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Questions and Answers
1. How do I go about creating a sound leadership development program?
2. What is the role of competency and value in my organizations business strategy?
3. I am just a small business, what difference does human resources make for me?
4. Why do I need job descriptions?
5. I am faced with the task of revamping our policy and procedures, where do I start?
6. Performance reviews seem to be such a daunting task, how can I simplify the process?
7. Do diversity programs really work for organizations?
How do I go about creating a sound leadership development program?
A sound leadership development plan is developed with much consideration and over time; it requires a long term commitment by the organization. Leadership development is more than a onetime training course. It requires a commitment by both the organizations the staff. Measuring the progress at each step will help you to determine the successes and required revisions along the way.
A few things to keep in mind when planning your leadership development program are:
The organization needs to recognize the value of leadership development. Without buy in from the top, the program will struggle.
Ensure that your training is in line with your strategic objectives. Know the culture and climate that you wish your leaders to foster and support, know the competencies required for your leaders to succeed. Know where the gaps are now and what transformation is required to achieve your goals.
Establish a process for up and coming leaders, entry level leaders, and seasoned leaders to ensure that the development programs are meeting the needs at every level. Know what your leaders need to do consistently to ensure that they are bringing value to their roles. Understand that the level of training will be different for each level.
Know your expected outcomes in advance and measure your success/needs. Track performance and training initiatives and fill the gaps on an ongoing basis.
Provide a variety of venues for continued leadership development. As stated in the opening paragraph, leadership is not a onetime training program. For leadership development to be successful it is important to provide a variety of venues for leadership development. This may include training for various levels and through various venues, coaching, mentoring, peer learning, individual action plans, group action plans, formal and informal reminders and creating a common leadership language.
If your organization has not historically supported the strategic development of its leaders, this transformation can take time and will require close monitoring. Transformational leadership is a deep and meaningful process requiring true commitment.
Strategic leadership is a competitive advantage to an organization. Strong leaders create healthy, communicative and positive workplaces that foster a productive work environment.
What is the role of competency and value in my organizations business strategy?
Value is simply how you consistently create value to your customers on a regular basis. So if it is a product, it is how you create that product with the level of quality your customers expect for the dollar value they expect to pay and produce it in the time they expect it to be produced - consistently. Value is determined by your target customer - what value do they expect and how do you consistently create that value?
Your value is created by your inputs and your processes. Your inputs and processes impact the value provided in your product or service. Your inputs will be raw goods, services and people.So, what raw goods and services go into your product/service? What talents do your people need to have and what do they need to accomplish in order to create the value for your customers?
Your inputs and processes impact customer value, therefore your inputs and processes need to be consistent in order to achieve consistent value for your customers. This is where your competencies come in. It is the capabilities required for your people, processes and technologies to be consistently applied to create value for your customers. Have you identified the competencies required to consistently achieve your outcomes?
So to sum it up, your competencies are what support the consistent application of resources that create value for your customers. For each organization this will be different. Identifying the value you want to create for your target customer base is the first step in creating a systematic approach to consistently providing a quality product or service. This will indicate the outcomes required by your people. Identifying the processes that need to be followed consistently to provide the value and the competencies required to do this will give you a foundation for creating a talent management culture that supports the achievement of your business goals.
I am just a small business, what difference does human resources make for me?
All businesses, regardless of size are facing issues in this tight labour market. Having a plan for managing your people resources and aligning your people resources with your processes has an impact on your ability to survive and thrive in this labour market.
HR does not have to be complicated for the small business owner, but I do still recommend it be strategic. From compliance with laws and regulations to maintaining a company culture for long term organizational strength, your HR practices impact your ability to stay afloat as a business.
An HR audit is a good place to start, this is where we take a look at where you are now, where you want to be and identify the gaps. Once you know where your gaps are, it is matter of creating a plan to achieve your desired business outcomes. There are many tools, tips and tricks to access for simplifying your plan as well as training to help you modify the tips and tricks to your business needs. In the short run, it will take some time, however in the long run, your processes are simplified and your human resources efforts easily drive value for your business.
Why do I need job descriptions?
