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Archive for category Human Resource Management

How To Make Employees More Productive

Aug 27

Posted by Michael Crooks in Human Resource Management, Leadership, Planning, The Board Room, The Sales Dept | No Comments

Most companies are extremely aware of their external markets such as clients, customers, distributor networks and even vendors. But many fail to realize that employees make up an internal market. There are plenty of organizations that bend over backwards to get feedback and input from customers and clients. Far fewer work as hard to get feedback and input from employees. I sincerely believe that any organization that doesn’t view its employees as an internal market is shortsighted. And if you think the majority of your employees are happy campers – I’ve got news for you.

In a report released January 5, 2010 by The Conference Board based on a survey of 5000 U.S. households, only 45 percent of those surveyed said they are satisfied with their jobs. 55 percent are not satisfied with their jobs! According to Lynn Franco, director of the Consumer Research Center of The Conference Board, “The downward trend in job satisfaction could spell trouble for the overall engagement of U.S. employees and ultimately employee productivity.”

What the report doesn’t tell us is WHY 55 percent of employees are dissatisfied. And while specific reasons for dissatisfaction vary by company, job and employee, I believe it can pretty much be summed up as a disconnect between those in the ivory tower and those in the trenches.

One of the best books I ever read on management and problem-solving is an 80 page book called, “I Know It When I See It” by John Guaspari. In the book, the Boss demoralized his employees by telling them that the key to increasing the quality of their product is to, “Try Harder! Do Better!” It had the same effect as unfunded government mandates – no one was given the information, tools or ability to accomplish the edict. What followed was employee frustration, job dissatisfaction and further loss of market share.

If your company is large enough, consider an undercover operation to include the top echelon. In disguise either shop your company or get a job with your company. See first-hand what affect your policies and directives are having on those who must deliver your product or service. In smaller companies, I encourage bosses and managers to get out of the back room. Run the cash register. Load some trucks. Ride and work the route. Stock some shelves.

The easiest dollar made is from a happy, repeat customer. But that’s a lot harder to achieve when employees’ are hampered by decisions based solely on numbers made by people sitting behind desks who are out of touch with reality.

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More Training to Win – Creating levels

Aug 27

Posted by Steve Gray in Human Resource Management, Planning | No Comments

When a person starts in your business they start at some level, the bottom, the top or somewhere in between.

Generally it will be at some lower level and will hopefully want to “climb the ladder of success” you provide. For some this will mean a ladder governed by rising pay increments, for others it will be the attainment of various levels of skill achievement perhaps leading to a new title (from assistant to manager etc.)

My suggestion is you figure out a pathway for your staff no matter where they come into the business, so they can clearly follow the path and attain the sense of achievement which goes with it.

There are various examples throughout history of how organisations have used this to their advantage, the main one is the military, where you work up from a “private” to Corporal, Sargeant, and so on. Along the way you have to “prove yourself” to be worthy of the role and the new responsibilities that may bring.

Because of the history of this sort of hierarchy, many people are ingrained to this way of working, so in business we can use this to our advantage.

For some businesses a formal approach is taken, and for others a more casual approach can make the approach far more fun and engaging for that type of employee and business. lets take an example of a business which does a lot of business to business sales.

Because the business is sales focussed the team has to either be supporting the sales team or be part of the sales team. therefore they might create a structure like this.

  • Support Crew – Starting role in the business – probably in admin there can be a range of levels in this category to take in stores and warehousing.
  • Sales Support Agent – These people work with the sales team as the sales support team, making the calls, tracking client contacts etc.
  • Sales Agent – The new sales person starts here, the apprentice if  you like to the sales executive.
  • Sales Executive – The actual sales person, experience and able to lead the sales agents.
  • Sales Coach – You could call this a sales manager role.
As you can see the aim is to provide a start and end point, in time the end point might alter depending on what the organisation is able to offer and how it develops.
By creating these sorts of levels in your business you can now develop the sorts of specific tasks you want people at each level to do.

Top Tips for Probation Periods at Work

Aug 6

Posted by Steve Gray in Human Resource Management, People! | No Comments

Many organisations offer a probation period for new staff and it seems 3 months is often the norm, so what might some of the challenges be, and how would you overcome them? I hope to answer these questions for you, BEFORE you get into a potential minefield with an employee or potential new recruit.

