Mental Health in the Workplace

Most of us take it for granted in the workplace today that our organization is responsible for ensuring our safety on the job. Systems like Worker’s Compensation programs are also taken as a given, and certainly here in Canada, there is no one in the workforce today who would remember a time before these programs were in place. In Canada, Ontario was the first province to enact Worker’s Compensation legislation, in 1915, with other provinces following suit shortly thereafter. Worker`s Comp remains a provincially legislated requirement today, and though the details differ province to province, the fundamental nature of the program is the same; workers who are injured on the job are eligible to apply for payment of wages for lost time, and compensation for outside medical costs. The employer pays the cost for the insurance, in exchange for the worker giving up the right to sue the employer over the injury. So far, so good.

In the past, worker`s compensation has been limited almost exclusively to the concept of physical injury or illness in the workplace. But that may be changing. I believe we are in the middle of a shift in thinking, one in which the psychological safety of the worker will come to be considered in the same way as physical safety. Last year, the Canadian government released a (voluntary) standard for psychological health and safety in the workplace, and recent developments in the law suggest that employers are increasingly being expected to ensure workers are not being exposed to excessive mental stress at work. There have also been a few recent Worker’s Compensation judgements that suggest the bulwark against mental stress claims being considered eligible for Worker’s Comp is crumbling, and will continue to do so.

A psychologically safe workplace is “one in which every practical effort is made to avoid reasonably foreseeable injury to the mental health of employees” (Schain 2009). Compensation for mental injury is an emerging area under the law, and mental suffering awards in constructive dismissal cases are increasingly common (and larger). Mental harm can be held as a consequence of overwork, especially poor working environments, abusive behaviour by management, etc… So there’s a pretty solid trend going on here. In Zorn-Smith vs. Bank of Montreal (2003), Ms. Zorn-Smith was awarded an increased notice entitlement and $15,000 for mental suffering, and given that damage awards have increased up to 700% between 2005-2010, I would certainly expect to see the numbers increase. Now, granted that Ms. Zorn-Smith was working in a position for which she was not qualified, putting in a crazy amount of hours, and dealing with an organization that didn’t seem particularly inclined to help her deal with any of these issues, and I would certainly hope that most organizations might have a more reasonable approach, but the trend is there- overwork and stress your people out, and expect to pay the price for that.

What this means for your workplace really depends on the organization. My personal feeling is that this trend makes sense, and good employers likely already have systems in place to deal with at least some of these issues. That said, there is still a tremendous stigma concerning mental health among many Canadians, and duty to accommodate, etc. is still a bit fuzzy. Believe me, even in the best and most supportive environments, there’s still lots of grey area to run into. However, for those of us in less-supportive environments, there’s a pretty strong argument to be made in favour of revising those aspects of your organizational culture, policies and procedures that are less than totally supportive, and it comes with dollar signs attached.

So where do you think you’re at, and where do you want to be?

Appraisals

Formal appraisals are an integral part of just about any organization’s performance management process. Dreaded by employees and managers alike, appraisals are generally touted by human capital management professionals as key in increasing productivity. There are a wide range of appraisal solutions out there, which are mostly designed to make managers and employees hate the process less, and make it a little more likely that the system will be used according to design.

Ultimately, the primary purpose of the performance appraisal process is to manage employee performance. So are there other ways to manage performance?

The key to managing performance is feedback. Feedback can be handled in any numbers of ways, and doesn't have to be a formal process at all. In an ideal world, where feedback is a constant occurrence, clearly communicated and reciprocated, perhaps you could do away with a formal performance management system, but the reality is that such systems serve more than one purpose. For one thing, they serve to demonstrate that conversations concerning performance have occurred, and to document the key points of the discussion. Should you ever need to terminate an employee for cause, this and other documentation will prove to be critical in determining whether or not proper cause exists (hint: it’s pretty rare outside of cases of serious misconduct) .

In an organization with a very high level of trust between colleagues, where open and honest communication and feedback is a part of everyday working life, perhaps a case can be made that formal appraisals aren't necessary from a feedback perspective, whether they are 360s, online, or otherwise. However, they will always be necessary for documentation, in the absence of a world where all employees are good ones, and thus, managers and employees alike better just resign themselves to the fact that they really aren't going anywhere. 

Performance Management

Performance management is one of the key areas in which a strong human capital function can bring value to the organization. Having an effective  PM system contributes directly to the bottom line of the organization through ensuring that desired outcomes and goals are clearly understood by all involved, and that everyone is working towards these common goals. The problem lies in ensuring that your organization’s performance management system is effective.

Purchasing a pre-made PM system is a convenient option, but pre-made systems are very rarely targeted specifically enough to the needs of your organization to ensure maximum effectiveness. Hiring a consultant to design a PM system can be much more tailored, but may be prohibitively expensive. Consequently, the project design may fall right into the laps of the HR department itself.

