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Members Only > About MSEC > HR @ Its Peak
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| Trends, stories, news and practices impacted and being impacted by the world of Human Resources. |
5/18/2010Get this, you really can measure just about anything and everything. HR is getting really good at measuring, even the so called soft-stuff. But my initial reaction today at the Valley of the Sun HR Association's VSHRA May breakfast meeting in Phoenix in which Towers Watson (Yup, they're one now) presented their 2009/2010 Communication ROI Study - was..."Dial it back a bit", you know like when people try too hard at things? That is another matter.
The data was interesting and it showed four specific communication tactics most important in leading to improved business performance, and these include:
- Use a branded (consistent) approach to talk about compensation and benefits;
- Train managers to lead their teams through change;
- Have a clearly defined total rewards program, and;
- Use social media.
What came through, is that right now - we in HR and the rest of management have to communicate about what matters to employees, i.e., see 1st and 3rd bullet. Right now we have to stress to staff how what they do matters, how they will be rewarded, and understand the amount of change/disruption most of our staff's are going through and acknowledge and account for it. Support means everything.
We often hear from from real estate what matters above all is location...location....location....(believe me I am living this one full on), and in HR/Management is communication...communication....communication...Well now there are metrics to drive that home. So HR don't give up the fight - when you encounter resistence with numbers, you have got them too.
You can find more information on this specific study at Towers Watson
It's All Good! 2/26/2010
Recently I have received calls from member organizations wondering about International Assignment Agreements, sometimes referenced to as a letter of agreement (LOA). These documents, when written well clarify expections of the assignment on both the part of management and international assignee, and can minimize liability issues.
Employers who are in the early stages of global expansion, or have few expats outside their home country, in this case the United States, often do not use them. But LOA documents are useful tools and can also help to reinforce consistency with international assignment practices. Topics typically addressed in these agreements include:
- Location and length of assignment;
- Costs paid by company (assignment preparation, moving of the household, storage, realtor, airfare, housing, school, and transportation while in country, home country visits, etc.);
- Base salary, benefits and incentives, if offered;
- Employee responsibilities and outcomes expected;
- Employment taxes;
- Contingencies for assignment failure, and;
- Repatriation.
These agreements, when drafted should be reviewed by corporate legal counsel familiar with international assignment practices, and competent global tax advisors. 2/23/2010
People will work hard when they know their work matters. Sounds obvious, but now there is data to support that 'feel good' statement. Wharton management professort Adam Grant and his research team have performed a number of studies ranging from call-center employees, lifeguards, and pharmacists that demonstrated when those employees had been introduced to the very people they were helping, and understood the impact of what they were providing motivation - performance increased. In a nutshell, two quick examples:
Call center employees who interacted with the students they were soliciting scholarship donations spent more time on donor calls and increased donations to a weekly average of $503.22, up from $185.94, and/or;
Lifeguards who read about their ability to avert fatalities and reviewed actual cases work hours increased 40%, whereas reading about how the work benefitted them personally did not result in noticable increases in hours worked.
Bottom line showing task significance to employees, how what they do is important and most of connecting them to the very people they are providing services for and how those services or products benefit them drives motivation. So work to get your HR staff/staff out of their offices and into the stores, hospital clinics, retail outlets meeting employees, patients, clients and customers.
2/12/2010So, on our homepage we put out a simple poll question asking if in the past two year employers have formally asked their workforce about satisfaction levels at work - results so far:
Yes - 37%;
No - 63%.
You can track this poll at MSEC's homepage as results continue to come in. The reason I asked is much continues to be written and talked about employee work satisfaction, or lack thereof, it got me thinking. Who's issue is this - employees', senior leadership, HR's, or all 3? I have a suspicion that if senior leaders are not even asking, they probably are not too concerned - good or bad. In honesty, how often does employee satisfaction numbers come up in conversation compared to - revenue, net income, customer retention, and staffing levels. My guess is not much.
This week's edition of Newsweek.com article Lay Off The Layoffs by Jeffrey Pfeffer presents compelling data, as to the negative impact on business performance, stock price, employee health and society that laying employees off bring, yet, downsizing continues and often unrelated to the economy, more often done in hope of maintaining short-term profit margins.
