast and effective replacement with suitable candidates who can perform. Let it be clear that job security and performance go hand in hand.

4.       While we let go of the poor performers, we should work on retaining the top performers.  You can organize annual or biannual interviews where you find out the problems they face in the attaining their goals or at work generally and the best bits about their work and draw up personalized retention plans focusing reducing the hurdles (where you can) and enhancing the good parts.

5.       Design and implement revenue impact focused rewards accurately, you should have a clear assessment system and link rewards and salaries to performance.

6.    Training and Development should be focused on revenue generation. The next training plan you put out should be focused on molding the employees into profit focused people. It should help the them horn up their money making skills and increase the company’s revenue

7.    As you identify the top revenue generators, also identify their best supporters and reward them appropriately.

HRM has for the longest time been regarded as an administrative function yet it is a powerful business development and revenue generating function. It is all up to the HR Practitioners to prove that HRM means business, that HRM has evolved into a strategic management function that can change a business’ fortunes. 

MAKE WORK EASIER: MANAGE YOUR MANAGER

The good thing about work place and business efficiency principles in recent times is the fact that team work is considered a core competency. Therefore managers are also assessed by how well the work with their teams and this promotes interdependence….so as much as your manager is the superior party; he needs you there and depends on you to get work done.

To work more efficiently, you have to get a drum beat both you and your boss will dance to harmoniously and that is why I want to share some tips on managing your manager to get us thinking in the ‘making work easier’ direction.

À      Understand your boss:

 You have to know what your manager’s strengths, weaknesses, blind spots are. This will help you to know how much to expect of him, what problems you can present to him and how to present them to him and his buckling and soaring points.

You have to know what he is working towards, his goals and objectives, so that you know how and what to contribute.

Finally you should clearly understand his working style and how you can work around it or with it to your advantage.

À      Manage your manager’s time

Time once lost cannot be recovered. Understand that your whole portion could just be 1% of your boss’ time so plan and prepare for your meetings in advance, have all the information required ready. Only approach him with major problems and try to handle the regular issues and just keep him informed. This way, you do not waste time going back and forth for meetings, checking in with your boss for trivial matters or delaying routine issues that you can handle waiting for your manager’s word.

À      Decisions and opinions – Lend a hand.

When you have something that requires you manager’s decision, present it to him in a way that will speed up the decision making. Summarize the options available, and consequences. If you do not give enough information to speed it up (thus getting your work done) you will probably end up waiting for longer for the boss to go through the data, weigh the options and so many other things and you will be on the losing end with pending jobs and pile ups.

Of opinions, we all have them don’t we? And when your manager gives you an opinion it is bound t o be constraint, therefore provide enough information to get a solid decision, avoid looking for opinions.

À      Give information not data

So you carried out a survey, very good but do not pile up some numbers and opinions and send them to your manager’s inbox. Analyze the figures, come up with a summarized report and send it to him.  Let everything be objectively presented to get things working for you. If you want to veer into a new market or start a new project you get whatever feedback you need faster if the manager doesn’t have to sort out data himself.

À      On promises and work load – be honest and tactful

Your boss will need your time and that is justifiable. What isn’t legitimate is an over load, or wasting of your time. Tell your boss when you are reaching saturation point. Make him aware of the consequences if he tries to overload you: “yes I could get that done by then, but that would delay this…” Don’t say yes to everything your boss asks you to do, negotiate and ask your boss to prioritize when she gives you a list of tasks. Look at every task given carefully and make sure it is not a repetition and if it is, let your manager know and give an alternative.

À      Build a Bigger Network

Try to develop a network of people who can influence you positively. Depending on a single boss can be a career limiting experience. Build your network with your manager’s peers and his superiors. Build this network with an objective of learning to work with different bosses and other people in general. It is important not to jeopardize the hard work you have put in building an amicable professional relationship with your boss.

À      Know when to Bail.

At times, there is just no way to make it work. Maybe you and your boss have repelling personalities or work styles. When you have given your best and you still feel like you cannot achieve a good and productive work relationship with your manager then maybe you should consider parting ways. We are all human and professionalism does not mean that you have to put yourself in compromising and stagnated career.

What you should keep in the mind is fact that managers are human beings, and the best way to work with them is to be human and professional while maintaining sight of your goals in your career.