When that happens, it’s important to make sure you’re doing it right. One of the ways in which HR can fail the organization is by getting too caught up into what the perfect PM system looks like from HR’s perspective, and forgetting what it looks like to the rest of the stakeholders. If your managers and employees are not on board with the system you’ve designed, it won’t be effective. Have you ever complained that your managers “just don’t get it” and wondered why they can’t be bothered to use the fabulous system you’ve designed/implemented? If so, my guess is that you don’t have great buy-in from your managers- either they don’t understand why your system is important, or it doesn’t measure what’s important to them. In either case, you have some work to do.

That means that the very first part of designing a performance management system is identifying your stakeholders, and getting them involved. Identify the goals- what do you want your PM system to manage? And why? If your system covers the things your managers need it to cover, you’ll have a much higher acceptance level and therefore much higher effectiveness.

This is also the time to have a conversation about areas your PM system needs to cover- and now is the time to talk about competencies. Chances are really good that between the managers and the employees doing the work, they have a much better idea of the competencies required to do the job than you do. It’s also an opportunity to make sure that the staff see your PM system as fair. If the employees don’t think your PM system is fair, they won’t engage, and your effectiveness will be much reduced. Keep bringing those competencies back to your identified goals, too- your system will only be valid if it’s actually measuring the elements required to meet the goals you’ve already identified.

Once you have your list of competencies, then you need to decide how the PM system should be set up. Is an annual review really going to be as effective as you need it to be? How about quarterly coaching? Weekly coaching with quarterly reviews? How formal does your system need to be? What works best with your organizational culture? And how much paperwork is too much?

The closer you can keep your Performance Management System to the needs outlined above, the higher the effectiveness of the system will be. Designing a system with the input of your SMEs and stakeholders is the best way to ensure that you get a system that serves the needs of the organization and helps contribute positively to the bottom line through increased productivity and clarity of purpose.

You may not ever be able to keep everybody happy with your performance management system. But if it is effective, and measures the things it’s supposed to measure, you will see positive results.Performance management is one of the key areas in which a strong human capital function can bring value to the organization. Having an effective  PM system contributes directly to the bottom line of the organization through ensuring that desired outcomes and goals are clearly understood by all involved, and that everyone is working towards these common goals. The problem lies in ensuring that your organization’s performance management system is effective.

Purchasing a pre-made PM system is a convenient option, but pre-made systems are very rarely targeted specifically enough to the needs of your organization to ensure maximum effectiveness. Hiring a consultant to design a PM system can be much more tailored, but may be prohibitively expensive. Consequently, the project design may fall right into the laps of the HR department itself.

When that happens, it’s important to make sure you’re doing it right. One of the ways in which HR can fail the organization is by getting too caught up into what the perfect PM system looks like from HR’s perspective, and forgetting what it looks like to the rest of the stakeholders. If your managers and employees are not on board with the system you’ve designed, it won’t be effective. Have you ever complained that your managers “just don’t get it” and wondered why they can’t be bothered to use the fabulous system you’ve designed/implemented? If so, my guess is that you don’t have great buy-in from your managers- either they don’t understand why your system is important, or it doesn’t measure what’s important to them. In either case, you have some work to do.

That means that the very first part of designing a performance management system is identifying your stakeholders, and getting them involved. Identify the goals- what do you want your PM system to manage? And why? If your system covers the things your managers need it to cover, you’ll have a much higher acceptance level and therefore much higher effectiveness.

This is also the time to have a conversation about areas your PM system needs to cover- and now is the time to talk about competencies. Chances are really good that between the managers and the employees doing the work, they have a much better idea of the competencies required to do the job than you do. It’s also an opportunity to make sure that the staff see your PM system as fair. If the employees don’t think your PM system is fair, they won’t engage, and your effectiveness will be much reduced. Keep bringing those competencies back to your identified goals, too- your system will only be valid if it’s actually measuring the elements required to meet the goals you’ve already identified.

Once you have your list of competencies, then you need to decide how the PM system should be set up. Is an annual review really going to be as effective as you need it to be? How about quarterly coaching? Weekly coaching with quarterly reviews? How formal does your system need to be? What works best with your organizational culture? And how much paperwork is too much?

The closer you can keep your Performance Management System to the needs outlined above, the higher the effectiveness of the system will be. Designing a system with the input of your SMEs and stakeholders is the best way to ensure that you get a system that serves the needs of the organization and helps contribute positively to the bottom line through increased productivity and clarity of purpose.

You may not ever be able to keep everybody happy with your performance management system. But if it is effective, and measures the things it’s supposed to measure, you will see positive results. 

Critical Skills

I recently completed a survey from an HR association asking what I thought was the most critical skill in professional practice in HR. Now, I think it’s very difficult in just about any profession to pick just one critical skill, and I spent quite a bit of time thinking about it.

Part of the problem is that HR really is a very broad function. As someone who has experience as the entire HR department for a small function, I can certainly attest to the many different hats an HR Generalist can wear. That’s a job title that doesn’t lie, folks. And because HR encompasses so many different areas, it’s hard to pick one key skill that covers them all.