My concern is there is a disconnect what is said about the importance of employee satisfaction, and the reality of taking steps to reinforce it or even try and improve it. Satisfaction does matter even to the point of employees' personal health and well being - Wellness programs take note - if you want to control health care costs - you better account for the "whole person" that is your employee or it will cost ya -. So, a business issue - you bet -.
It takes hard work to reinforce employee satisfaction, and courage to even ask.
So, how does your organization assess employee satisfaction levels and what have you done with the answers? Please comment and let me know. 2/1/2010
Happy February 1 - I trust your resolutions are going well and it's now time to move forward. Recently, a lot has been said and written about declining employee job satisfaction, in fact check out recent job satisfaction news interviews done by MSEC staff over the last couple of weeks. In light of this issue, the importance of recognizing people and specifically employees is once again, important and in the forefront of many employer total reward programs. In fact MSEC recently rolled out our own "Workplace Matters" recognition program to recognize staff going above and beyond.
Recognition matters. Telling someone "thank you" in an enthusiastically and genuine manner is more powerful than one might imagine. I bet with declining job satisfaction and what comes with (less pay, less benefits...), if you look not hard, you will find less recogntion and acknowledgment of those doing the organization's work on the front line and what the heck - the backfield too. (Get it...superbowl is coming). Numerous studies academic studies, employee opinion survey results and field experience clearly shows recognizing employee performance drives engagement, satisfaction and performance.
Coincidentally, in reading about common characteristics in successful long-term marriages and relationships, it has been found that in healthy relationships, i.e., that not only last but are fun, partners celebrate good news more often than not, with interest and enthusiasm or rather they care. In relationships rated less satisfactory, good news was often met with, "that's nice honey....". Remember the next time your partner comes home with goods news.....trust me on this one.
So get out there and catch your staff doing good. I bet much more often than not, they are. You just might be surprised as to the response you get. Now I am off to earn a sunflower.
Thank you! 1/4/2010
Okay, I promise no more resolutions for this year - by the way how are you doing? Just thought I would ask, okay I won't ask again. But I found a cool article this past week in the WSJ on how brain science is understanding why our resolutions work or don't. Turns out that if you thought you have no will power - you actually do, it comes from our prefrontal cortex which is the front part (forehead) in our brains. This is the part of our brain responsible for will power, you know, no more M&M's, one piece of pizza, one beer (yeah, that works), well you get the point. We all have one, and therefore willpower. One hitch that part of our brain is also responsible for neverending decision making and multi-tasking during the day, work, school, kids, work, bills, taxes....and on. So if you have found your willpower wanes at the end of the day it has. Your brain, or specifically prefrontal cortex is...well... tired.
So there is science to show that having fewer resolutions or goals at one time - works. Our brain can focus and hold to those easier. So pick one goal, er resolution at a time. You can do it - you have the goods to do it. Which made me wonder about managing people. In light of this data, managers who load up employees with goals, tasks, objectives, competencies, etc., may be defeating their staff and themselves. Slow down, pick one, okay two or three -max.
Turns out one-thing-at-a-time actually is based on more than what my mom always said - once again she was right. Well, I am off, I have to go exercise on the treadmill, come back make a salad, then read 20 pages of classical literature, and yet sleep at least 8 hours......... 12/22/2009
I wanted to wish everyone a happy, healthy and festive holiday season as 2009 winds down and as we look toward 2010. MSEC completed the asset acquisition of the Arizona Employers' Council which was based in Phoenix. We now have over 300 member organizations in Arizona and the Southwest, plus we have a number of members in Colorado with Arizona operations that can now contact HRS/ODL/Legal staff and resources in their own state.
I will be heading down there to run the office and look forward to getting to know our new MSEC staff, members and the employer community. So from my new vantage point I am going to get this blog up and going again and look forward to connecting with you via comments you can now submit to get your perspectives and insight in the world of HR and other workplace matters.
I also want you to know that you can also follow me on twitter @msecAZ and I look foward to being able to follow you too.
More to come... |
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