I like to think that my job as a trainer is somewhat similar to that of doctors. They treat people in one way, I treat them in another. There are various solutions for various problems, but the intervention has to be right for the problem, or else the problem will just worsen. Some of their patients come dead on arrival; some of mine come dead on arrival too! Well that is in a manner of speaking. They are of course alive but their state of mind sometimes makes me feel that they are as hopeless as those who come to hospitals dead! I wish too that there are clear signs that they are among those hopeless like no pulse or no heart beat, or no head… so that we don’t have to waste our time reviving them but they hide under the veil of false interest. I hope they’d say at introduction that they are likely not going to learn anything so that I can focus more on those who are likely to benefit from the course… I suspect that if they do tell me they are dead on arrival this is how they will introduce themselves:
“Hi, my name is Brian, Brian Dead. I’m Irritated to be here. Leadership training right? I am here not because I want to, but because my boss wants me to! I clearly stated in the training needs analysis questionnaire that I am such an expert in leadership and yet there he went, enrolling me in this program. I mean what more can this program offer? I’ve attended so many programs in leadership and have known of so many theories and concepts about leadership that I think I can teach leadership myself. I think the reason why my boss sent me here is because he thinks I'm such a lousy leader. He probably asked my staff how well I'm doing and the traitors told him they're not happy with my leadership."
“Hi, my name is Chloe, Chloe Less. I’m happy to be here. I was the best sales person in the company. They promoted me to leadership position and that's when everything started to crumble. I know this training will not help me, you know why? I don't want this job. I want to go back to selling where I'm really able to use my talent right."
“Hi My name is Kent, Kent Relate. I love to attend training programs like this. Its stimulating and self enriching, you get to learn about stuff such as leadership. You get to realize what you have been doing wrong all these time. It’s both a fulfilling and humbling experience… You know what my problem is? I can already see that I won't be able to apply most of what I learned here because my boss won't allow it. My staff will think I'm acting weird if I start behaving differently. So, as much as I will most likely appreciate what I will learn from this course, I'm too much of a wimp to make some personal changes."
“Hi, I’m Dead Tired. Of course that’s not my name! but that’s what I am right now… I had night duty and before that I had to do something else. I like so much to attend this training and know more about leadership but please if I fall asleep, wake me up. If you can’t wake me up, please tone down your voice so I can… I can… (snore)…”
“Hi, I shouldn’t be here! I have tons of work waiting on my table, is this a three-day training? May I be excused once in a while to check on my stuff? I haven’t taken any of my leave credits and I think I forgot to turn off the stove this morning! Hold on…(phone call) Of course, I’m on it. I just had to attend this training! What do you mean what am I doing here? Didn’t I just tell you? Hold your line! (another call)Yes ma’am? I am here in the training program you enrolled me in. What? I have to go back to the office after the session? I have to finish my report? But, but, but? Ok, yes ma’am I’ll go there right after the training… (to the trainer) Do you have training on stress management?”
I’m trying to be funny here but I hope you realize that these circumstances surface during training. I’ve seen too many of them! . Training is an investment of time money and effort from all those who have a stake in it, the participant included. To send people who are not training ready – those who do not recognize the need, those who are not right for the job, those who are not given enough chance to learn, is a waste of those precious investment.
I believe that those responsible for sending people to training has this difficult but necessary responsibility. In the case of my character “Brian Dead”, they need to determine if training is the right intervention for the person. In order to prevent cases similar to “Chloe Less”, they need to device a strategy for appointing the right person for the job. Interventions won’t make the wrong persons good at what they do. In the case of “Kent Relate”, a good support mechanism is necessary because training is a lot about change, when there’s none of it, there will be more people who appreciate a training program but will be afraid to apply the knowledge at work. In the case of my “dead-tired, and stressed out participant, managers must realize that the mental condition ideal for learning is one that is not too tired or too occupied with so many other things. After all, training is all about learning and not just attending. Some managers think that sending their employees to training will automatically equip them with the skills that they need, if they don’t get that they blame the program or the facilitator.
Let me get a bit more serious here… Covey said in his book 7 Habits of highly effective people that there is a gate of change in every one of us that opens from the inside. The training facilitator no matter how good in all his effort won’t be able to open it without our consent. It takes the right mindset and the right state of mind to learn anything… as they say…”when the student is ready, the teacher will appear…
Note: Many thanks to Eric Ingrum for the zombie photo.
