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Posts Tagged HR

Training to Win…

Aug 6

Posted by Steve Gray in People!, Personal Development | No Comments

Yes I figure business is like a game, there are winners and losers, so train to win, heck who wants to lose right? But before you jump in with “Oh but I don’t have time to train people and I don’t know how to… Don’t think you have to do it, or do it all, there are plenty of external organisations who can do it for you.

BUT you need to do some things, like setting up the system you want to follow to ensure you get the best results for the investment you make.

Here are a few points to consider:

  • Create levels – from apprentice to master, there are levels, you should do the same and create a a range of options, a progression if you like.
  • Points to cover – At each level there will be things you need to cover, so jot them down in point form so you can develop the details later.
  • Measure – Competency and then proficiency, just one on it’s own may not be enough, especially if it’s an essential skill.
  • Record – How you measure things is one thing, but how you record the details is another, so create a system to effectively track each persons progress at each level.
  • Acknowledge – How will you let people know they have attained a set level? a certificate? or… make sure it’s worth it!

All these will be useful starting points to developing a training outline for your business, so go and take action to make it happen.

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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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Your business, your image, so who’s in charge of it?

Jul 15

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Leadership, People! | 1 Comment

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Many smaller businesses get to the point of understanding that to be a business owner and not just a business operator  you need a team of people to run the business and you are now reaping the rewards from doing just that.

While you have been busy doing it and aiming to do it well, is there anything you may have forgotten? For instance the image of the business?

It could be the display space in the window, or the signage which has slowly faded, or the vehicles your delivery people charge about in. No matter what it is, it represents your business image which in turn reflects what people (customers!) think of the business.

Who’s in charge of the image is an important and often overlooked area. Simply put most organisations say it’s the job of the Marketing Dept, while others will shove the responsibility to a junior to “set up the window display”.

Think about the situation and consider having a person (perhaps with a back up person) to ensure each week the “professional image” of the business is run through a checklist. It can be simple to begin with and build from there to become a fully blown in depth process, but please make sure it is a top priority as customers can be quick to judge and long to forget.

Here are some key areas to consider:

  • How well is the cleaning done in all areas, the slightest thing can put people off.
  • Are delivery drivers forbidden from smoking in a vehicle at ALL times?
  • Do vehicles with the business name on them present really well, or do they need to be cleaned and checked more often?
  • Display areas for stock, how good are they, and what are  you comparing them too?
  • Signage, fading or in need of a clean?
  • Your uniforms… up to standard or?

Start a checklist up and ensure the person in charge of the overall image of the business uses it regularly to effectively assess the business image.

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What are your people doing, working… or?

Jul 12

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Leadership, People!, Planning | No Comments

Everyone seems busy right… But things are not moving very well, the people are all busy? Should I put another staff member on…

These and a whole bunch of other questions could be bothering you if your business is a bit bigger than a few employees.

You think back to the early days of doing everything yourself, you worked 12 hour days and then some, finally getting some breathing space when you took on some staff. You trained them and you could see great progress but now things seem different. What’s happening?

Perhaps your people have found a comfortable place for themselves and are keeping themselves busy (it makes the day go faster…) and not overly concerned about the effectiveness of things.

You have a meeting with your key people “Blah, Blah Blah!!!” you go on about how the key guys should lead the team, how they should get up noses, rattle the cage so to speak, and for a short while you see some “scared rabbits” run about and things pick up and then fade, now they are all back to busy but not overly effective.

Your method of getting people to do things seemed great at the time, but knowing it failed after a few weeks was disappointing, you feel like you have to watch the team the WHOLE time, and that’s not what you want to do.

The answer…

Take a look, wander about, listen, observe start making mental notes. What’s working, what’s not… and what are they doing to look so busy yet be so ineffective!

Ask  yourself…

  • Are they doing “administrivia” and dragging it out to fill time.
  • Are they calling suppliers to get useless info for customers who probably won’t buy anyway, or only want a small quantity of a low priced item.
  • Chatting about ‘garbage’, or doing silly rubbish, which is personal, rather than getting to the tasks, which really need to happen.
  • Are your management team, managing too much and not leading enough? Are they not in a position to connect with staff due to too much paper work, or other garbage which is really just a waste of time.

Any of these can take the wind out of the sails of your business, but before you call one of those “rant and rave” meetings to put the wind up people (which will just buy you more enemies anyway). Consider a different approach.

(And yes here’s the answer/s…)

  • Check out if the team has great technology to support them and make the tasks easy to achieve.
  • Make sure your systems are easy to learn, follow and implement.
  • Use multitasking to keep them mentally stimulated and able to do various new tasks from time to time.
  • Chat to them about what works from their point of view, become a “one on one focus group leader” with each person and get REAL information, not the sort that filters up through the ranks and becomes watered down as a result.
  • Ask what keeps them coming to work, and not just money and holidays.
  • Coach your management team to do the same, train them to build rapport, not build ramshackle bridges to nowhere.

In all honesty if you set up a great business to begin with, you will probably find it can remain that way, but it may need some of your original passion for the business to shine through, so the results you want to achieve can be very tangible, you just need to have the right things happening in the right way… Now go out there and make YOUR business highly effective and get the people doing more of the right things in the right way. Then and ONLY THEN will you really profit from the business you started out with so passionately.

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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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How to Attract the People You Need

Apr 29

Posted by Jenny Stilwell in Growth, Human Resource Management, Leadership, Planning, Starting out in business, The Operations Dept | No Comments

Just because you select an ideal recruit for your business, doesn’t mean they will automatically want to work for you. Why not?

Many businesses overlook the fact that they have to sell their offer and make it an attractive option for prospective new employees.

If you operate in a competitive environment where good recruits are scarce, or when you are trying to attract very high calibre people, it is essential that you make your business, and the position, sound as appealing as possible.

Here are some factors to consider:
1. Consider what drives people to join new companies. They typically want:
a. a new challenge
b. more money
c. opportunities for promotion
d. to work in a larger company
e. to work in a smaller company environment
f. to work closer to home
g. to work in an environment where they can improve their skills and learn
h. to work in a company full of friendly people
i. to work for a market leader
j. a manager who will spend time with them to teach and mentor

Does your business offer any of these enticements?

2. If it doesn’t, you may have issues with how the business is structured, or how it is performing, and may need to make some internal assessments and adjustments before you are able to attract the kind of people you need and want.

3. If you do meet some of these criteria, then the next question is, how do you sell your business and the position to the candidate? At every point possible!

a. The advertisement
i. Outline what’s positive and different about your company
ii. Make it sound interesting
iii. Provide several ways to respond to the advertisement (email, phone call, fax) – it appears more professional
b. Your website
i. Presentation – professional or amateurish?
ii. Overview of your business – should provide reasonable detail
iii. Clients – some reference to clients is a positive indicator
c. The interview
i. Reception and greeting – friendly, and again, professional
ii. Positive interaction – encourage questions at the end
iii. Be animated when interviewing and talking about your business
iv. You and the company must reflect the culture (professional/casual, committed, creative, service focus etc.)
d. Follow up
i. Needs to be a fast turnaround if you want the person
ii. Well organised – timeliness, information in the offer

If you do all of these things it is more than likely that you will be able to employ a candidate who matches your requirements, and the culture of your company. Good luck!

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