After I’d thought about it for a while, I decided that the absolutely most critical skill in HR is paying attention. I thought about saying “listening”, but decided that that’s a bit too narrow for what I actually mean. Certainly the ability to listen actively and empathetically is very important to practice in HR, but often it’s as much about what people don’t say as it is about what they do. It’s also very much about body language and facial expression, too- so it goes way beyond just listening. It’s also about picking up on unvoiced cues, and analyzing the information that you’re getting. Sometimes it’s about putting together a conversation you’re having now with other bits and pieces of information that you’ve collected along the way.

If you can pay attention to everything, you may find that the casual lunchroom conversation you overheard can take on a whole new meaning during the manager’s meeting. You can never have too much information, and I can think of several times in my career where a seemingly unrelated tidbit has turned out to hold some very useful information that’s helped to clarify other issues.

If you can listen, carefully, and pay attention, and then think critically about that information, you will find that you have a leg up in making key decisions.

What do you think are key skills in HR?

Why Getting Fired Isn't The End of The World- A Personal Perspective

As I write this, I'm sitting at home in the middle of the afternoon, because I don't have a job anymore.

I was let go in the middle of August, and, to be honest, it was a shock. I had known for some time that I didn't fit well within the organization, and had been looking at job listings for a while, but I had planned on finding another opportunity, giving notice, and doing all the things that you're supposed to do. In the meantime, I was doing my job to the best of my abilities, had received very favourable performance reviews, and wasn't getting any negative feedback or anything.

The morning that I was let go, I had just finished payroll when my boss and the head honcho walked into my office. I immediately knew it wasn't go, just because they were coming to me instead calling me downstairs.

That was my first experience with being terminated. It was handled pretty well, I was given my paperwork and details of a severance agreement were figured out, and then I bundled up my office plants and off I went.

It's taken me a little while to getting around to writing this blog entry, I think because it takes a little time to wrap your head around things. I didn't really get a solid explanation for why- it was a "business decision,"- but I suspect it has to do with fit issues, because I certainly knew it wasn't the right place for me. I've never felt such a mixture of anxiety and relief as I did then. Anxiety because oh my God, I'm unemployed, what do I do? and relief because I knew it wasn't working well and now I didn't have to go back.

It's still a bit of a struggle to deal with the fact that, even though I know it wasn't working well and I was looking to leave, I got fired. There is a stigma attached to that, and a certain amount of shame attached to admitting it, even though I have counseled others not to feel that way under similar circumstances. And, as much as I was sympathetic to others in a similar position in the past, I have more understanding now having gone through it myself, and I think it will make me a better HR professional for it.

So right now, I'm unemployed. In the past three weeks, I have reorganized my kitchen, our storage unit, and our closet, started baking my own bread, and made three kinds of preserves, in between getting rather more serious about the job hunt. I've caught up on my reading, including my issues of HBR, and been working my way through some of Khan Academy's free courses on programming and economics. While it's been great to get organized, and I'm keeping busy with no problems, I'm also hoping to be back to work soon, in a great organization that will be a much better fit for me, so wish me luck!

Work/Life Balance

Work/Life balance is a huge deal in the modern world of HR. We talk about the importance of work/life balance and what that looks like in the modern world of always-on internet and cells phones, and worry about burnout and overtime pay, and what we should want.

Unfortunately, it's still a reality for an awful lot of the workforce that an inability to answer an email at 9:00 PM or an unwillingness to put in ten hour days in the office shows. How many people do you know, or how many workplace cultures have you seen, where putting in long hours is seen as a badge of pride, or at least good for bragging rights?

To me, there are several issues with this. The first is that working too much has a negative impact on productivity (see here if you're interested in some of the the research), and the second is that hours worked should come a distinct second to work accomplished. Ten hours of work should not be intrinsically more valued (especially if overtime is being paid out!) than eight hours of work, unless more is being accomplished in that ten hours, which, in my experience, is often not the case. A culture that focuses on results instead of on long hours is going to be focusing on productivity- that makes much more sense, and it allows your staff to go home when they're done for the day, and stay later when something needs doing, and not burn out so badly.

I believe that the reason you see this focus on hours worked is laziness- hours worked is an easy metric, compared to the work of breaking down and assessing progress and achievements, so lazy HR leads to an hours-worked-equals-dedication focus. It's an easy trap to fall into, it's reliable, but it isn't valid, because hours worked does not equal work accomplished.

What do you think? What can you do to shift this mindset in your workplace (if it's there) and do you think you need to?

Happy Canada Day from Calgary!

For those of you who are maybe a little further afield, the city I live in, Calgary, recently suffered a disaster-flooding. Calgary is located along the confluence of two rivers, the Elbow and the Bow, and they both spilled their banks just over a week ago. There have been some pretty hard hit residential areas, as well as a fair bit of downtown. I was affected among 75,000 people who were evacuated, as our downtown condo is only a couple of blocks from the river. We were told to leave on Thursday night, and watched the TV on Friday and Saturday to see the water covering block after block.