I have been conducting training for 14 years and facilitating team building workshops for more than 10 years. I have done all sorts of team building approaches. I facilitated indoor and outdoor activities, ropes course, paintball, amazing race types and a mix of everything. I followed most of the teams I worked with to see if they succeeded in building teamwork or not. And just like not all those who buy self-help books really get to help themselves, not all of those who go to team building workshops help themselves to become effective teams.
What differentiates those who succeed from those who fail to fully harness their team strength?
Two things; leadership and execution (although the latter also boils down to the former)
Leaders area able to follow through, relentlessly on whatever is needed to build the team.
I've always said that going through a team building workshop and then not following through is worse than not going at all. Why? Because it erodes trust to a much lower level than before you did your team building activity. That's definitely not a good thing.
If you are an HR Manager or a Team Leader and you want to build a high performing team, I have five suggestions you might want to add to your to do list:
First, understand the role you play as a leader in building your team. Some managers send their teams to team building workshops expecting that it would turn them into droids who will follow every command without complaining. Some think team building workshops are attitude adjustment events suitable only to their staffs and not to them. They go to the workshop, give an opening remarks then leave or stay in the sidelines. All these come from lack of understanding of the nature of teamwork. As far as I am concerned, it is the leaders who need to make the biggest attitude adjustment if they want better teamwork. If you need help in equipping your managers and supervisors for building high performance teams, click here. I'll be more than happy to help.
Second, pick a team building intervention that is not only fun but one that allows your team to agree on a set of norms to build trust, manage conflicts, demonstrate commitment, be accountable for their actions, and focus on results (Patrick Lencioni, 5 Dysfunctions of a Team). A good team building workshop will not only help participants learn about team working principles, it should help them take specific actions after the workshop to work more effectively as a team. Check out ExeQserve's team building workshop design based on this framework.
Third, follow through on whatever action items were committed during the team building workshop. Managers should meet their team at least a week after the workshop and talk about implementation of norms. Setup a number of review meetings to assess execution of commitments. I believe that team work is not achieved overnight. It takes some painstaking nurturing and shaping from the leader to make it happen. As John Maxwell said. Everything rises and falls on leadership, hence, the leader must actively pursue this.
Fourth: In my experience, particularly with Filipino teams, having norms for open communication is not always enough. Our culture have a very different definition of respect for authority.( See my post on creating a culture of candor and assertiveness in the Filipino Workplace) To be assertive in a Filipino workplace is to risk being branded as disrespectful, griper or too radical for one's own good. To increase the amount of productive collaboration in the team, it helps for every team member ( yes, including the leader) to learn assertive communication skills. If you see your team as having the need to communicate more effectively, please check out this link.
Last but not the least, it helps to have systems and processes that harness the power of teamwork. Programs like Kaizen, Quality Circles and the likes help teams put more structure and regularity to team collaboration. It also helps teams focus their energy towards improvements. If you like this idea, please see our program for implementing the 8D approach to team problem solving and decision making.
Let me reemphasize that everything rises and falls on leadership. The success in building a high performing team depends on the leader's ability to lead. Kouzes and Posner ably encapsulated leadership as inspiring a shared vision, modeling the way, enabling others to act, challenging the process and encouraging the heart. These are all learned skills. Have your leaders learn them.
You may download ExeQserve's complete Team Culture Building Program here.
This is the fourth and last of the series on transitioning to strategic HR but definitely not the last time I'm going to write about it. Please read the three previous posts to appreciate this proposal in its totality.
So, aside from the usual HR skills, what other competencies should a strategic HR have? Let me share with you what I think are core. If you think I'm missing some, please feel free to contribute by adding a comment below.
Here's my list.
Strategic Planning
HR should devote some amount of time on learning strategic planning specially from an HR's vantage point. HR should be able to participate in company-wide planning sessions by creating its own plan that responds to and align with the organization's strategic direction. If the company is taking a particulars strategy to achieve it's growth goal, HR should be able to respond to questions like, how many people is needed to perform that strategy? How many of them are here? How many are not? What kind of skills are available? What can we develop, what can we buy from outside? What kind of HR programs should be put in place to ensure consistent alignment with the goals?
Business Savvy
HR cannot continue to think of and implement all sorts of programs and be oblivious of business realities. Every HR action has a corresponding cost attach to it. HR then should always consider returns for every HR-related investments it makes or proposes. HR should learn the language of the business and use it to communicate with management. This is the only way for both parties to fully appreciate HR strategies vis-a-vis organizational strategies.