Know…

  • What  you want them to do… It’s one thing to get a new person and say “probation period”, and watch them “try to do their best”, but what do you expect them to know and be able to do in that time? Make a great list of the tasks, values and beliefs they should know as starting points of creating a solid plan of action for training the employee. Ask other in your organisation to have input so it can be a great outline using collective intelligence, not just your ideas.
  • When you want them to do it by...Then make a loose plan of action showing start and end dates for the probation period. When they start let them know the dates and diarise these for your reference.
  • What level or standard you require… It’s okay to say the person has learnt something and they are competent, but for a long term employee  you probably want  more than just the ability to do a task, but you probably want them to be able to do it to a set level consistently, therefore you are now looking for proficiency rather than just the basic ability to do something. Sure measure the fact they have been shown “how to do a task” and they can do it, but go the step further and have them record how often they have done something. At the end of the probation period you should be able to see key areas done x number of times and then you can ask about standards of performance.
  • They have a reliable Buddy... This is a person they can relate to and a go to for information, in fact it might be a few people they can call on for info. Train the buddy in how to listen, ask questions, and assess performance against set criteria. Make sure they don’t judge the person because they ask too many “dumb questions”.
  • You have a clear disputes process... It’s one thing to have a plan of action, dates for things to happen by, but what if there is a dispute? please have a clear process to handle this with, otherwise you may find a minor step into a minefield has instantly become a  hop skip and a jump into one!
  • There should be no time extensions… Okay if they have to be away (due to a death in the family or some such event…) the end date might alter, but the time frame should remain solid, three months is three months. If you believe they are not able to come up to the set standard set for the tasks set, then a clear line needs to be drawn about the minimum level they need to attain in that time frame. It can get frustrating for the employee to hear “We are extending the probation period.” at the end of the time it’s the end, wither in or out, if it’s not clear it’s the employers fault, not the employee.
  • To get results YOU have to take action… You have to set the dates, create the checklist, do the research, train the person… Not them, so set great guidelines and then  you can expect great results to follow.

I hope all these points are of value and give you great starting points to work from. Let us know int he comments how you go!

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Successful Communication – 4 Key Categories

Jul 19

Posted by Jenny Stilwell in Human Resource Management, People!, Personal Development | 2 Comments

There are four key categories to remember when thinking about whether you are maximising your communication with your target market. Within these categories there are many variations on how a message can be conveyed, or a channel for dialogue opened. However, if you keep in mind the 4 groups, you will always maximise your opportunities for communicating your message.

1. Develop the Information/Message

If you have information you would like to convey to your customers and clients, in how many fundamental ways could this be presented?

  • Newsletters
  • PowerPoint presentations
  • Emails
  • Web site
  • Music or message on hold
  • Company profile documents
  • Products & services lists
  • Product specifications
  • Company stationery
  • Brochures
  • Direct mail pieces
  • Copies of press coverage/press releases
  • Articles
  • Invitations
  • Speeches

Presentation of your message is critical. Please keep some of these considerations in mind:

  • Always think in terms of your customers’ perspectives. What is interesting and useful to them? Be genuine. If you say you’re going to do something, then do it. If you’re not genuine it will be apparent.
  • Focus on consistency of presentation, of message, of image, of how you are being perceived by your customer.
  • Know who your customers are. Don’t use humour which would only appeal to a small group of people, don’t risk using any message which may offend, and always be mindful of different religious and cultural perspectives when appealing to a broader segment of the local or international market.

2. Open the Communication Channel: Events and Networking

This category of communication is ‘up close and personal’ between you and the customer or potential client. The message may be specific, or non-specific relationship building communication. Some options within this category are:

  • Client lunches
  • Launch events
  • Entertainment events
  • Industry events (exhibitions, conferences etc.)
  • Association or Institute gatherings
  • Organised sporting competitions between companies

Again, remember that your clients and customers are typically not all men, or all women, they are not all the same age, they do not all have the same interests, they may not all have families, and their idea of a great time may not be the same as yours.