I am very lucky. We have a fourth-floor condo, so we knew even as we left that most of our stuff would be ok. We have a storage unit in the parkade, and haven't yet been able to access it to find out the bad news, but it could have been so much worse. I have a coworker who is from High River, a town south of Calgary that suffered tremendously with flooding, who has literally lost everything except the clothes on his back. We have good friends who kindly let us stay with them for a week, and we came home to everything basically intact, aside from a rank fridge full of spoiled food, and a (presumably) flooded storage unit. We are among the lucky ones, and we've been trying to give something back to those who haven't been as lucky.

It has been a tremendous experience living here through all this, and I have to say- I'm proud of my city. Calgary handled the emergency situation calmly and with strong planning, so kudos to our city council and workers- they deserve it. Calgarians immediately stepped up and brought their A games to the situation- we had more offers of places to stay than we could possibly have used, people were posting ads on kijiji to invite displaced strangers into their homes, and the city's evacuation centres were barely used. Volunteers have flooded into affected neighbourhoods, helping people to reclaim their homes. Everywhere we go, local businesses are running programs for flood relief and collecting donations- it's been incredible. So, thank you, fellow Calgarians, for showing the world what a wonderful city we have and the dedicated people living and working in it. I am proud of all of us.

Anyone looking to help can donate to the Red Cross here.

Handling Difficult Conversations

I've had a few difficult conversations this week. That's all part and parcel of life as an HR pro, and, while you do get more used to them, I don't think the tough conversations ever really get easier.

Nobody likes having the tough conversations, because we don't like making other people feel bad. No matter how important or necessary the conversation is, it's perfectly normal to look forward to an upcoming tough one with dread. It's critical, though, that you not fall into the trap of avoiding the conversation altogether. The other common trap is the one where we end up self-censoring so much that you don't actually get the intended point across.

In my experience, the best way to handle these kinds of conversations is to tackle them head on, but with some careful pre-planning. First off, take the time to go over and write down the key points of the conversation. What information is critical? Once you know what you have to say, you can plan a little about how to say it.

Don't approach the conversation in a critical manner- don't be accusatory-don't rush right into the meat of the issue. While you do want to be direct and upfront about the issues, if you approach things too directly, you dramatically increase the chances of the other party in the conversation becoming very defensive. And defensiveness doesn't listen well. There's no guaranteed way to avoid defensiveness, but approaching the topic of the conversation without placing blame can work well. So, instead of saying, "we need to talk about your issues with the dress code," you could say something like, "the company dress code is an important factor in the success of our business. I know you've signed our dress code policy, so we need to talk about why that isn't working for you."

Make sure that you listen to what the other party has to say. Try to keep an open and relaxed body posture, and bust out your active listening skills- maintain eye contact, ensure you understand by repeating key components back, and ask for clarification if you're not sure. Be sympathetic- but don't get sidetracked. Don't let other issues get brought into it- "but Lisa wears jeans when it isn't Friday!"- and make it clear that the purpose of the meeting is to resolve this one issue.

It's also very important to establish a timeline and to follow up. "I understand that you may need a little time to get yourself organized, so I expect to see you appropriately dressed by Monday." If it is a disciplinary situation rather than simple coaching, too, you need to make sure to document everything, and lay out the problem behaviour, your expectations, a timeline for improvement, and the consequences if the timeline isn't met.

When you have tough conversations, what do you find works the best?

HR Superhero

In my opinion, the mark of a true geek is signified by a deep interest in something that most people find less than totally enthralling. For instance, my husband can expound for hours upon the history of the Marvel universe and the interconnected characters in it, which I mainly find useful as a late-night cure for insomnia. Fortunately, we have the kind of relationship that allows him to think it's funny when I start to drool on his chest mid-conversation.

By that definition, I am a true HR geek. I find reading about employee engagement best practices as interesting as I do browsing Facebook, and find that a lot of my morning routine involves reading HR-related links on my twitter feed with my morning coffee. I'm sure my hubby finds my comments on these articles every bit as exciting as I find hearing about the connections between Dr. Strange and Peter Parker. Or something. I stopped paying attention.

But when I found myself wanting to write a blog post about the implications of privacy legislation and cameras in the workplace, I did start to wonder how to keep that accessible. I know it would interest me to read it, but I do generally try and keep this blog at least moderately interesting for those whose interest in HR is, shall we say, a little more limited than my own.

I really am passionate about what I do, and I don't apologize for that. Human Resources is one of the most overlooked administrative functions in any business. HR can make or break you, and for many business, it is almost an afterthought. And that particular refrain is almost worn out, you hear it so much in the world of HR, but that doesn't make it any less true- so what can we HR geeks do about that? Well, I doubt I can make some of the things that I find interesting to be that much more interesting for everyone else- but I can practice my craft in a way that puts the focus on strategic HR. I can show senior management why changing our orientation program makes a difference, and I can show them what our turnover rate costs. I can run the numbers that affect the bottom line, and in my experience, that's all it takes to have people sit up and pay attention.

That's what HR professionals need to focus on- generate the buy in by showing the bottom line. I know it isn't always easy to figure out the numbers, but if HR wants to be taken seriously, and doesn't want to be what my CFO referred to as the "soft and fuzzy" side, that's what it takes. You want a seat at the strategy table, you better be able to show you have what it takes to belong there- and that's the way to show it. Be a champion for your cause, paint a big sign on your chest. Be an HR superhero.