Mindfulness
In order for the strategic partnership to prosper, HR should be seen as a trusted ally by all, and by all I mean management and employees. HR should be seen as "pro-what's-right" rather than pro-management or pro-labor. If everyone is clear about what HR stands for, they should be able to appreciate HR's action more. In order for HR to successfully demonstrate this, HR needs to communicate a lot. It should be able to explain the wisdom of all it's action. It's not hard when HR is clear about it's values and is able to demonstrate that value with integrity.
Relationship Building
I believe that HR (or any leader for that matter) should operate from a position of influence rather than authority. If HR is to build good working relationship with other managers and the rest of the organization, it cannot throw it's weight around by being impervious to feedback or criticism. HR has to be consultative and attuned to how the rest of the organization is feeling. Propose and sell HR programs and policies, do not impose them. Welcome comments most importantly complaints because that is the best way to improve how things are done within the department. Make friends, don't be distant. I personally propose that you let people call you by your first name rather than ma'am or sir as a lot Filipinos are accustomed to. It will break down invisible barriers like you never imagined.
Change Management
A strategic HR is accustomed to change. The organization that a Strategic HR supports goes through whatever HR related changes smoothly because HR knows change management. I personally recommend that HR looks at all the changes it is implementing using John Kotter's Change Management model as a guide. People are naturally resistant to change they do not understand and have no skill to apply with. Communicate heavily and equip people with the necessary skills. I wrote about the role of this model in my last post, please take time to read it.
Risk Management
A strategic HR is not risk averse, neither is it careless and hasty. Use a methodology for identifying the risks of all your HR actions and incorporate it in your change management plan.
Project Management
Guilty! is my plea and I'm sure a lot of other HR practitioners too on the accusation that our HR programs are almost always behind schedule. There is a lot of reasons (eherm! excuses) for the delay and a lot of them, we will point out to be external. A good project manager identifies all these and work on an implementation plan with all the variables in mind. We should really learn better project management folks!
Technology Savvy
The world of HR is very dynamic. A lot of changes and technological breakthroughs are happening. However, not a lot of them are fully appreciated and applied because a lot of us (I speak from experience) are uninterested. How many of us are using Balanced Score Card? 360 Degrees feedback, sounds familiar? HRIS, Intranet, paperless transactions, telecommuting, blogging, social networking,Online learning or webinars, CBT, blended learning... I can go on and on with new technologies for HR to manage human resources better. A lot of these information are available on the web, most of them free but there only few takers. Take them, run away with them.
If you are serious about giving relevant contribution to the success of your organization, keep all these in mind. And as I said if you have any additional competencies in mind, fire away! I'd like to hear it.
This is a third of a series. Please read my two previous posts so you can appreciate this one more.
"Where do we begin?" I heard this question right after I went down from the stage during the 3rd HR Philippines Convention where I was asked to speak about how to transition from transactional to strategic HR. Right there and then I realized I missed talking about something very important. That is my main motivation for writing this post.
Where is ground zero? How do we make the first step? and the next? HR can't suddenly wake up one day and say to the boss, "Boss, we've decided to go strategic so we expect you to support a lot of changes that are going to happen from now on." Let me share with you an actual experience I had helping one HR Department play a more strategic role in their organization.
It of course all started with a decision. The HR Department said they want to play a more strategic role and realized they needed help. They called a team of HR Consultants to help them. That team included me.
As consultants, our first step was to determine how far they've gone with their HR work and found that they are in fact doing mostly transactional activities with a sporadic instances of doing more strategic work as they were allowed to do. we designed a sort of a crash course on developing a strategic HRD plan that ran for five days. After the workshop we guided the HR team in the process of actually developing and implementing their strategic HRD Plan. We followed Kotter's 8-step change management process to ensure that all the necessary changes are identified and fall into place. From here on, I will tell my story using Kotter's model.
Step 1:Create Urgency - HRD talked to management. They said that they are doing mostly transactional work. With management's support and the cooperation of the rest of the organization, HR can play the role of a strategic partner that can help the company get the most out of its human capital. They laid out the transition plan to management that looks like this:
- They will conduct focus group discussion with managers to determine their perception of HR's roles and to find out what they expect if HR is to play a more strategic role in the organization.
- The expectations will be presented to mancom together with a strategic plan that details how these expectations will be met.
- they will craft a set of HR Philosophy, Principles and goals in partnership with line management to ensure that all these are aligned with the organizational goals and strategic direction.
- They will carry out a well studied change management plan to ensure that all changes are acceptable and doable.
