Category Archives: General

Human Resource Management Planning-The Micro Level

hr management planShortly into my lunch meeting, I realized it was a human resource management planning exercise in disguise. And it was so much fun.

I talk often about what it’s like working for Pinnacle. A sizable portion of what makes it a great working environment is having a manager who truly spends their time looking for ways to make your life and career a priority.

I highly encourage you to have a similar meeting if you’re managing someone. They want that attention and expertise that only you can give, even if you feel like you don’t have anything to offer.

Topics to cover

Not sure where to start? Try to touch on these areas and pick at least one to hone in on:

  • The employee’s career goals (no limits!)
  • Have an honest discussion of where you have enhanced their career (and in some cases, where you might have limited its growth)
  • How the employee fits into the organizational plan in the 1-5 years to come

Yes, it’s a short list, because what follows is dependent on the responses. For instance, if the employee wants to eventually become a benefits specialist, but your company doesn’t have any openings for that area, you can help them start preparing by giving them more responsibility in that area. If your employee wants to manage people, start shaping them to be the best manager they can be.

If, in the scope of the discussion, you find out that some of your actions have been interpreted as limiting career growth for the employee, then work with them to come to a resolution.

Finally, in the “big picture,” talk about what the company’s future looks like (as best you can describe it, anyway). Discuss what that means for your department and the person’s position in particular. Be honest. You’d want someone to be honest with you!

A few more details

If you’d like your miniature human resource management planning session to be successful, here are a few more tips:

  • Get away from the office for 1-2 hours (a long lunch works well for this)
  • Spend some time talking non-work stuff, because that’s what matters to the employee most (and could uncover some idea of future hopes/ideas)
  • Be sure to get their input on what they see going on with regard to the team/department level; they’re usually closer to the action than you are

Make it so

While HR management planning is a large-scale activity in most cases, for our purposes today we’re looking at how it affects a team, one person at a time. I don’t know about you, but I’ve seen organizations be damaged by the actions of one reckless, irresponsible person.

What about the other side? How much positive change and influence could one open, honest person create? Anyone at Pinnacle could tell you that my manager does it on a daily basis, one small action at a time. I only hope I can be that inspirational and supportive when I have my own employees reporting to me. Let’s just say I’m taking good notes!

Do you ever have meetings like this with your staff? What do you discuss? 

Developing Your Team-Commitment Matters

How to develop a teamDeveloping your team the “Edward Jones” way

For the past few months, my youngest brother has been going through the hiring process for the hardcore Edward Jones PASS program. I had the opportunity to sit and talk with him about the steps he took to get the position, and it honestly floored me at all the hoops he had to jump through to even be considered as a serious candidate. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that EJ had put some serious thought into the process and what they wanted their final candidates to look like.

Here’s the basic process to go through for the highly competitive PASS program:

  • Apply on website
  • Lengthy web application process
  • Someone at EJ performs resume review
  • If considered qualified, you are notified via email to call in and listen to PASS conference call and Q&A (~40 applicants on the line at once)
  • If you attended the call, you are notified via email to call and schedule your own phone screen
  • During the phone screen, the EJ representative asks how you would build a sustainable investing business, what your plans are, what you understand of the PASS program, etc.
  • If you pass the phone screen, they send you the job description again for review, then you are notified to schedule your own phone interview
  • During the phone interview, the EJ asks fairly standard interview questions. This lasts 45-90 minutes based on your responses. If you do not understand the job requirements (multiple questions based on the job description you’ve been furnished previously), you are not considered qualified. At the end of the call you are given an immediate verbal yes/no notice
  • You receive an email a few days later and are provided a task to complete. Once you complete the task, you report back on your results. If you did not meet your goal, you are eliminated from the process
  • If you complete the task successfully, you are notified to schedule a face-to-face interview to discuss the task and answer a few routine interview questions
  • At the end of that meeting, they tell you that you’ll know if you are still being considered within 4-5 days
  • Someone calls you to make sure you are interested specifically in the PASS program and provides conference call info
  • You call into PASS conference call again to listen to the program description and have a chance to ask questions
  • You call into a conference call only for PASS-qualified candidates a few days later
  • One month before your scheduled start date, you must turn in this information: fingerprints/drug screen/paperwork/background check
  • If you pass each of those hurdles, you are considered qualified to join the early stages of the PASS program

I don’t know about you, but I didn’t have even half as much difficulty getting my current job. I think having a process like this leads to several things:

  1. Your final candidates are fairly knowledgeable about the company, their role, and how that fits into the organizational structure (I’ve met people in previous jobs with 5 years of experience who don’t even know those kinds of details!)
  2. The remaining candidates are deeply committed. They’ve invested several months of sweat equity into the process, and they won’t just walk away from the position halfway through the hiring steps
  3. The people who don’t make it in still realize it’s a good company with high standards for filling its positions

This article only covers the pre-hire steps involved with developing your team. Hopefully I’ll have some time soon to write on post-hire steps you can take in developing a highly committed workforce. For more on the topic, be sure to check out how to develop managers by getting them involved.