The point is, learn about your customers as much as you can, so they join in these events willingly and enthusiastically, so everybody gains something from it. Finally, events and networking are about communication, but what will be remembered is what is different, amusing, and interesting. Add value and your message will be remembered.

3. Involvement from your Clients and Customers

Events and networking functions involve your customers at some emotional level and build the relationship you have with them. However, communication that elicits involvement and follow-through communication from your customers is different, in that there is some notion of commitment to do business with you.

Specific tools to communicate with involvement from customers and clients are:

  • Surveys and questionnaires
  • New product/service test programs
  • Writing up testimonials from your customers
  • Case studies on your customers’ businesses and their relationships with you and your business
  • Ask customers for feedback on new developments, such as your web site for example.

Inherent in this type of activity is ongoing involvement and relationships. This is the primary objective of successful communication.

4. Follow Through Communication

One-off communication is not enough. One-off communication does not build relationships. A message can be conveyed by communicating it only once, but will it be remembered? How many times have you seen yet another ad on television and not known who the advertiser was because it didn’t register? The message needs to be clear, repeated, and followed up. Ideally it should also be humorous, of interest or value, and have some differentiating factor.

Don’t stop communicating:

  • thank your clients
  • send notes of congratulations when appropriate
  • send information in which they may be interested
  • send them leads
  • follow up on your survey
  • follow up on the new product or service launch
  • send them a copy of your first newsletter, brochure, etc.
  • proactively call them once in a while to touch base and ask how they are, and how business is

The cycle must continue in order to be successful. “The little differences make all the difference”.

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The eco friendly recruiter

Jul 2

Posted by Steve Gray in Human Resource Management, Innovation and Creativity | No Comments

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When your business is madly intent on hiring staff, they probably do like many others and follow a formula…

Advertise  - get responses – sort – send a note back saying “we have received” – Then a “thanks but no thanks” note to the short listed ones… – interview etc… Oh what a hassle. Some of you will be saying… yeah but forget sending the letters out, I just ignore the people it’s my business and why should I care. Sorry to feel you might think this way, however a short letter can at least let the good folks know you do care and respect their time and effort for applying, after all their efforts in your business could make you extra $$.

Recently I saw something, which turned the standard formula slightly on its head. First the company asked for email responses (less paper up front.) Then they replied to the email with a letter (it makes it seem like they went to a lot of trouble and personalised it.)

The letter simply read…. “Thanks for your application, if you are required for an interview we will call you.”

Nothing more to say, no need for a second letter out, no need to say “The standard of applications was high etc.” none of that, and it saved time and money.

The other thing they did, was not ask for a whole lot of selection criteria responses… They asked for a resume and a cover letter, not pages of posturing, pushing and “look at me!”, just a straight up “this is me folks”, response.

The good thing about this from my perspective was the way they would have probably caught a heap of people off guard, those who are used to the selection criteria bit… They would have had to think outside the square.

Interesting, they saved paper, they saved time and therefore money… I feel sure there are other savings which could be had in a range of areas of business, but for now this is but one.

Are there other ways we can all recruit staff which will save us time and money and probably show a little creativity to boot? Tell us about it in the comments…

Workplace Bullying Policy

Jun 14

Posted by Steve Gray in Health and Safety Dept, Human Resource Management, Leadership, People!, Planning, Risk Management | No Comments

Don’t turn off and stop reading because you are a small business, Don’t stop reading because you believe you have all the bases covered on this one, and just because your people in the HR department say there is no need for such a thing due to no cases of it at this point be wary of that.

Imagine you employ a bright eyed graduate or fresh faced school leaver brimming with interest and potential, then after a few weeks you see them with less of a smile, less of a pep in their step. For most people watching this person they might say, yep the realities of being in a job have kicked in, he he!

That can be the case, but what if they have found their supervisor or a co-worker has given then some grief, a few terse words, a few statements which have impacted on their esteem. This might seem like petty stuff but the impact of this sort of situation can get out of hand very quickly, the worker may feel powerless, in a bind, awkward, berated, useless and so on.

Your business has a duty of care,  you have a duty of care and this needs to be stated up front that everyone in the organisation also has a duty of care. Therefore that being the case guidelines need to be in place to clearly out line what actions are taken in situations like this and to spell out some basics as to what might constitute bullying, harassment and other situations which might impact a persons esteem.

