Tag Archives: human resources

Supporting HR Part 7: Leadership Backing

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When I Googled “What support does HR need”, Google’s search suggestions were all about what people want and need from HR professionals, rather than what the HR professionals need. I asked HR professionals about the challenges they face and the support they need. To review, here is what I found (in order of importance):

  1. Leadership backing
  2. Emotional & psychological support
  3. Respect for the value HR adds
  4. Strategic focus
  5. Resourcing
  6. Soft skills development
  7. Aligned expectations

This post is the last  of my seven-part series exploring each of these in turn from 7 (Aligned expectations) through to 1 (Leadership backing). Part 7 of the series is all about leadership backing.

“HR executives need to master the art of getting people to buy-in to their ideas and initiatives” Simon Dowling

If as a HR Professional you want to  improve engagement, increase talent attraction, or lift capability in your organisation you will need the backing and buy-in of your organisation’s senior leaders. According to Ellie McBride, General Manager of People & Purpose at Ricoh Australia,  “The ability to build trust and influence is critical to be able to win support and earn the investment required to deliver much of what we do in the HR space.” 

With the backing of leaders in your organisation and respected for the value you add to an organisation, you are more likely to be included in and expected to contribute to discussions around strategy (rather than being seen as an ‘order taker’). Similarly, with leadership backing you as an HR Professional are more likely to have access to the resources you need to get things done (such as time, financial, headcount). Leadership backing is also likely to influence the respect others in the organisation have for you and your role as a HR Professional.

I’ve already talked about how HR Professionals might go about getting  respect for the valuethey add to the business and aligning expectations. The tips included in these previous articles are also going to help you access backing from leaders in your organisations. The key things you need to do are:

  1.  Take a customer focused approach
  2. Tailor your messages with the WIFM 
  3. Identify a champion

1.   Take a customer focused approach

Taking a customer focused approach is about asking questions, lots of questions (about what your leaders want and their motivations) and not assuming that you know what your leaders want and need. And don’t forget that asking questions is of no use unless you listen and learn. What can happen when we go in to a conversation with a desire to impress, is that we often  forget to listen. For the best chance at gaining leadership backing, make time to sit with your leaders  and develop a better understanding of their world – without feeling the immediate need to offer solutions and advice.

2.   Tailor your messages with the WIFM

Asking questions and listening will now allow you to tailor your communication to consider your leader’s’ WIFM (what’s in it for Me).

Here’s a perfect example from group HR director at SEEK Meahan Callaghan: “the most common mistake is failing to put the potential benefits of an initiative – and the problem it solves – in truly commercial terms. Yes the HR executive may be trying to lift employee engagement or leadership capability but an executive team is looking for return on investment in financial terms before they can 100 per cent support something.”

3.   Identify a champion – someone influential in the organisation that’ gets it”.

Identifying a champion/s in your organisation means taking the time to build strong alliances with leaders in your organisation,  who are most likely to be  instrumental to building confidence and buy-in across the organisation. Be strategic in who you first approach with y our ideas and initiatives. If you can get your champion on board they will be likely smooth the way for your initiatives to take hold and be supported by others in your organisation.

As you might have noticed from the above, your ability to successfully gain the backing of your leaders and to “sell” an idea does not mean PUSHING your ideas. Instead, your success will come from listening and being responsive to the needs and concerns of your leaders.  You can achieve leadership backing with three key steps:

1.   Take a customer focused approach

2.   tailor your messages with the WIFM

3.   Identify a champion

If you haven’t started working on obtaining backing from your leaders, then you can’t realistically expect them to say yes to your proposals, even if your ideas and initiatives are ones that will take the organisation from mediocre to extraordinary.

This series has covered a lot of ground and I hope you found the strategies and tips useful in supporting you in the crucial role you play as an HR Professional. 

Why am I doing this?

As a Workplace Psychologist I want to support HR in the workplace because I believe that this is where real change happens – where the people are. And none of us can do it alone.

If you want to know more about shifting mindsets through coaching or groupwork, check out my website www.shiftconsulting.com.au or feel free to get in touch via email, phone or reach out to me on LinkedIn.

If you are interested in receiving my follow-up newsletters, click here to get on my mailing list for your HR Support Insights newsletters. Also, if you find you have similar support needs highlighted in this article, I am also offering a 20 minute quasi-coaching session on how you might get the support you need. Obligation free.

small shift – Big Change

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Supporting HR Part 6: Emotional Support

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When I Googled “What support does HR need”, Google’s search suggestions were all about what people want and need from HR professionals, rather than what the HR professionals need. I asked HR professionals about the challenges they face and the support they need. To review, here is what I found (in order of importance):

  1. Leadership backing
  2. Emotional & psychological support
  3. Respect for the value HR adds
  4. Strategic focus
  5. Resourcing
  6. Soft skills development
  7. Aligned expectations

This post is part 6 of a seven-part series exploring each of these in turn from 7 (Aligned expectations) through to 1 (Leadership backing). Part 6 of the series is all about emotional & psychological support.