Anyone else have a long, difficult hire process? Did that leave you feeling more committed to the organization? Less? 

Am I The Only One?

I have been working all kinds of wacky projects this week (international labor law, anyone?), and it’s only magnified one of my huge (and I mean huge) deficiencies–a lack of organization.

My desk looks like a bomb went off. Ka-blooey.

(And I need your help.)

Sure, I can talk a good game, but sooner or later my subconscious clubs my conscious brain into submission and things just fall to pieces.  It’s a running joke when my wife comes up to the office to see me; she always writes a note on my whiteboard that mentions the state of complete disarray.

Sometimes I lose things (ouch). Sometimes I lose track of things. Sometimes I wonder if there’s a black hole leading to another dimension somewhere near the back corner of my work space that pulls in random papers whenever it pleases. (At least that answer sounds kind of cool when you say it out loud.)

Oooh, so close…

One of my almost-ironclad strategies includes putting Post-It notes with critical tasks on my computer monitor so I see it when I sit down at my desk. I say “almost,” because more than once I have leaned around and lifted up the edges of the Post-It notes on my screen to look at the screen instead of actually handling the task!

Any neatniks out there? I’m looking for some tips. Let’s hear ’em. I need to get this wreck of a desk in order, and I need to do it now. 

PHR vs SPHR-Which is right for you?

One of the major questions that faces HR pros considering certification: Should you take the PHR or SPHR exam? For some people, it’s fairly clear cut if you only qualify for the PHR, but if you have the experience to attempt the SPHR, which should you pursue?

Take our Quiz to See Which Exam is Right for You

Here’s some guidance from HRCI on their “candidate profiles.”

PHR Candidate:

The Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification is designed for HR professionals whose primary responsibilities focus on HR program implementation, are tactical and operational in nature, and function primarily within the HR department. A PHR candidate is one who:

  • Focuses on program implementation.
  • Has tactical/logistical orientation.
  • Has accountability to another HR professional within the organization.
  • Has two to four years of exempt-level generalist HR work experience, but lacks the breadth and depth of a more senior-level generalist.
  • Has not had progressive HR work experience.
  • Holds a job that focuses on HR department responsibilities rather than on the whole organization.
  • Commands respect through gaining knowledge and using policies and guidelines to make decisions.

SPHR Candidate:

The Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification is designed for the HR professional who designs and plans rather than implements HR policies. An SPHR candidate is also one who:

  • Designs and plans rather than implements.
  • Focuses on the “big picture.”
  • Has ultimate accountability in the HR department.
  • Typically has six to eight years of progressive and increasingly complicated HR experience.
  • Has extensive HR generalist knowledge.
  • Uses judgment obtained with time and application of knowledge.
  • Has generalist role within organization.
  • Uses judgment obtained with time and application of knowledge..
  • Understands the business beyond the HR function and has influence within overall organization.
  • Commands credibility within organization, community and field by experience.

From the people I’ve talked to, it is hard to know if there’s a large difference in the difficulty level of the exams. It seems that SPHR focuses much more on strategy and the “big picture” when it comes to the actual question content.

Have you taken either (or both) exams? What did you think? Be sure to check out the study courses we offer while you’re here!

Human Resource Problems

I just published a list of 50 human resource problems as a challenge to the HR pros out there. It’s meant as a fun way to help you get excited about what you do and to commit to making yourself better.

Here are a few of the ideas and problems you’ll run across in this info-packed article:

  1. Try an autonomy audit with your employees (or talk with your managers about setting one up with their staff). It’s a great way to help them get a handle on their own job duties and build confidence.
  2. Find out if there’s a need for leadership development. Hint: if you have employees, you have leaders. Here’s lesson #1 for your leaders.
  3. Take a peek at your training that you offer (you do offer some, right?). Is there anything you can do to increase the impact of the training you provide or increase the offerings to your employees? Maybe throwing in cost-effective lunch and learn events or something more? Check out the free training eBook to get started.

For the rest of the 50 human resource challenges, click the link. I hope you enjoy!