Job descriptions serve several purposes. A well written job description describes why the job exists, how it impacts the organizations goals and what needs to be accomplished within the role for it to drive value for the organization. Job descriptions are the cornerstone for many of your human resources functions such as recruitment, training, evaluations, compensation, succession planning and reporting.
A well written job description supports your people to be successful in their jobs gives your managers a guide for performance management and helps reduce the risk of a bad hire.
I am faced with the task of revamping our policy and procedures, where do I start?
Big task! and valuable.
You have a starting point, and that is great, many don't. I would start with reviewing the policies for relevance and accuracy in relation to the business goals and compliance with employment, benefits, privacy and safety regulations from there move into the efficiency and effectiveness of the related procedures.
Forming a review committee can be helpful in the process and useful in ensuring that the documents are easily understood. When selecting your review committee, consider the different perspectives within the organization and the different levels. Having a champion for each department will assist you in implementing any changes along the way.
Keep in mind that length does not determine quality. Keep it simple, to the point and easily readable to every level of the organization.
Communicate changes to all levels and train your people on how to use the information. Keep it a living breathing document, don't stop with your review and revisions (this will only serve to have the entire process revisited at some point down the road). Keep your committee together and review the document on a regular basis, much like your safety committee. This will help to keep the document relevant and fresh for all in the organization.
The Policies and Procedures of an organization are used as a decision-making reference, assist to avoid employment-related problems such as turnover, absenteeism and low morale. and define expectations. Policies and procedures also help to protect your agency, staff and customers and can accelerate company development, competitiveness and profitability.
Performance reviews seem to be such a daunting task, how can I simplify the process?
Most people do not enjoy the performance review process, simply because of their perspective on it. When viewed as a negative interaction or potentially challenging conversation, many shy away from the performance review. This is not a disciplinary meeting and if all conversation about performance has been put off until this day, it is time to revamp your review plan.
The performance review is a sharing of information and discussion about where the individual has achieved their goals for the year and where they have fallen short which leads to setting goals and objectives for the following year. Performance is measured against outcomes outlined in the job description.
If your discomfort with performance appraisals is seated in the belief that this is the time to address all poor behavior, start with shifting your view point. Truly, I see the performance review as exciting dialogue and an opportunity that could lead to great things for the individual and the organization. The key is to keep it relevant to the organizational goals and the expected outcomes of the role. As long as you have a job description clearly defined and in line with your compensation strategy, it is easy to keep this an objective dialogue. Beyond measuring achievements to the job description, this is a good opportunity to find out what the individual has accomplished over the year for pro-d, additional work related activities outside of their designated role and where the person sees him/herself fitting in with the organization over the next 1 yr, 2 yrs or 5 yrs. Done well, it will fit in with updating your succession plan, reward the achievement of goals, provide a support plan for areas that need improvement and serve your retention efforts.
An additional key to make note of is that effective performance management does not wait for the year in review; it happens on a daily basis as the occasion arises. If you notice someone performing well, acknowledge them in the moment, be specific about what it was you observed and how it had a positive impact on the organization; equally note any poor performance along the way, if you witness behaviors on the job that are not in line with your organizational culture and don,t follow procedures, inform the individual right away about the performance you witnessed, why it does not fit, what they need to do differently and how they need to do it differently. If poor performance is not addressed immediately with guidance on expected change, poor performance can develop into bad habit, which can be very difficult to change if you wait a year to address it. Waiting for annual review to bring up poor performance leave the employee wondering why the issue was not addressed sooner. S/he then feels side swiped during the formal review, which undermines your retention efforts.
Do diversity programs really work for organizations?
In one word, YES. Diversity training can be quite effective; however it needs more than lip service. An inclusion program needs to start at the strategic level and be fully implemented throughout the organization in order to be valuable.
To simply send the staff to a training program about diversity in the workplace is an ineffective and inefficient way of implementing a diversity program into the workplace.
Studies show that a strategic inclusion plan that is effectively and efficiently implemented within an organization can have a large impact on staff morale, productivity and customer satisfaction, which we know result in higher profits for an organization.
It starts at the top and needs to be linked to the financial and customer outcomes of an organization, built into the processes and measured like any other worthwhile strategy.
With strong leadership behind a diversity to inclusion plan, unfortunate incidents like the one you describe at Niagra can be avoided.
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