“I’m here for you, who is here for me?”

HR Professionals are often tasked with the job of ensuring the wellbeing and engagement of employees through various programs and initiatives. They are also usually the ones at the frontline when it comes to restructures, dismissals, investigations, performance management which can lead to ‘compassion fatigue”. In addition, HR Professionals are dealing with economic and time pressures, high expectations from the business and having to do more with less. And like professionals in the health and other caring industries, HR often put their emotional and psychological needs last. This puts HR Professionals in danger of increased stress and “emotional burnout”.

 

As one HR professional explains in a response to my survey:

“I think the hard part as a stand alone HR professional is being supportive of others in the workplace but not knowing where to turn for support for yourself.

After a while it can get harder and harder to bounce back with enthusiasm. People often forget that you also have a life” 

 

 

Why it’s important

Performing at optimal levels is as important for HR Professionals as it is for company executives and other leaders, especially during challenging times. That is why HR Professionals need to invest in themselves so they feel supported in a workplace where demands are increasing and resources are diminishing.

To me, if HR feel they have the support they need across all other 6 areas identified through my research (Leadership backing, Respect for the value HR adds, Strategic focus, Resourcing, Soft skills development, and Aligned expectations) their levels of resilience will automatically lift, they will feel less pressure and stress and as a result require less extraneous emotional and psychological support with the exception of one area – dealing with mental health-related issues where referral to a professional psychologist or professional training are the best options. Realistically however, it is likely that HR professionals will continue to experience challenges across the 6 key themes at least in the short-to-medium term and as such will likely benefit form additional emotional and psychological support.

But how? There are three key ways HR Professionas can access Emotional & Psychological Support to help them navigate what is often called the VUCA world:

  1. Build a strong network
  2. Get yourself a coach
  3. Build your resilience

    1. Build a strong network

    Often when we are stressed and overwhelmed with the amount of work that needs to get done, a natural tendency is to isolate ourselves and to suffer in silence. Although such an instinct makes sense to us at the time, it is generally not the most helpful response.

    There is a growing number of studies that point to the importance of social support in managing stress and building resilience. In fact, the “R” in Martin Seligman’s Theory of well-being model (PERMA) refers to relationships and the importance of building and maintaining meaningful connections with others.

    For you, the HR Professional, take the time to build both your formal and informal networks. But don’t wait until you are feeling overwhelmed. Start now so that you can draw on for support when you need it. In chosing your network, make sure you choose people who uplift you and provide much needed positive energy. If you haven’t already joined, AHRI is a great place to start networking with other HR Professionals. But don’t limit yourself! You might also want to consider attending industry forums and meetups, university alumni groups and non-work related groups.

2. Get yourself a coach

Regardless of whether you are a lone HR professional in your organisation or part of a larger HR team, you can benefit from accessing a coach.

According to the Institute of Coaching, benefits of coaching include:

  • Facilitating action towards achieving goals
  • Increase in self-reliance
  • Increased job and life satisfaction
  • Improved ability to contribute effectively the organisation
  • Increased responsibility and accountability for actions and commitments
  • Improved workplace relationships
  • Improved communication skills

 

3. Build your resilience

It is important that you recognize the signs of stress before you get to burnout stage. Some signs that might indicate that you are experiencing stress and that your resilience is being seriously tested include:

  • Inability to focus, forgetfulness
  • Lack of energy, poor sleeping patterns
  • Poor motivation
  • Negative attitude
  • Increased health problems

Burnout:

“Physical or emotional exhaustion,

especially as a result of long-term stress or dissipation.”

thefreedictionary

In order for us to best manage the stressors that life throws at us, it helps to develop protective behaviours and strategies that give us more capacity to cope when things do get hairy. There are many techniques to choose from – the important thing is that the techniques you choose resonate with you and that you can fit them into your life and daily routines. Once again, reflecting on Seligman’s PERMA model, strategies might include:

  • Positive Emotion – take an optimistic view of the past, present, and future from a positive perspective by reframing your thoughts.
  • Engagement – identify your strengths and find fulfilling work that utilises those strengths.
  • Relationships – we are social animals that thrive on connection and as such relationships and social connections are one of the most important aspects of life. Phoning a friend, asking for help, or joining a group are all useful relationship strategies.
  • Meaning – identify your core values and what gives you a sense of purpose.
  • Accomplishment – make realistic goals that are achievable and that give you a sense of satisfaction.

Remember, the first step is to acknowledge that you are not a superhero and that you too need support. To recap, suggestions on getting that support include:

  1. Build a strong network
  2. Get a coach
  3. Build Resilience

By accessing the emotional and psychological support you need to be your best self, you will be rewarded with increased productivity, feeling higher levels of engagement and a lot more job satisfaction.