50 Human Resource Challenges to Overcome

human resource challengesAKA Human Resource Challenges to Light Your Fire

Today I’m going to step on some toes. I’m going to push you a little bit. And you know what? That’s a good thing. We all need a little bit of that in order to be the best that we can be. Today we’re going to look at 50 human resource challenges that I’m laying down for you. Below the list, you will find some instructions on how to utilize this information to the fullest extent (click here to jump to the instructions). It’s up to you to decide how you want to handle it, but you have a chance to radically impact your career if you take the time and effort. Your call. Continue reading →

HR Manager Questions for a New HR Job

Today we are working off of a reader question about HR manager questions to ask the management staff at a new employer. If you’d like to submit a question, please email me and I’ll do my very best to incorporate it into a future post. Thanks!

Have you ever written a post about when you start a new HR position what to ask the managers in the company?

I have started a brand new HR Manager position and I wanted a checklist of topics/questions to ask the departmental managers so I can get to know their “HR” needs.
–Shanna in FL

Well, Shanna, I have not, but this is an excellent topic to explore! The first thing that occurred to me when reading your question is that some of the fundamental questions about a company could be answered by asking these company corporate culture questions as a job seeker. That helps you to determine if you even want to work there before the offer is ever given.

However, for the purposes of my response I’ll assume you’ve done at least the basic research, taken the job, and now you’re wondering what to ask. The reasons for asking are threefold:

  1. Where have we been? What worked/didn’t in the past?
  2. What are we doing now?
  3. Where are we going? Do we have what we need to get there?

HR manager questions: how to begin

I would start with a quick meeting it it’s at all possible. Explain to the various department heads that while you might be new in the role, you are eager to help them get their HR needs satisfied. Some of them will welcome that, others may seem annoyed that you want to “stick your nose” into their business. I’ve found that more often than not, those managers will change their tune once you’ve helped them settle a dispute or assisted them with terminating a problem employee.

After the short meeting, it’s time to start meeting with them one-on-one. When you’re talking with the staff, you will probably get funny looks if you specifically ask about their “HR needs.” So talk instead about the various facets of what you do-training, development, compensation, compliance, recruiting, selection, benefits, employee relations, performance management, etc.

If the managers/employees are remote, it’s very simple to use a free tool like Google Docs to create and distribute a management survey in under 10 minutes. If your organization is relatively small, it might be worth your time to send that same survey to the entire employee base to get a feel for what they need. It’s very easy to analyze responses and figure out just what people are looking for in their HR representative.

If you assume everyone’s wanting new benefits and compensation but the survey shows that most of them are having issues with their direct managers, then you are going to be spinning your wheels and wasting time and resources.

If I was in your position, that’s the tool I would use.

Sample HR manager questions

Here are a few questions you might want to ask. I’m writing as they pop in my head, so there’s no rhyme or reason (and I hope the audience chimes in below in the comments with their own ideas).

  • How well is your performance management system working? Do staff know performance expectations? Are supervisors capable of having difficult conversations? Do they thank and recognize good performance? Are the right people terminated? Do you reward and incent people according to your values? DO you reward people for longevity? Do people feel like the organization has their back? Is it a win-win situation? Are staff seen as partners? How does the
    company communicate its gratitude to its staff?
  • What are the patterns of high turnover? Are the problems in a given shift, job, status (e.g. part-time), department, certain managers or locations? Where it\’s working well, why is that? Is it the supervisor, the clients, the location, hours, what?
  • What are the strengths and weaknesses of orientation and onboarding? Are new staff just ‘thrown in\’ to the job, or are they adequately trained before working alone? Who trains them? If it is other staff, do those staff feel happy or resentful to be put in that situation? Are new people welcomed and supported by HR, management, and other staff? Do they have enough supervision (quantity and quality)?
  • Direct line managers: are they mostly hired from outside or promoted from within? If promoted, do they have the knowledge and skills to do their jobs well? Do they have ongoing management training? Are they on the same page as the senior management? Do you have a manager at each employee site, or are managers based in the office and responsible for several sites? (There are pros and cons to each, and you have to manage the cons.)
  • With regard to mission/values: What do they mean to people? How are they used? Do staff espouse them? What are your agency\’s stated values? Do they match up with the principles? Do they match management and staff behavior? Do you have a cohesive set of values that you base your human resources practices on? Do you hire, promote and reward according to your values?

Other HR manager questions

If a human resources audit has never been performed, now could be the right time. Check out the link for more info on that.

Other resources

My friend Mike Haberman wrote a very good post titled 4 questions every CEO should ask about HR. While we’re looking at the opposite type of situation, this could be a good starting point for factors that are relevant to a CEO’s point of view.

Also, this article has some great ideas for how to develop a more global/external awareness as an HR professional. It would probably be worth your time to at least skim for ideas.

General questions to ask your boss at a new job (listed in no particular order):

I’d love to hear some ideas from the audience on HR manager questions. I know you guys might have more experience in this area, and I know that Shanna would appreciate it. Thanks!