Okay so now a bunch of  you are saying “Hey the hell do I have to care about a persons esteem? Heck I pay them to do a job, they should do it and put up with the situation, they should harden up, the world is a tough place…”

My view on that is how can you not care about a person you employ… If you are not into caring, avoid being in business. If you don’t care, your customers won’t either and then your staff will soon disappear. Yes it’s that basic, and you need to ensure you have the situation covered or you could be caught out VERY QUICKLY.

So do the right thing and have one ready to implement now, I suggest at the very least you do a search on google and see what comes up, grab one that suits and use it. for a rock solid start try the public service in your country and see what they have you can edit to make it your own. one I looked at recently had a 44 page doc you could download easily enough and it had various examples as well. http://www.apsc.gov.au/ethics/respect.pdf

To finish, imagine this, you are interviewing people for a job, on telling them about the organisation you are able to show them a copy of your bullying policy. It shows you care, it shows you will not tolerate people who don’t care, it shows you want to have happy people enjoying being part of the team, together everyone feels safe and in a organisation which values people, enough said…

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Happiness – workplace style…

May 19

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Human Resource Management, Leadership, People! | No Comments

Just for a moment think about your life, do you do things better when you are happy or grumpy/sad? Now think about business, do  you prefer to deal with people who are grumpy/sad or happy?

It’s a no brainer really, however there are many people looking to change jobs, move on, move up, move out! Why generally because they are unhappy. As an employer it’s part of your unwritten “duty of care” to provide an environment where staff are happy.

A small family business might seem like a great thing and how you treat family can be quite different from general staff. You might be happy to work at an old desk loaded with irrelevant papers and bits and pieces, but an employee probably will be put off by that.

I guess the moral of this is think about it. Take time to evaluate, if a new employee is due to start next week, make it a major priority to make their starting off in your business fantastic.

Here’s a few reasons why:

  • Change can be difficult for people, new surrounds new names, new everything! It can take a while to get used to.
  • Moving jobs means altering routines, wake up times, transport changes, family routines alter.
  • A new job with different systems can take quite a while to adapt to.
  • A new role may mean there are changes to who is leading who, this can cause challenges.
So imagine starting them off in the ideal situation…
  • Start them with half a day’s work, late in a week, so there is little monday rush and weekend panic.
  • Be their “work buddy” show them where everything is and how things are done.
  • Check in with them regularly to see what stands out as issue, then aim to resolve them fast.
  • Make sure all the “paperwork” is sorted for their superannuation and so on, early…
  • Advise all other staff to wear their name tags more often in that start up phase so the new person does not stress about things like names.
We could make a really long list here (please do!) and I hope you get the idea. Happiness even in a recession is vital to ensure your staff perform to their best ability, perhaps not in the short term but later on when they are up to speed.
Make time to be there for the new recruit and ensure as many things as possible go right for them so they feel at ease.

Are you Yammering?

Apr 22

Posted by Steve Gray in Human Resource Management, IT Dept, Innovation and Creativity, People!, Planning, The Operations Dept | 2 Comments

https://www.yammer.com/

This is like Twitter, but just for your organistation. If you have a bunch of people with intra company email addresses, they can connect and chat, just like twitter does on a global scale. It works on the premise of “what are you doing now?” as the main question. Then as people use it they find others working on things similar to them, or they may have an answer or a resource for someone else where working on something.

Productivity tools just got a kick in the backside folks!

Recruiting in tough times

Jan 16

Posted by Steve Gray in Human Resource Management, People! | No Comments

The economy is in turmoil, your staff are jittery, the sales forecasts are still okay and you actually need more staff, we live in interesting times! But to recruit takes up precious time and resources, the position you have in mind is just not quite up to using the recruitment company so you want try a more creative approach, after all the standard methods still have some quirks, issues and challenges.

You get some heads together and decide to go for it, but what might be a way to cut back on the sheer volume the role might attract from job seekers? Consider a different approach, one where you let the candidates sort themselves more before you get to them.