Do what you love and love what you do...

Today, I realized once again that I really do love what I do.

You see, I got a resume in today for someone applying for a logistics position, and I couldn't figure out why. It had a well written cover letter talking about the applicant's desire to switch careers. From HR. And all I could think was, why?

Not that there's anything wrong with wanting to switch careers. It can be a tough road, but there's nothing wrong with trying something different. It's just that my first reaction was to wonder why anyone would want to leave HR.

The funny thing is, I hadn't really been having a great day. I'm trying to untangle a couple of thorny issues, and manage a workload that is on the heavy side, to say the least. But all things considered, even on a bad day, I can't imagine not doing what I do. 

Do you love what you do?

The Sitch

I have to apologize.

It has been way too long since I last posted. Life at work has been (and continues to be, with no signs of changing anytime soon) incredibly hectic. And anything outside of my normal workweek pretty much didn't happen the entire month of December because I managed to pick up whatever this godawful flu going around is, and was sick as a dog for pretty much the whole month. Unfortunately, that meant that my poor blog got very badly neglected.

So, the last time I blogged about anything, I was about two weeks into the new job. I'm now just about three months in, and so far I have overseen the termination of nearly a dozen people and the hiring of about that many again, which is fairly impressive considering we have 81 people on payroll. That number should be about 100 if we want to reach full staffing, but as this province is currently leading the way in Canada with a 4.1 unemployment rate, that is proving very challenging. I've been overseeing a recruitment campaign that covers 2/3 of the continent, have worked with the CFO to oversee a wage review, new bonus program, new benefits provider and health spending accounts, and implemented new employment contracts for everyone. Not to mention a new performance management system, metrics and individual performance plans. All of which, as you might imagine, has left me extremely busy, but which should get us into a better position to attract staff going forwards. I hope anyway, because sometime in the next six months or so, I need to find enough tradespeople to staff our new facility, which should be up and running by July, and which will increase the size of the organization by about 1/3. And since we compete with the oil and gas industry for our people, that's going to be very complicated indeed, because, as a small organization, we absolutely cannot match pay or benefits, so it's mostly going to have to be by focusing on the lifestyle benefits and some of the cool things (like our company wellness program) that larger organizations don't necessarily have the flexibility to offer. 

And I love it. I love all of it. It's been incredibly satisfying to be digging into the guts of things and then changing and rebuilding it all. It has been more work than I thought it would be, and more work than the CFO thought there would be, as I have discovered that there were significant issues in the HR department that no one had noticed that need rectifying, but I can't wait to see where we end up in a year! It's looking increasingly like we may head abroad to try and source some international talent for our new facility, which should be incredibly interesting and a new challenge for me, as I have no prior experience in international recruitment. 

I will try to keep you all posted just a wee bit more regularly than I have been. It's a rollercoaster, but I am so far enjoying the ride!

Of course, if there's anyone out there dealing with similar challenges or experienced in these kinds of issues, hit me up! I'd love to hear from you.

Payroll, terminations and chaos, oh my!

Well, two weeks into the new job and I can definitely confirm- I am busy. It's chaotic and fabulous, and I'm exhausted every night when I get home, but I do seem to be settling in ok. It has been rather more chaotic than I expected, and, in fact, rather more chaotic than my boss expected.

I've been learning the ins and outs of their payroll system (seems not bad,) recruiting for at least a dozen positions, most of which are high skill, and desperately trying to reorganize the HR office, which is certainly a bit of a mess.

Not-exactly-highlights include three terminations in the first two weeks, and an employee mental health crisis on day four. Makes for an intense two weeks, but on the plus side, it considerably upped my knowledge of our crisis counselling program and benefits.

I think it was the third day there that my new boss informed me that they needed a completely new employee evaluation system in place- by November 19th. I present the basics of it tomorrow. So I've definitely been busy, but it really is fabulous. I said I wanted a challenge, and there you are, I most certainly got it. Right now, most of what I'm doing is putting out fires, but as that begins to calm down, I will have more of an opportunity to develop the more strategic programs we're looking to implement.

My biggest handicap is that I don't know very much about the jobs I'm hiring for. This is a completely new industry for me, and so, while I'd love to develop new job descriptions, at the moment, I know very little about the jobs themselves and don't have the time to do an intensive study of each position before I get recruiting. So that's something else that will probably have to wait for a bit. I am currently strongly reliant on the hiring managers to help me find candidates, but I'm learning about each position, little by little.

So far I've managed not to feel too overwhelmed, though I do worry a bit that I'm not accomplishing everything that I need to. And my poor blog is certainly feeling a bit of the neglect, but I'm so burned out when I get home that I suspect that's going to continue for a bit.

No worries, though, because I'm loving this. There are so many things that I love about HR, but I think the biggest one is having the opportunity to make things better for the people I work with, and what better opportunity is there than in an organization that is in crisis mode when it comes to their HR?

Bring it on, I say.

Changes, Changes...

I haven't posted in a while. Like, a month. Mea culpa. I do apologize, but life got unexpectedly busy.