About Shift Consulting

As a Workplace Psychologist I want to support HR in the workplace because I believe that real change happens where the people are. And none of us can do it alone.

If you want to know more about shifting mindsets through coaching or groupwork, check out my website www.shiftconsulting.com.au or get in touch via email, phone or on LinkedIn.

If you are interested in receiving my follow-up newsletters, click here to get on my mailing list for your HR Support Insights newsletters. Also, if you find you have similar support needs highlighted in this article, I am also offering a 20-minute quasi-coaching session on how you might get the support you need. Obligation free.

small shift – Big Change

Photo by Tiago Felipe Ferreira on Unsplash

Supporting HR Part 5: Respect for HR

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When I Googled “What support does HR need”, Google’s search suggestions were all about what people want and need from HR professionals, rather than what the HR professionals need. I asked HR professionals about the challenges they face and the support they need. To review, here is what I found (in order of importance):

  1. Leadership backing
  2. Emotional & psychological support
  3. Respect for the value HR adds
  4. Strategic focus
  5. Resourcing
  6. Soft skills development
  7. Aligned expectations

This post is part 5 of a seven-part series exploring each of these in turn from 7 (Aligned expectations) through to 1 (Leadership backing). Part 5 of the series is all about developing respect for the value HR adds. Respect as a verb means to:

“Admire (someone or something) deeply,as a result of their abilities, qualities, or achievements.” 

(Oxford Dictionary)

WIFM: Why it matters (to you – the HR Professional)

If we look through the lens of Martin Seligman’s Theory of well-being model (PERMA), lack of  perceived respect from key stakeholders in the organisation is likely to result in feeling negative emotions, feeling disconnected from others, and feeling that you do not have a core purpose within an organisation.

Furthermore, if you as a HR Professional are respected for the value you add to an organisation, you are likely to be included in and expected to contribute to discussions around strategy and are more likely to have access to the resources (time, financial, headcount) you need to succeed.

But how do you get that respect? Consider the following quote:

 

 

‘Kim (HR Professional) is respected by everyone they work with,

leaders and frontline staff alike.

They are respected for their strategic approach to talent management.

This meant that our business was ahead of the game when the market fell,

with minimal job losses and maxim shareholder return.’

(Riley – fictitious CEO)

 

 

The elements to notice in this sentence are:

Who = who is doing the respecting: leader and frontline staff

Why = the reason for respect and why it is important to the organisation(aka ‘value add’): minimisation of job losses and maximising shareholder return

How = the attributes that gained respect: strategic approach to talent management

These questions are exactly what you need to ask yourself if you, as a HR Professional want to be respected for the value you add to your organisation and its people. In a nutshell:

1.   Who do you want respect from?

2.   Why would they respect you? (i.e. what do they value?)

3.   How will you gain that respect? 

 

Photo by Vincent van Zalinge on Unsplash

1.    Who do you want respect from?

Before jumping into solution mode it is important to take a customer-centric view. This means that your starting point should be to identify the key stakeholders (KSH) you want to have respect for the value HR brings to the organisation. Think about your executive team, middle and line managers, and employees. You might also want to consider external stakeholders such as the suppliers, customers, the local community, and trade unions. Then prioritise which stakeholders are the most  important for you in terms of gaining their respect.

Most importunately, don’t bother expecting and seeking out respect from the business if you aren’t first clear in yourself about the value HR adds to the business.

 

 “Before you can expect respect from others,

you have to respect yourself”

 

2.    Why should they respect you? 

Photo by Juliana Amorim on Unsplash

Once you  have identified your KSH’s, you now need to identify what they value in terms of HR services. My advice here is pretty much the same as the advice I gave  in my article on aligning expectations. That is, DON’T ASSUME you know what your KSH’s value and would respect your for. Whilst you might be able to make an educated guess, to get to the truth you need to go to the source and ASK. Then listen.

If you work with a large stakeholder group you probably can’t speak with everyone.  In this case there are a couple of things you can do:

  • Send out a simple survey asking for input
  • Run a focus group with representatives from each of your stakeholder groups (don’t forget to include other HR professionals in your organisation).

What your KSH’s value from HR is probably very similar to their expectations of HR which means you can kill two birds with the one stone (no offence to birds).

Photo by Kawtar CHERKAOUI on Unsplash

3.    How will you gain that respect?

To gain respect for the value HR adds to your organisation you need to first close the gap between KSH needs and wants of HR and current reality. That is, do the stuff your KSH’s value. But that’s not usually enough. You also need to tell them.

Erik van Vulpen talks about the HR value chain and a tool to show the added value of HR. It’s a simple three-step process that starts that clearly shows how HR activities lead to organisational goals. Try it for yourself and then show your KSH’s.