Step 2: Form powerful coalition - When HR presented to the whole management team its strategic plan, they can't help but agree because a lot of the things HR said need to be done came straight from them. HR made sure that the line managers are with them all the way so HR said that all the policies and procedures born out of the new plan will be done in collaboration with the line managers and in consultation with representatives from various sectors of the organization. In a nut shell, the approach was both iterative and collaborative. The line managers liked the idea.
Step 3: Create a vision for change - Everyone wants goal clarity. HR devised a set of HR philosophy, principles and vision to vividly describe the results of the new strategic partnership between HR and the line. These exercise made it clear to everyone in the management team that HR Management is not the sole province of the HR Department but a shared function between them and the line managers.
Step 4: Communicate the change - HR presented to management a plan on how it will communicate the changes before and as they happen to make sure that everyone is on the same page, understands and appreciates what HR is doing and the role the line plays in each stage. They used all possible channels including, office memos, emails, discussion forums, bulletin boards and focus group discussions.
Step 5: Remove obstacles - HR realized that any obstacle to their plans are born out of misunderstanding and lack of capability, either theirs or those of the recipients of HR services. HR came up with avenues for feedback mechanism and engaged people in dialogues. They made it easy for people to raise their concerns and their reason for whatever unwillingness they have so HR can better understand them. HR also made training an important component of each change to make sure that line managers are not only appreciative of the change but are also equipped to play their role. For example, HR made sure that managers don't only have full appreciation of the new Performance Management System but are equipped to take on a performance manager's role. They taught the Managers how to do behavioral interviews so managers can put their traditional questions to rest and start being more strategic in their screening of candidates. These strategies helped HR relieve managers and employees of worries about the new HR actions.
Step 6: Create Short-term wins - Because HR's strategic plan was so clearly drawn, everyone knows when a milestone is achieved. They celebrated each milestone, recognizing not only the people in HR who made it happen but everyone in the line who contributed. This helped strengthen line championing of HR strategic actions.
Step 7: Build on the change - We realized how important it is to build continuous improvement into the systems and procedures HR created. They made sure that multi-sectoral evaluation of the newly implemented programs were done. This helped ensure that policies and procedures are changed before they become obsolete.
Step 8:Institutionalize the change in the culture - HR included the changes in the company orientations and on boarding programs. The needed HR skills to help line managers play their HR roles were made part of the company's management development program. Newly promoted supervisors and managers undergo HR briefing so they know at the very onset that HR is not a department and that HR Management is a shared role between them and the HR Department.
The steps towards becoming a more strategic partner is not cast in stone. There are no hard and fast rules. You can come up with your own strategy or borrow from what I shared here, it doesn't matter. What matters is you take the first step and never stop until you are able to achieve your goal. You will face a lot of discouraging barriers like doubts and resistance, you should not let these things stop you. Playing a strategic HR partner role will sometimes feel like you are leading from the middle. It's true, get used to it.
Next post: From Transactional to Strategic HR, The Needed Competencies.
Watch out for it!
This is the second post of a series. Please see my previous post here.
If HR is to remain relevant, it has to play some relevant roles in the organization. In order to play relevant roles, HR has to change its mindset.
Here are some observations. Companies are beginning to outsource some of the most traditional of HR tasks like recruitment and training. They are also automating most of HR transactions from timekeeping, records keeping, to benefits administrations. There are now HRIS that enable HR administration transactions with as little paper and human intervention as possible. On several occasions line managers call me for some interventions because they recognize that their own HR can't help them. I am now going full swing on marketing total HR outsourcing so that companies can take advantage of my network of consultants with varying expertise including strategic HR planning that they can avail on a limited engagement. We can do all these while we relieve them of their menial HR tasks so they can concentrate on the business at hand. I dare say that there will always be a market for our brand of service for as long as there are HR managers who refuse to see the signs of the times.
It is in deed sad to note that many HR practitioners are still stuck with the administrative nature of HR work rather than it’s strategic side which the business needs considering the toughening competition in the market place. A lot of us still measure our performance in terms of done/ not done when we should be measuring the impact of our contributions to business results. Let me cite some examples:
Some HR Managers are still stuck with the administrative aspect of recruitment when the real battle is in building the right strategy for defining requirements, strategic sourcing, acquiring reliable screening tools and equipping managers to choose well.
Some HR Managers still cannot respond well to the training needs of the organization because they are boxed-in by costly traditional training approaches that don’t bring in business results. No wonder training is the first to go every time companies have to cut cost. HR Managers who think strategically out of the box will easily solve the dilemma between training needs and training cost.