I am very pleased to announce that after 14 months of looking, I finally found the perfect opportunity! Starting October 29th, I have a new position as Human Resources Generalist. I won't be mentioning the company name as of yet, because I do not yet know how they feel about me linking myself to them via my blog. Suffice it to say that I am very excited for the opportunity, because it will let me dig right into the meat of HR best practices, and do what I do best.

The new position goes as follows:

My new org (let's call them Polaris for now- not the right name but convenient shorthand) is a family-owned org. Recently, the founder of the company turned it over to his offspring to run, who hired a CFO about six months ago. They are looking to make some pretty radical changes to company culture, hiring practices, performance management, compensation and benefits, etc. as a way of facilitating considerable corporate growth, and my job is to examine, revamp and revise pretty much all of the above.

Previously, their HR department has been one person without much background or education in HR, and Polaris is looking to change that up and bring in a more strategic HR function. There are considerable challenges to be overcome, and I look forward to the opportunity for change management on this kind of scale. It's going to be an amazing challenge for us to bring Polaris to where they want to be, but there seems to be huge buy-in among the executive and management teams to get us there.

In short, I'm going to be a very busy girl for a while, so I do apologize if this blog gets a bit neglected. I'll try not to go for months on end without posting, I promise. There's just going to be so much to get into, and I have a feeling I may need occasionally to be dragged away into the sunlight for a dose of Vitamin D and sanity, but fortunately, I have a hubby who is very good at supporting me when I need it, and at disabling my cell and internet access when I need that, too.

I can't wait!

Worst Interview Ever?

Well, maybe second worst. I had one some time ago where, crossing the road to get to my interview, I swallowed a faceful of gravel from a passing semi and spent the whole interview choking everytime I tried to speak. They were very understanding, but it's hard to come across as polished and confident when you're red-faced and teary-eyed.

I had a phone screening to do the other day. I had scheduled it for a convenient time, and brought up my resume, cover letter (tailored to the job listing, of course) and the job description. I was all set up and ready to go. I was prepared with a capital P.

Five minutes before the designated interview time, the fire alarm went off. And then again. And again. It seems that day was the day for the annual testing of the fire alarms, starting at 8:00 am. Apparently there had been a posted notification for it that I somehow didn't see at all.

I tried very hard during the interview to hope that the alarm wouldn't go off again. It kept going off on some kind of random interval and I knew this was going to be a relatively short interview.

No such luck.

In the midst of much shrilling of alarms and flashing of strobe lights (thank God it wasn't a Skype interview) I had to explain about the testing and apologize.

Thankfully, he laughed and commiserated with me about the perils of random alarm testing, and it must have gone ok because we did schedule an in-person interview for the end of the week.

What are your scary interview stories? Did it work out in the end, or not?

Everybody Hates HR...

...But they need us. Even if they don't think they do.

This report is a bit old now, but it's the PROFIT magazine's survey of Canadas 50 hottest companies, as measured mainly by revenue growth rate. The CEOs of these companies were asked what the most important factors were in sustaining their growth and their list's top two answers were 1) Retaining good staff and 2) Recruiting good staff. Top two on the list and they are major HR functions, but pick a company, almost any company, and canvass the staff, and I would bet you the opinions of HR (outside of the human resources department staff, obviously,) often be negative. Part of this, I think, stems from a seperation from the HR function and a lack of understanding of what it is HR actually does (besides hiring that idiot in accounting you couldn't stand, and firing people, that is- everybody knows HR does that) and part of it is because, at least in my own admittedly limited and anecdotal experience, a lot of companies aren't big on strategic HR, and their HR function is not especially well performed.

I think we HR pros have an uphill battle to fight. There are some extremely important strategic functions that HR performs, and properly-performed HR brings a lot to the table. I do believe that most companies are starting to realize the costs related to recruitment and retention, but where HR really needs to do the work is in showing that HR pros can do a better job with recruitment and retention. I know, I know, "metrics" might be one of the more overused buzz words in the HR world, but ultimately, metrics matter. They are the only way we really have to track and show the contribution that we are making to the bottom line of our organizations. If you want HR to matter to your CEO, you'd better be able to show him how you make a difference.

Here's one of the ways HR makes a difference.

Say you work for a fairly large organization that does not know how much turnover costs per employee, and maybe it doesn't even know exactly what its turnover rate is. All those retention-related costs get lumped in under general operating costs. Say this organization also generally pays its employees under the market rate, and hasn't performed a compensation survey in years- and it is finding itself with a major recruitment and retention problem. (Before you start complaining about this scenario being unrealistic- it isn't. I worked there, and I dealt with this exact situation.) Retention levels kept getting worse, even if nobody knew exactly how bad, more and more positions kept going unfilled for longer, and we didn't even know how much it was costing us. We just had a general sense of, "well, this is bad." Does this strike you as a good way to run your business?