You can further reinforce with your KSH’s how HR adds value by showing them data. Use metrics to show them the amount of money you saved the organisation, how many employees you helped get promoted, the amount of time you saved by streamlining processes. Paint a picture that clearly shows your KSH’s how they and the organisation have benefitted from your targeted and meaningful contributions.

Remember, the three key questions you need to answer to get respect for the value you add to your organisation as a HR Professional are:

1.    Who do you want respect from?

2.    Why would they respect you? (i.e. what do they value?)

3.    How will you gain that respect? 

Failure to gain respect for your value-add within an organisation can be detrimental to you, your stakeholders and the organisation. Respect will not only gain a lot more job satisfaction, but you will find that you are included in more strategy meetings, consulted on a wider range of business issues and gain the buy-in from the business to enable you to succeed across a range of HR initiatives.

About Shift Consulting

As a Workplace Psychologist I want to support HR in the workplace because I believe that real change happens where the people are. And none of us can do it alone.

If you want to know more about shifting mindsets through coaching or groupwork, check out my website www.shiftconsulting.com.au or get in touch via email, phone or on LinkedIn.

If you are interested in receiving my follow-up newsletters, click here to get on my mailing list for your HR Support Insights newsletters. Also, if you find you have similar support needs highlighted in this article, I am also offering a 20-minute quasi-coaching session on how you might get the support you need. Obligation free.

small shift – Big Change

Supporting HR Part 4: Strategic Focus

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When I Googled “What support does HR need”, Google’s search suggestions were all about what people want and need from HR professionals, rather than what the HR professionals need. I asked HR professionals about the challenges they face and the support they need. To review, here is what I found (in order of importance):

  1. Leadership backing
  2. Emotional & psychological support
  3. Respect for the value HR adds
  4. Strategic focus
  5. Resourcing
  6. Soft skills development
  7. Aligned expectations

This post is part 4 of a seven-part series exploring each of these in turn from 7 (Aligned expectations) through to 1 (Leadership backing). Part 4 of the series is all about developing a more strategic focus.

“My job is to do, not to think”

According to the Society for Human Resource Management, “Strategic human resource management involves a future-oriented process of developing and implementing HR programs that address and solve business problems and directly contribute to major long-term business objectives.”

Sounds fair enough to me. But why is a strategic approach seen as difficult for so many HR Professionals?  

One reason is that HR has traditionally been viewed as a predominantly administrative function focused on day-to-day responsibilities (think recruitment, payroll, employee benefits). And because of this stereotype, it can be difficult to not only change the mindset of others in an organisation in regards to HR’s function, but also for HR Professionals to change their own mindsets from an operational or short-term focus to incorporate a more long-term or strategic view.  This idea is echoed by respondents to the research I conducted:

“HR need to have eyes on the horizon”

“… HR needs to take more of a preventative approach”

Photo by Saksham Gangwar on Unsplash

Why it matters

If we look through the lens of Martin Seligman’s Theory of well-being model (PERMA), not being included in strategy development of an organisation nor valued for its contributions can leave HR professionals feeling that they do not have a core purpose within an organisation (Meaning & Purpose).

And then there are the direct benefits to the organisation. For one, when there is alignment between HR and the company’s business strategy, the company is more likely to attain a competitive advantage through anticipating and responding to customer needs as well as engaging existing talent and attracting new talent.

According to the Society for Human Resource Management, benefits of HR strategic planning include:

  • Avoidance of costly surprises that interfere with goal achievement
  • Promotion of employee productivity and thereby organisational success
  • A sense of direction to positively affect how work gets done
  • Employees are more likely to maintain focus on organisational goals
  • Strategic focus helps guide training and development initiatives
  • Gives leaders tools to help them focus and implement their own strategic initiatives.

How to get strategic?

Here are three key tactics you can implement as a HR Professional to help you get strategic in your organisation:

  1. Link your people strategy to corporate strategy
  2. Set Goals
  3. Free up time for strategy development

Photo by Ida Kammerloch on Unsplash

1.     Link your people strategy to corporate strategy

Being a strategic business partner means linking people (HR) initiatives and  activities with the long-term goals of the organisation as well as the various divisions within the organisation (finance, marketing, sales, operations, IT) even if the strategic plan does not explicitly address HR issues.

I cannot say it any better than Daniel Bloom:

“Being in a strictly transactional role places you within a silo who looks at only what the immediate demands are being placed on you. You do not operate from the macro view of the organization. Being in the transformation role places you at the format of the strategic decisions on where the organization is headed as we progress through these economic times.”