Here are some more comparison between transactional and Strategic HR Mindsets
- Timeliness of delivery vs job fit in hiring
- Use of gut feel vs systematic hiring process
- training hours Vs skills application as measure of training performance
- stuck to traditional training methods Vs. use varied training approaches
- Done/not done Vs Impact as measurement of employee relations activities
- No career and succession plan Vs. having well thought out one
- Performance Appraisal Vs. Performance Management
- Generic Vs. Customized performance management strategies
- Form-oriented Vs. Goal and discussion oriented performance appraisals.
- misaligned Vs. aligned and integrated human resource management and development system.
- How are HR activities aligned with organizational directions and objectives?
- How can your recruitment strategy have a positive impact on organizational results?
- How do you help employees acquire the necessary skills to do their jobs well and how do you make sure that they are using these skills?
- How do you lessen the impact of attrition on business continuity?
- How do you help managers manage their team members' performance better?
- How can you contribute to employee retention?
- How do you leverage technology to make your HR services more efficient and user-friendly?
- How can HR help improve the strategic partnership between them and the rest of the organization?
If you notice, all of these are "how" questions and the expectations are all results-oriented. I believe this is the mindset HR must embrace if it is to serve well as a strategic partner to the organization.
The increasing demand of business to align all its investments with results, the advent of technology and availability of outsourcing services requires that HR take a new look at its role, stop resisting the need to change and then change. Question is, are you?
On my next post, I will answer the question "From Transactional to Strategic HR, Where Do We Begin?"
Abangan!
I spoke about the topic in the recently concluded 3rd HR Philippines Convention last October 21, 2009. This article is to share what I said there and some of the ideas I was not able to mention during my presentation. This will come in several installments so as not to bore you with an overly long post. Today I'm going to focus on the challenge that many Filipino HR Practitioners face related to the topic.
In my presentation, I started by sharing what Jack Welch said in the Society for Human Resources Management Conference in the US that HR should be right up there with the CFO. I acknowledged that there are several organizations in the Philippines where the HR Managers play such a pivotal role. However, in many other companies, HR is relegated or not empowered enough to make a relevant contribution to the company's strategic direction. There is a real challenge for many of us to transition from doing purely transactional activities that can be automated or outsourced to becoming the organization's strategic partner for growth.
I posted two current problems with today's HR in the Philippines. One is that HR has too little power and too little influence in the organization. In many organizations, HR is a glorified clerk who undertake all other tasks that do not fall under operations and finance. Many of us also do not have the ability to move from that position to that of being a strategic partner because of a lack of competency to do so. We do not have a solid understanding of the business we are in, worse some of us do not have a solid understanding of the business, period.
On the other hand, I've met HR practitioners who wield too much formal power but lack the necessary influence to be taken seriously. What do I mean? I've seen HR Managers who write and impose all sorts of policies without working in partnership with the line. They tend to end up being scoffed at and reviled for coming up with initiatives that people don't understand, don't appreciate and of course, don't take seriously. Some HR Managers act as the police, judge and executioner of company discipline. I don't agree that HR should play this role. I believe that HR can't play the strategic partner role if line managers hide behind them whenever these things have to be done. Some of the indicators that HR has too much formal power but has no influence are the following:
- Recruitment procedures are not followed because managers don't see the connection between filling out forms and hiring the right people.
- Managers make all sorts of excuses not to send their employees to training because they don't see how training will improve their staff's performance.
- They do performance appraisal to comply with HR's instruction and not to manage people's performance.
- The company's code of discipline is the butt of many jokes (and the line managers are the ones laughing the loudest).
- Line managers will realize how important it is for them to explain clearly their recruitment requirements so HR don't have to guess what they need and want.
- Line managers will actually appreciate the screening reports given by HR and use it as one of the bases for hiring. They will also learn how to properly interview applicants and refrain from asking stupid questions like "how will you sell ice to an eskimo in the North pole?"
- Line Managers will send their employees to training that HR programmed because these courses were deemed by both to be important. Not only that, Managers will support the training with ongoing coaching and mentoring.
- Line Managers will realize that performance appraisal is a small portion of a larger intervention called Performance Management. They will realize that it's intent is not only to serve as a basis for salary review but to actually align employees' performance with the organization's direction.
- Line Managers will appreciate the importance of the company policies and will lead the way on compliance because they participated in writing these polices. They are also equipped to act on employees indiscretion because they are trained to maintain discipline in the workplace. HR doesn't have to act as the company's school principal anymore. (No offense meant for school principals).
1.From Transactional to Strategic, A Change in HR Mindset
2. From Transactional to Strategic HR, Where Do We Begin?
3. From Transactional to Strategic HR, The Needed Competencies
TICK-TOCK, TICK-TOCK, TICK-TOCK...