  • The role and the job – You probably have a fairly good idea of the responsibilities the new employee will undertake, logical task skills are one thing, however knowing the type of personality which will fit with the role, the team and the company is another. Visualise the right type of person, how they act, hold themselves and perform, now go and find that person.
  • The advert – Normally adverts cost a bunch, but if you use the advert wisely (as a marketing tool) then you can cut back the cost, stop the waffle about the company etc and just give them an alluring headline.
  • The web edge - It’s not new to have a recruitment section on your website, but as a filtering device it might be. Use the advert to send people to the web page, there you can set up a page relatively cost effectively and alter it to suit. Ask the big questions after telling them the basics about the job and remuneration. Also outline the process in steps so they have an idea of what’s happening.
  • Keep your resume – They are usually a few pages, a lot of scanning has to take place etc… what a hassle, I would rather scan a single page than a whole heap. Therefore ask the applicant to create a one page response to a few questions citing examples of how they did things in set situations.
  • Call them – From the process above you now have a bunch of one page responses from candidates. Now you formulate a quick phone interview process,  you ring and tell them you want some short responses to assist you in going further… it might go something like this… “Give me a snapshot of your resume, e.g. a few places you have worked and achievements,  you have 1 minute” time them and see what happens, if they are engrossing in a positive way you can decide to let them chat on or stop them. You could even make it 30 seconds. Add a few questions to delve deeper on some key issues (team work and communication might be a start.) Now make sure you can short list from this bunch and let the really no goers know via email.
  • Short list – The good ones are left, you could pick a few and re call them and ask more questions, you could invite them to a group session (five people in a room for 1/2 an hr is cheaper time wise than five 1/2 hour sessions at separate interviews.) Or you could ask them to create another 1 page response, or even send in their resume… You could also just interview them, either way go with your heart on who stands out from the crowd first and then go for the logical fit later.

This type of process can be useful for many roles, it makes it easier to sort the main players out and gives you the chance to get through the candidates fast. Happy hunting!

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Their vision v’s your vision…

Aug 22

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Human Resource Management, Leadership, People!, Planning, Risk Management, Starting out in business, The Board Room | No Comments

How about this, an organisation has the following core values as part of it’s vision.

  • Responsibility and Leadership
  • Achievement and Excellence
  • Citizenship and Community
  • Initiative and Commitment

Sounds great, things to aspire to… one problem they don’t do it, well not all of it, here are some points…

  • Staff are failing to take responsibility, citing they do not have the resources to do their jobs fully.
  • Leadership is lacking, no one sure as to who they should follow or what they should do… whose roles is who’s and where do the ‘borders’ stop.
  • Excellence… again resources or the lack of them are cited as an issue… Systemic issues are cited… not enough time… not enough support…
  • Initiative and commitment… A stakeholder took initiative and they basically shunned it, the same stakeholder is working with another stakeholder to build commitment… guess what shunned again.

Not much left except for the third point and they probably have issues with that too…

The vision statement goes on to make a lot of claims about excellence in the provision of service etc… It’s all interesting but they are failing at it. My view, they are failing to hold up the core values and use them as a solid foundation to work from, instead it has become a blame game.

Here’s the irony if you like, this organisation is a school.

A bit deeper look will show that it’s not a simple organisation as there are various stakeholders, parents and students, teachers and admin/managerial staff, so the connections between each, if tenuous, can create a nightmare approach to communication, who said what, when, why, how and so on.

I would love to share the details but the story still has depth despite names and specific issues, but basically a parent supporting their child to achieve, have a commitment, and be accountable has come across some barriers in being able to make this happen.

The big point here is that a symbol has been created (the vision statement with core values) but not followed or fully utilised. I suggest the school (or any organisation for that matter) could alter this disasterous set of situations simply by making sure at every step that the foundation is used to build on, not to branch out from with tenuous connections.

Learning opportunity, if you have a foundation to work from, your role as a business operator, principal, teacher, owner operator, director or whatever. Do your best to work with that foundation, in this case the foundation extols excellence as a hallmark and so it should, but to have a range of stakeholders pointing at each other blaming and shaming, then the end result is far from excellent. By the way, you can “rest assured” the parent is sticking to their guns and will be holding the school accountable to their foundation or core values and hopefully the end results will be worth the rigour and affront.

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