 

To get into a transformation role, HR professionals must develop a plan of HR initiatives to achieve and promote the behaviours, culture and competencies needed to achieve organisational goals. For example: If an organisation’s strategy is to be  at the leading edge of its industry through innovation, one HR strategy might be to build an innovative culture by attracting creative and innovative talent to the business through the development of talent acquisition tactics such as employee branding, diversity and inclusion initiatives and recruitment and selection processes aligned with that strategy. Why? because the way organisations are staffed has a significant impact on the execution of the organisation’s strategy.

Photo by Elena Koycheva on Unsplash

2.     Set Goals

A  strategic planning process does not need to be complicated. It is about setting goals (short and long-term) that will help the organisation implement its strategies through its people. One of my favourite approaches is the GROW model for goal setting and implementation:

GOAL: Clearly articulate your GOAL or desired future (you can use SMART or any other framework that works for you). Building on the example of the strategy to “build an innovation culture”, a HR goal might be to “build a recruitment and selection process that  attracts 50% more creative people to the organisation by xx date”.

REALITY:  This is where you ask the question “Where are we now?” and assess the current situation. In our example of a goal to attract 50% more creative people to the organisation, assessing the situation could include surveying the employee market for feedback on potential employee’s perceptions about the company and asking for feedback from managers/employees currently in the organisation.

OPTIONS: This is the fun part where you get to brainstorm the various options that might get you from A (current reality) to B (your Goal or preferred future). Once you have a list of options, you need to carefully evaluate them and decide which ones you feel will give you most traction towards your goals.

WAY FORWARD: This is where the rubber hits the road, where steps are taken to implement the preferred options. Ask yourself “Who will do what, when and how?” And make sure you monitor results and adjust accordingly.

 

Photo by Lukas Blazek on Unsplash

3.     Free up time for strategy development

And of course steps 1 and 2  are not possible if you don’t have the time to develop and implement HR strategies that align with the organisation’s strategies. This likely entails a mindset shift and overcoming an addiction to ‘doing’. For more, read my previous article about HR professionals accessing adequate resources to not just do their jobs, but to thrive.

To recap, three key tactics you can take as a HR Professional to help you get strategic in your organisation are:

  1. Link your people strategy to corporate strategy
  2. Set goals
  3. Free up time for strategy development

I have purposefully made sure that each of these 3 tactics broad enough to allow for your own unique circumstance, your own unique personal preference in terms of how you go about approaching each step.

Why? Because I didn’t want to overcomplicate things to the point of making you feel that it’s all just too difficult or that the tactics do not apply to you. I want you to feel that it IS possible for YOU to take a strategic approach to HR and to provide real value to the business, over and above being a purely transactional or operational resource.

About Shift Consulting

As a Workplace Psychologist I want to support HR in the workplace because I believe that real change happens where the people are. And none of us can do it alone.

If you want to know more about shifting mindsets through coaching or groupwork, check out my website www.shiftconsulting.com.au or get in touch via email, phone or on LinkedIn.

If you are interested in receiving my follow-up newsletters, click here to get on my mailing list for your HR Support Insights newsletters. Also, if you find you have similar support needs highlighted in this article, I am also offering a 20-minute quasi-coaching session on how you might get the support you need. Obligation free.

small shift – Big Change

Supporting HR Part 3 : Accessing Resources

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When I Googled “What support does HR need”, Google’s search suggestions were all about what people want and need from HR professionals, rather than what the HR professionals need. I asked HR professionals about the challenges they face and the support they need. To review, here is what I found (in order of importance):

  1. Leadership backing
  2. Emotional & psychological support
  3. Respect for the value HR adds
  4. Strategic focus
  5. Resourcing
  6. Soft skills development
  7. Aligned expectations

This post is part 3 of a seven-part series exploring each of these in turn from 7 (Aligned expectations) through to 1 (Leadership backing). Part 3 of the series is all about HR professionals accessing adequate resources to not just do their jobs, but to thrive.

“I just don’t have enough …”

Some of the resourcing-related issues identified by HR professionals in my research included:

  • Leaders failing to engage with HR at beginning of a project/task
  • Saying no
  • No downtime (i.e. no rest to refresh) – constantly at beck and call of internal customers
  • Seen as cost centre (therefore lower budgets for development, growth etc)

Why it matters

Having sufficient resources to manage operational HR functions efficiently gives HR the capacity to take a more strategic focus and therefore be less likely to be seen as purely a cost centre.

Looking through the lens of Martin Seligman’s Theory of well-being model (PERMA), having a lack of resources to do one’s best work is likely to result in disengagement and frustration. And it is difficult to achieve and maintain a sense of accomplishment if you feel overstretched due to under-resourcing and when the goals you need to achieve are unrealistic.

Okay, I get it. Resources are finite. BUT (and this is a big BUT) how you use, prioritise and access your resources is up to you!