If you are an HR Practitioner working in the Philippines or a manager in a company with no HR department and you haven't signed up for the upcoming convention on October 21 and 22, let me give you some reasons to sign up.
First and not necessarily the most important, I'm talking about transitioning from having strictly transactional HR Role to becoming the Strategic HR partner of the organization. This is important, why? Because the world of work is changing. Companies need to put their money where their mouth is when they say that their human resources are their best asset because it's true. If human resources are not your best asset, they are your worst liability. Human Resource practitioners need to step in and make an impact in the organization. This is of course easier said than done. You don't go to sleep one day a transactional HR and wake up a strategic HR. Wanna know what it will take for you step in to this role effectively? Join me on October 21.
Who else are worth seeing in that momentous event? Anna Maria "Penny" Bongato, who is the Director for Human Resources and Administration at Logica, one of the leading multinational IT companies and a Director at People Management Association of the Philippines will talk about "Strategic Talent Planning".
Immediate Past President of Philippine Society for Training and Development and trainer extra ordinaire, Joselito "Jet" Nera will share his vast experience in organization development when he talks about the HR's role in managing organizational changes.
As the world economy turns into it's tumultuous state, the need for HR to influence the organization to engage in activities that help the community becomes apparrent. Dr. Leonardo “Nards” Garcia, Jr., CPM –DEAN, Lyceum of the Philippines University will cover this topic.
A representative from Watson Wyatt will share some very useful information on the "Real Cost of Employee Investment" (Balancing variable and fixed).
Randell Tiongson, a Personal Finance Coach, President and COO of Personal Finance Advisers Philippines Corporation will share his insights on how HR can help employees become more mindful of their money by investing and spending wisely. Why is this important? As the economic crunch intensifies, employees need to manage their finances more or else their income will always be lacking. You and I know what that means.
We will start the second day of the convention with a panel discussion on the effects of Web 2.0 (i.e, blogging, social networking and the Internet at large) to our human resources. Should we allow it or ban it like many other companies do? What can HR do to capitalize this technology? How to do we avoid abuses? Our panelists composed of who's who of Philippine Web 2.0 namely Janet Toral, of E-Commerce Philippines, Inc., Carlo Ople of Friendster and Jayvi Fernandes, to be moderated by another seasoned HR professional and Web 2.0 enthusiast Sonnie Santos and of course your's truly.
In break out sessions, Business Maker Academy Vice President, Karen Cyndy Meghrajani-Sajwani will share some new technologies in training, Viventis CEO, Yu Ming Chin will share some of the latest trends in recruitment and sourcing and Sonnie Santos, VP-HR of CATS Motors, Inc.. will talk about how we can set up our HR Policies to manage the use of social media in the work place.
The second half of the second day will see Atty. Emerico de Guzman of ACCRA Law office sharing some of the latest Labor Jurisprudence which I'm sure a lot of you will be interested in hearing. Donald Lim, CEO of Yehey Corporation will talk about how HR can help build an organizational culture by sharing his own experience at Yehey. Rizalino Rivera, a member of the Board of Directors at Splash Corporation will talk about what values HR practitioners should embrace as they work for the interest of the company and the employees.
If this does not whet your appetite for some HR learning, I don't know what will.
MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS NOW! CALL US AT;
ARIVA! Seminar & Convention Organizers
895-8058 / 895-9527 / 890-9651
Call/Text: 0917-3257870 Dou: 022114363
By the way, we are throwing in a lot of prizes and surprises to ensure you get SO MUCH MORE than your money's worth in this event. Seats are limited so don't wait too long.
"It’s back in Manila!"
Note to my regular readers: This blog is paving the way for this important assignment. I believe immensely in the intention of this event. If you are an HR professional practicing in the Philippines, I invite you to attend this program as you are sure to benefit from it.
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The HR Philippines Convention will be coming to Manila again after the huge successful Convention in 2007 and in Davao in 2008 which attracted over 350 HR Professionals from leading companies.
Join the hundreds of HR Professionals who participate in the Annual HR Philippines National Convention to enhance their core skills & competence and to stay ahead of evolving trends.
Convention Overview:
Human Resource Management has evolved through the years, from transactional to people management champion. And now with the advent of technology and changes on business landscape, HR must again adapt to be relevant.