That example might be a bit extreme, and I've had other HR folks tell me that I'm obsessed with data, but you know what? It's important. It matters. Having been in an organization with virtually no data, I have an unbelievable appreciation for what the numbers can tell you. It's pretty darn hard to be strategic going totally off of guesswork. And I'd be the first to tell you that HR is about a whole lot more than just recruitment- but recruitment and retention are the most important functions HR provides, because they are the functions that have the greatest impact on organizational performance. They are the functions that matter most to the CEO, ergo, they are the most important to HR, or should be. Otherwise it's no wonder HR gets looked at as out of touch.

So, I say, bring on the metrics, bring on the data, bring on the strategy. If HR wants a seat at the big boy table, we'd better be up to it.

Social Media Management

How do you manage your social media presence? Do you? If you're here, reading this blog, the answer is probably yes, or at least, you are interested in managing your social media presence.

It's not as obvious a question as it seems, I think. Not everyone out there puts much thought into their online presence, though that is changing as there are more and more high profile stories about social media and the impact it has on our personal and professional lives. The impact of Facebook goes far beyond ensuring you stay updated on Aunt Marge's latest kitty pictures, adorable though Whiskers may be.

I think most of us by now have heard the online hype about employers asking for your facebook passwords, and I think this practice is not exactly widespread, despite all the attention it has received. Certainly here in Canada, I've never personally heard of anyone using this practice, and I would hope I don't- this is a terrible hiring practice. As an employer, it would be pretty difficult to defend against allegations of discrimination on the basis of legally protected grounds if it were shown that I had demanded someone's Facebook password and in doing so, found out about a pregnancy, say, or religious status, national origin, sexual orientation, etc. You get the idea. These things are iffy enough if you merely google a prospective candidate's name to see what comes up.

The social media minefield is an issue no matter what side of the employee/employer divide you happen to be on, and, to mix my metaphors, the waters are murky at best. As an employer, you need to be careful about what you look up when, and as an employee or a candidate, you need to watch what you put out there for the world to see, because even if it's not exactly a best practice to demand access to your Facebook or other social media accounts, that doesn't necessarily mean it isn't going to happen. So what do you do, especially when we're hearing more and more about how those individuals without facebook accounts aren't to be trusted? (See a recent forbes article here about this.) I don't know.

Personally, I keep my Facebook private. I am searchable, but only my name and picture, because my Facebook account is strictly for personal use. You can find me quite easily on LinkedIn and Twitter, because that's professional, and intended to be public. Even with Facebook, though, I do try to monitor what I post. I always keep in mind that this is the internet, and there is never a guarantee of anonymity, and you can never be sure that something you've written is really gone, even after you hit delete. It means I have no problem adding my boss on Facebook- but then, I don't really post much there anyway. That's the balance that I've found, and it seems to work for me. I've also heard of people with multiple Facebook accounts as well, and that seems to work for them. I don't think there's one right answer- just think about whatever you do.

What do you do?

The Biggest Thing You're Doing Wrong When You Hire... Yes, You.

Not you, personally of course. I have no idea what your hiring practices are like, and it's entirely possible that you have the best hiring practices out there and a wonderful track record with just the right level of retention. But if that's so, I do have to wonder a little bit what you're doing here reading this blog. Shouldn't you be writing your own blog or book, or just generally cashing in on your wonderful hiring secrets?

Or maybe some of the following situation sounds familiar.

You have an unexpected job opening, because someone gave notice, you had to let someone go, business grew more that expected, etc. You need to fill this position, preferably soon, and having the vacancy is causing you some stress. Maybe it's not the biggest issue on your plate at the moment, but it's a constant low level irritation, a reminder that certain things are not getting done and the workload is piling up. Maybe you don't have that unexpected job opening just yet, but you know you will soon, because someone is going on mat leave, or back to school, or something.

So, you start by digging out your job description. Maybe you have a job ad template that you already use, maybe you make one up, maybe you call HR or your recruitment firm. You get your ad out there. You post on working.com or monster.ca, or craisglist. You post on your organization's career page. Maybe, possibly, you post on LinkedIn or twitter. And the resumés start coming in, through your ATS or your email.

Suddenly, you have stacks of resumés to sort through. Some of them look pretty good, some of them are terrible, and some of them are in between. You sort your piles and start calling your potential candidates, and some of them don't want to travel so far, some of them want way more money than you can offer, and some of them don't call you back. Some of them come in for interviews and are awful, some of them don't show up. You're getting a headache now, everytime you think of your unfilled position, because all you really want is someone who can do the job. Sure, you'd love a superstar candidate, but at this point, you'd settle for competent if it meant you didn't have to deal with the interviews and the resumés and the whole bit.

Then you interview a candidate who seems decent. Reasonably qualified, personable, etc. You're so relieved, because this one could be the one. You just want to fill the role. And your candidate has several years of industry experience, knows the software you use, and is extroverted and personable. So you make your candidate an offer, and voila, you have yourself a new employee.

And then it all starts to go wrong. Your new employee seems to be really disorganized, stressed out, and alienates your customers and fellow employees. Chronic lateness becomes a problem, and performance is simply not up to par. Ultimately, you have to let your new hire go and start the process all over again.