Photo by FuYong Hua on Unsplash

 

“Your problem is a productivity issue, not a resourcing issue”

 

Given that the resources HR professionals need to not only do their jobs but to build a positive workplace culture of engaged and productive employees tends to be limited in number, it is critical to make the most of the resources available.

 

First and foremost, HR Professionals feel they lack time. Here are four ways you can make the most of the time available to you as a HR professional in your organisation.

1.     Develop your productivity strategies

2.     Delegate effectively 

3.     Push back

4.     Tap into external resources

Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

1.    Productivity strategies

a.     Your  mornings are precious, use them to focus on yourself. Productivity expert Tony Wong advises: “Use your morning to focus on yourself… Start your day out right by ignoring your emails in the morning and getting in a good breakfast, reading the news, meditating, or working out. This will ensure you’ve got the necessary fuel for a productive day.” We are also most productive and our brains are more efficient in the mornings so we are better off using morning for our more cognitively demanding work.

b.     STOP MULTI-TASKING! I am sorry about shouting but this is REALLY IMPORTANT! Research shows that productivity can be reduced by as much as 40 percent by the mental blocks created when people switch tasks and lowers your IQ.

c.     Eliminate distractions. This includes emails, social media, office chatter. Enough said.

Photo by Mohammad Metri on Unsplash

2.     Delegate effectively

When you delegate effectively by assigning the right task to the right person, you will have more time for your own work. Susan Ward also has some useful tips on how to delegate.

3.     Push back

As a HR professional you probably have a strong customer service focus so when someone wants something you want to provide that something quickly whether it’s a report,  advice, or help dealing with a difficult employee. If you take on this ‘service provider’ or ‘order taker’ mindset, you are assuming that the requester knows more about HR than you do! However, if you see yourself as the HR expert,  you push back and ask, “What are we really trying to solve?” or “What’s the real issue?”

For example, if a leader comes to you asking for a detailed report on the demographic breakdown of employees, their qualifications and tenure you might end up wasting a lot of time putting the report together when what the leader really wants to know is how many employees are close to retirement. The same concept of pushing back applies to when you are sucked into the “this is an emergency” vortex. Some questions to ask before you rush in with your hero cape flowing include: “Do I really need to drop everything”, or “Can the issue wait?” 

4.    Learn to use external resources.

Instead of continually hitting your head against a brick wall by asking for more headcount, think outside the square and take advantage of the ever-growing Gig Economy. Pretty much any type of work can be done by contractors or freelancers. Don’t be afraid to connect with and build your arsenal of freelancers to help you remain agile and responsive for those times when you need certain expertise to meet the organisation’s requirements.

Photo by Michał Parzuchowski on Unsplash

I am not naïve enough to believe these are a panacea for resourcing issues. Rather, I want you to start thinking differently about resourcing issues you might have.

Remember, with more available time as a HR professional you will be able to focus on strategy for people and processes including:

  • Developing training programs
  • Motivating staff and building engagement
  • Developing competitive compensation and methods to reward and retain the best employees
  • Best practices in measuring performance
  • Building succession plans and talent management strategies

So there we have it. It really is that simple. The four ways you can improve your capacity to focus on what really matters:

1.     Develop your  productivity strategies

2.     Delegate effectively 

3.     Push back

4.     Tap into external resources

Although as a  HR professional you might feel your resources are limited, you can nevertheless build a positive workplace culture of engaged and productive employees by making the most of the resources available.  

Why am I doing this?

As a Workplace Psychologist I want to support HR in the workplace because I believe that this is where real change happens – where the people are. And none of us can do it alone.

If you want to know more about shifting mindsets through coaching or groupwork, check out my website www.shiftconsulting.com.au or feel free to get in touch via email, phone or reach out to me on LinkedIn.

If you are interested in receiving my follow-up newsletters, click here to get on my mailing list for your HR Support Insights newsletters. Also, if you find you have similar support needs highlighted in this article, I am also offering a 20 minute quasi-coaching session on how you might get the support you need. Obligation free.

This article was first published on the Shift Consulting website.

small shift – Big Change

 

Supporting HR Part 2: Skilling Up

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When I Googled “What support does HR need”, Google’s search suggestions were all about what people want and need from HR professionals, rather than what the HR professionals need. I asked HR professionals about the challenges they face and the support they need. To review, here is what I found (in order of importance):

1.         Leadership backing

2.         Emotional & psychological support

3.         Respect for the value HR adds

4.         Strategic focus

5.         Resourcing

6.         Soft skills development

   7.         Aligned expectations

This post is part 2 of a seven-part series exploring each of these in turn from 7 through to 1. Part 2 of the series is all about what ‘soft’ skills HR professionals might need to develop and how to develop them. Because the job of HR is essentially about dealing with people (Humans), when we think of Human Resources, we usually think about people skills (also often referred to as ‘soft skills’).  But what exactly are these so called “soft” skills?

What are “Soft Skills”?