Convention Objectives:
1. Learn how others position the traditional HR silos to be strategic.
2. Understand web 2.0 and how you can use this in people management
3. Learn the latest SC labor jurisprudence
4. Learn the latest trends in HR
Don't miss these event take- aways:
1. Learn from HR practitioners on how they adapt to the ever changing business environment
2. Engage in break out sessions and develop action plans you can implement in your organization
3. Share your ideas with other participants, and stay networked with others who share similar goals
Convention Highlights:
Day 1: October 21, 2009 - Function Room 1, SMX Convention Center
Plenary: "HR’s Strategic Impact On Bottom-line Results" *Albert G. Mateo, Jr., President & Country Manager - Pfizer Philippines
Breakout Session:
Session 1: Strategic Talent Planning & Acquisition: “Getting the Right People: How Do We Get SMARTER In Our Recruitment Habits? Resource Speaker: Anna Maria “Penny” Bongato, Logica CMG (Phil.), Inc.
Session 2: Performance-Based Reward System: “Building a Performance-Driven Organization. Ensuring that People Contribute”
Session 3: Organization Development: “Managing Organizational Change: A Culture That Transforms Organizations” Resource Speaker: Joselito “Jet” Nera, SH!NE JG Nera Consulting and Past President - Phil. Society for Training & Development
Session 4: “How to Transition from Transactional to Strategic HR” Resource Speaker: Edwin C. Ebreo, President - ExeQserve Corporation
Session 5: “The Real Costs of Employee Investments: Balancing Variable and Fixed”
Resource Speaker: *Representative from Watson Wyatt Worldwide
Session 6: Corporate Social Responsibility and HR Implications: “Advocacy Management: Enhancing Corporate Social Responsibility” Resource Speaker: Dr. Leonardo “Nards” Garcia, Jr., CPM –DEAN, Lyceum of the Philippines University
Day 2: October 22, 2009 - Function Room 1, SMX Convention Center
Plenary (Panel Discussion) : “HR 2.0: HR Amidst New Technology”
Resource Speakers:
- Janette Toral, Owner - E-CommercePhilippines.com
- Jayvee Fernandez
- Carlo Ople - Level Up
Breakout Session:
Session 1: "New Trends in Training and Technology"
Resource Speaker: Cindy Meghrajani-Sajwani, Executive Vice President - Businessmaker Academy, Inc.
Session 2: "Latest Trends in Recruitment and Sourcing"
Resource Speaker: Yu Ming Chin, Executive Director, Viventis Search Asia
Session 3: "HR Policies On Use of Social Media"
Resource Speaker: Sonnie Santos, Assistant Vice President, HR – CATS Motors, Inc.
Plenary:
Topic: "Labor Jurisprudence"
Resource Speaker: Atty. Emerico O. de Guzman, Sr. Partner – ACCRA Law Office and Past President of PMAP
Topic:"Building an Organizational Culture"
Resource Speaker: Donald Patrick L. Lim, President and CEO – Yehey.com
Topic: "Embracing HR Values and Ethics"
Resource Speaker: Rizalino Rivera, Independent Director - Splash Corporation / Cluster Head, HR – Ateneo Professional School
(*speakers to be confirmed)
Gain a solid grasp of all aspects of human resources management and ensure your success by joining us at the 3rd HR Philippines National Convention
Theme: H.R. 2.0 Bringing HR to the Next Level
on October 21 - 22, 2009 (8:30AM - 5:30PM)
at the SMX Convention Center, Mall of Asia, Pasay City
Your Learning Investment for the 2-Day Convention
HR Phil. YahooGroup Member: P2,498 + VAT per seat
Early Bird Rate: P3,388 + VAT per seat
(Pay on or before September 21, 2009)
Regular Rate: P3,888 + VAT per seat
(Starting September 22, 2009)
On-Site Rate: P4,088 + VAT per seat
LEARNING INVESTMENT INCLUDES:
A "Fun-filled" Learning Experience, complete with Convention Kits, Souvenir Programs, Certificates and Freebies!! plus... AM Snack, Sumptuous Lunch & PM Snacks!
"We are accepting payments via all major credit cards."
MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS NOW! CALL US AT;
ARIVA! Seminar & Convention Organizers
895-8058 / 895-9527 / 890-9651
Call/Text: 0917-3257870 Dou: 022114363
Email: SuccessSeminars@Ariva.com.ph
R E G I S T E R O N L I N E: www.Ariva.com.ph
I was tempted to write "when is training a waste of time?" but decided it isn't constructive so I got this instead. The truth is a lot of training intervention, important as they are fail to add value to the organization because they are not set up right. Here are a few suggestions that will help you get your training money's worth:
First, make sure that your training programs run parallel with company improvement initiatives. For example, sending your employees to customer service training won't improve the quality of your customer service if it is not attached to a service enhancement program. I've seen this too many times. It pains me to see employees inspired by attending a program and ready to adapt to the enhancements on the floor but nothing happens, leaving them frustrated and cynical about future training.