Bad hires cost a lot. Think about all the time and money invested in trying to recruit somebody in the first place, the salary costs of paying someone who simply isn't up to par, performance-wise, the lost customers due to poor service, and now you're right back where you started, with another round of recruiting in front of you. But we tend to get so stressed out about having an opening and all of the stress surrouding recruitment that we jump on hiring a candidate who interviews well without maybe doing everything we could do in order to determine if our potential candidate is a good fit.

Hiring too quickly is the single biggest mistake you can make, and it is potentially a very expensive one, not to mention a waste of effort. Spending more time with a position unfilled, if it means you end up with a better candidate, is a better way to go. Don't rush to hire, don't take shortcuts from your usual, well-thought-out interview and selection process. Don't skip the reference check "just this once" and don't ever assume that hiring someone you have reservations about is better than leaving the role empty, because in a lot of cases, it simply isn't true. This holds true whether you're the hiring manager who has to oversee the vacant role or whether you're the recruiter trying to find good candidates. Don't hire quickly- hire well.

Of course, if you're losing your good candidates because they have other offers by the time you get around to making your own offer, well, you may have the opposite problem. But that's a post for another day.

What I Really Want

How many of you out there have read that you should follow your passion in your life? How many of you feel that you are really passionate about what you do/would like to be doing?

For me, I don't think the answer is quite as simple as follow your passion. For one thing, you'd better find a way to make your passion pay the bills, and for another, your passion better be something you are at least somewhat good at, or have the potential to be good at, if you want to spend your life doing it. And sometimes, doing what you love isn't enough. For instance, I think it's fair to say I'm passionate about food. I love to cook, and will happily spend the whole day preparing a meal for friends or family, trying new recipes. I delight in farmer's markets and funky little restaurants. However, I've never pursued a professional career in cooking, and I doubt I ever will, because there are too many other things about a professional career as a chef, etc. that I would not enjoy, and because I'm afraid my enjoyment of cooking for friends and family would be less as a result of a professional career in cooking for others.

What I want in a job is not so much the specifics of what I'll be doing, but that I have a job that I enjoy going to. Maybe not everyday, because we all have moments lying there in a nice cosy bed when that alarm is going off where all we want to do is go back to sleep, but generally. And for me, I've managed to figure out what that means. That means a job where I get to interact with people, for one. That means a job where I have some a variety of things to do, and a role that grows and changes as I do, because I thrive on a challenge and despise being bored. That means a role where I get some say in how I do things, and where I can constantly learn new skills. It means problem-solving, and using my brain and my skills to find solutions. It also means a job in HR because I really, truly enjoy what I do, and know that good HR makes a huge difference to the culture and working environment of any organization.

If you are passionate enough about what you do that other people get bored when you start nattering on about it, that to me is a sign that you're in the right place, doing what's right for you. So I'll continue to try to make a difference in HR, and I will continue to cook for friends and family, and that will make me happy.

What makes you happy?

NKE Results

I am very pleased to announce that I am now officially a CHRP Candidate, having passed the NKE with 81%. The official pass rate was 65%, so I did quite well and am very happy with that.

I may write the NPPA next June, but I will wait and see as the CHRP program is being revised due to the new experience requirements. I want to see how that process works, but I may be able to obtain the designation through the experience assessment instead, so we shall see.

I hope everyone else did well, and I wish luck and good studying to all those writing next October!

Beer, Batman and Business

I had an interesting conversation about hiring the other day.

I had met up with my hubby and some friends at the pub, and was a little later getting there than everybody else, so that by the time I had arrived, they were mid-appies and mid-debate. I walked in on a rather spirited debate about compensation and ethics, and so naturally I jumped right in.

It's worth mentioning first that these were my husband's fencing club buddies, who I have met only a couple of times, and who have no idea about my background in HR. It's also worth noting that a fair amount of beer had been consumed already by the time I got there, and that, as far as I know, none of those involved actually do any hiring of their own.

When I first sat down, the conversation was revolving around the hypothetical situation of a billionaire business owner (and I am very sure that this one was a completely hypothetical situation, and that there is no hidden billionaire lurking in the university fencing club) with a business manager of some sort who is negotiating a new salary. The debate centered specifically around the ethics and advisability of paying him $70,000 a year (as he or she apparently has asked) while knowing that you would be willing to pay up to $150,000 per year for the value he adds to your organization. One point seemed to be that the decision to pay $70,000 per year was both ethical and advisable, as you (as the billionaire, though why the business owner should have to be a billionaire was not mentioned and may have had more to do with the quantity of beer consumed than anything) are paying your employee exactly what he has asked you for. The other side of the debate seemed to be that the decision was not ethical, because you were working from more knowledge than the business manager, as you knew you were willing to pay more than double his asking price.

My contribution? I asked them who had done the market research for jobs of this type, our billionaire business owner or the manager, because having a salary range that was that far apart indicated that one or the other of them must be too stupid to find out what a position like that is actually worth in the labour market.

They told me that wasn't the point of the exercise, and the conversation segued into a discussion about the ethics (from a utilitarian standpoint) of being the man who murdered batman's parents. Which maybe explains the billionaire.