The Collins English Dictionary defines the term “soft skills” as “desirable qualities for certain forms of employment that do not depend on acquired knowledge: they include common sense, the ability to deal with people, and a positive flexible attitude…interpersonal skills such as the ability to communicate well with other people and to work in a team”.

“But I already have formal HR qualifications…”

Photo by Chris Barbalis on Unsplash

Dr Alan Nankervis, chair of AHRI’s National Accreditation Committee, believes that although AHRI’s course accreditation helps HR graduates attain useful skills, HR courses often don’t provide students with some of the workplace skills.

According to Dr Nankervis:

“Employers constantly complain about the lack of competencies in written communication, interpersonal communication, or the ability to persuade employers or market their services.”

And if you want more evidence of the importance of soft skills needed to be an effective HR Professional, according to an Insync study, the 10 surveyed AHRI HR behaviours were regarded by all respondents (HR Professionals, CEO’s, Directors, Executives) as more important on average than the seven capability items in the study.

The soft skills required to be a successful HR Professional are also reflected in Burning Glass Technologies’ research into the top 10 baseline skills for HR. In their study examining more than 26 million job postings, Burning Glass Technologies identified the following soft skills employers think are necessary to succeed in human resources: Organisational skills; Detail oriented; Problem solving; Building effective relationships; Planning.

Why are soft skills so important?

When we look through the lens of Martin Seligman’s Theory of well-being model (PERMA), doing work that where we lack  the skills to do one’s best work is likely to result in disengagement and frustration. It is also difficult to achieve and maintain a sense of accomplishment if you don’t feel you have the skills you need to achieve your goals.

Furthermore, increased capability in ‘soft skills’ should help build credibility and thereby increase the likelihood of leadership backing and respect for HR’s ability to add value. Strong ‘soft skills’ will likely positively impact HR’s ability to access the resources they need, be viewed as strategic member of the leadership team, and ensure that expectations (both at the leadership and employee levels) about the role of HR are aligned.

Photo by Hannah Tasker on Unsplash

Soft Skills are HARD

With the number of different soft skills out there, it’s impossible to cover them all in this article, plus not all of them will be relevant to each reader.  Instead, I want to share with you three actions you can take to develop your ‘soft’ skills, whether it’s influencing skills, time management, or building effective relationships.

But before you start:  Identify the skills you want to develop. You can do this through self-reflection or asking for feedback. Then  identify the skills that are going to give you the biggest ‘bang for your buck” – i.e. prioritise where you put your energy. Once you have identified the soft skill/s you want to work on, here are three actions you can take to develop those skills.

Three Actions to Develop Your “Soft Skills”

Photo by Nad X on Unsplash

A. Access formal training & development (AHRI have a range of options to choose from).

B. Engage a coach NB: An external coach allows the coachee to be more open and honest, thus gain more from the relationship.

C. Practice, then ask for feedback

As an example, one of the HR professionals who participated in my recent survey shared  that an issue they face is “the walk up” where people come up to their desk unannounced, asking “Have you got five minutes?” which of course is never just 5 minutes! On the face of it this could be an assertiveness skill that needs to be developed.

Using the three actions above, the HR professional could do any or all of the following to develop their assertiveness skills:

A. Access Formal Assertiveness training either online or face-to-face.

B. Engage a coach to identify the underlying cause/s of the HR professional’s inability to “say no”. An effective coach will explore core values, personality traits, assumptions and expectations of the coachee. The coach can then provide 1-1 support to adjust the coach’s mindset and current unhelpful behaviours as well as support them to develop skills in saying no, delegating work etc.

C. In our example, the HR professional tries out a response such as “I don’t have time right now, but if you email me the details, I’ll get back to you by <insert timeframe>”.  The next day or later that week the HR professional asks for feedback on how the ‘interrupter’ felt about the ‘delay’ or simply notes any changes in behaviour.

Word of caution: choose your practice partners wisely!

 Any change in behaviour may be viewed with suspicion and thereby has the potential to negatively impact a relationship. So, before you risk damaging an important relationship (such as with the CEO) by practicing and ‘failing’, try out your new soft skills where the consequences of ‘failing’ are likely to have less impact such as with a trusted colleague or even at home.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

There we have it, three actions you can take to develop your ‘soft’ skills, whatever they might be:

A. Access formal training & development

B. Engage a coach (ideally outside of the organisation)

C. Practice then ask for feedback

If you have any other strategies to identify soft skills to develop and how to develop them, I would love to hear about them!

Why am I doing this?

As a Workplace Psychologist I want to support HR in the workplace because I believe that this is where real change happens – where the people are. And none of us can do it alone.

If you want to know more about shifting mindsets through coaching or groupwork, check out my website www.shiftconsulting.com.au or feel free to get in touch via email, phone or reach out to me on LinkedIn.