Second, make sure managers are on board. HRDs often produce separate development programs for managers and their staffs. When the latter attend training that their bossess did not attend or appreciate fully, follow through is difficult if not impossible. Some insecure managers might even resist some of the changes the employees want to bring in as a result of the training. I suggest that whoever is in charge of training brief the managers at the very least to make sure they know what to expect and take the necessary action to support the learning. The best thing of course is for them to attend the same training ahead of their staff. Nothing beats that.
Third, institutionalize follow through. Make learning a part of the organization's culture. Make the following a default management action towards training:
- identification of training needs and determination of competencies to be demonstrated after training
- Make managers fully aware of training content so they can support it
-Make training return on investment not just HRD's responsibility but everyone else's, specially the supervisors and managers. If that won't make managers follow through, I don't know what will.
Fourth, if you intend to seek a training provider, find one who is willing to partner with you and go the whole nine yards in in helping you make everything I mentioned possible. Here's the contact nuumber of that training provider - (63)9189399294 or landline (632)8933199 . That's shameless self promotion right there. I hope you don't mind.
Because five is my favorite number, here's my fifth, don't be afraid of change. These things that I say here scare the wits out of many managers. In fact, I suspect that some of the people I talk to are afraid of effective training programs because they require so much. Because of this, for many managers, HR included, the training becomes the end rather than a means. For them, people trained is mission accomplished. When managers think like this, training time and money is wasted.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
| posted in
HR Management,
HR Roles of Line Managers,
Training
|
2 comments
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"It's HR's job"is the excuse I often hear whenever line managers refuse to cooperate with Human Resource Department activities and initiatives.
Proof? Lack of management participation in many HR activities like recruitment, training, performance management, employee relations and the likes. More proof; partially completed manpower requisition forms that leave HRD guessing and often wasting their time finding people using partial data; poor participation in training needs analysis or failure to send people to right training; doing performance appraisals for compliance purposes; relegating discipline to HRD and nonattendance in events aimed to improve management and employee relations.
This is all because they think these things are all HRD's job, not theirs. Theirs is to produce business results by making people work their asses off. The funny thing is, many HR Managers think this is true, and this is why many HR managers take it upon themselves to hire people with as little input from the line as possible, dictate training needs, discuss performance and discipline issues directly with employees and taking full ownership of employee relations activities.
As a result, HRD often fails to meet expectations of both managers and employees. It also results to wrong hires, non attendance in training or poor or non-followthrough on learning, ineffective performance management systems, toleration by managers of employees violating company policies. I would even go to the extent of saying that most of HR's problem is rooted in this mindset that these things are the sole province of HRD.
The truth is, HR is human resources, in other words people. To say that HR is not the line managers' business is to say that people are not their business. Line managers are not managers of processes and machines, they are managers of people who are in charge of these processes and machines. HRD, the department is in charge of HELPING line managers, manage their human resources, not manage their human resources for them. HRD is not a surrogate parent, it's not a nanny, it's the doctor that supports the employees' health. It's the school teacher that helps in the employees' education. It's the congressman that drafts rules in consultation with the managers so managers can set clear work-related guidelines. You get the metaphors? The line managers are the persons responsible for managing their people, not the department. The department is there to;
Support the managers in finding the right people for the job;
Support the managers in training their employees;
Support the managers in managing their employees' performance;
Support the managers in building better relationships with their employees; and
Support the managers in their efforts to retain the right talents.
HR is everyone's job but moreso the Line Managers'. HRD, the department is, I repeat a support group. I believe that if both line managers and HRD play their roles right, the employees and the organization at large will benefit from it. In a company with the right cooperation between HRD and the line, These happen:
Managers hire the right people with HRD's help
Managers get their employees trained with HRD's help
Managers manage their employees' performance with HRD's help
Managers build relationship with their employees with HRD's help
Managers make their employees accountable for their behavior with HRD's help.
Truth be told, I was tempted to say "with or without" HRD's help but I realized I'd be out of the job if I say that...hehehe.
Seriously, managing human resources is not easy. With managers in charge of business results, they need all the help they can get in managing their most complex resource - People. HRD should be there to help, not to take over.
Monday, September 28, 2009
| posted in
HR Management,
HR Roles of Line Managers,
Strategic HR
|
0 comments
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