If you are interested in receiving my follow-up newsletters, click here to get on my mailing list for your HR Support Insights newsletters. Also, if you find you have similar support needs highlighted in this article, I am also offering a 20-minute quasi-coaching session on how you might get the support you need. Obligation free.

small shift – Big Change

Supporting HR Part 1 : Getting on the same page

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When I Googled “What support does HR need”, Google’s search suggestions were all about what people want and need from HR professionals, rather than what the HR professionals need. I asked HR professionals about the challenges they face and the support they need. To review, here is what I found (in order of importance):

  1. Leadership backing
  2. Emotional & psychological support
  3. Respect for the value HR adds
  4. Strategic focus
  5. Resourcing
  6. Soft skills development
  7. Aligned expectations

This post kicks off the first of a seven-part series exploring each of these in turn from 7 (Aligned expectations) through to 1 (Leadership backing). The first of the series is all about how HR professionals might go about ensuring the organisation, employees, and HR professionals are on the same page when it comes to expectations of HR.

“HR is Useless” – what the ???

I think we can all agree that an effective human resources service is key to organisational success. However, I often hear employees and leaders complain that “HR is useless”. I suspect that the perception of HR as being useless has a lot to do with expectations of employees and leaders being misaligned with HR’s expectations and reality. This belief is reinforced by the paychex survey, which shows a disconnect between what people expect HR’s job to be and what they actually spend their time on.

When there is misalignment of expectations, misunderstandings and conflict are more likely to occur resulting in reduced productivity, disengagement, and burnout of everyone involved, including the HR Professional.

On the flip side, when expectations about HR’s role are aligned, managers, employees, and the HR professional have a shared and clear understanding of the role HR plays in the organisation. When expectations are aligned, adequate resourcing for the HR department is also more likely to follow. Furthermore, if expectations of the role HR plays is clear, then HR is able to more effectively contribute meaningfully to the strategic direction of the organisation. Everyone wins.

With the number of different expectations of HR in the workplace, it is important to ensure that expectations are aligned. But how? There are three key steps you can take to create expectation alignment of your role as a HR professional in your organisation:

  1. Don’t Assume! Identify current expectations
  2. Identify expectation gaps
  3. Bridge the gaps

Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

1. Identify current expectations.

My first piece of critical advice is DON’T ASSUME you know where misalignment exists or what other peoples’ expectations of HR are. You (and I) are not mind readers. Sure, you might be able to make an educated guess but if you want to get to the truth you need to go to the source and ASK. Then listen. The added bonus is that if you ask by having conversations with your stakeholders, you are building a stronger relationship with them through trust building, the likely outcome of which is to make your job a lot easier down the track.

If you work with a large stakeholder group you probably can’t speak with everyone to identify their expectations of HR as a function and yourself as a HR professional.   In this case there are a couple of things you can do:

  • Send out a simple survey asking for input
  • Run a focus group with representatives from each of your stakeholder groups (don’t forget to include other HR professionals in your organisation)

The other key piece of information you need before you know if there is a misalignment in expectations is your own expectations about your role within the organisation.

“I went into HR because I’m a people person.”  

Sound familiar? As a HR professional you need to be clear on how you see your role within the organisation, how you measure success, and your expectations of how your stakeholders interact with YOU.

Photo by Drew Graham on Unsplash

2. Identify expectation gaps

Before developing a strategy to align expectations, use the information you have gathered about expectations of your stakeholders (employees, managers, leaders in the business, other HR functions) and your own expectations to identify the nature of any gaps and their causes.

This step can be as simple as grabbing a sheet of paper and listing out everyone’s expectations, grouping them into themes, then analyzing where any differences in expectations exist.

For example, your expectation as a HR professional might be that it is as manager’s role to solve employee disputes. However, most managers have told you that they believe it is your role to manage any and all employee disputes.

3. Bridge the gaps

Once you have defined the expectations that exist on all sides and identified any gaps in expectations, it’s time to bridge those gaps. Word of caution: don’t assume that your expectations about your role are the ‘correct’ expectations!

Ideally, alignment occurs as a result of mutual agreement and understanding through dialogue. Personally, I wouldn’t  rely on too heavily on establishing or amending policies and employee documentation. Whilst it is important to have policies that accurately reflect expectations, most people don’t have the time to read policies and documentation to the letter so they will tend to fall back to default assumptions about the role of HR. If you rely too heavily on policy documentation, you also risk creating a transactional relationship with your stakeholders thus diminishing their trust and openness to engaging with you as a HR Professional.

Tips to align expectations:

  • Use intentional language.  Don’t use words that leave open even the possibility for a misunderstanding. Be specific in your language e.g. rather than “my role as a HR Professional is to support you as a leader”, be clear about what that ‘support’ looks like e.g. “As a HR Professional, I will support you by providing advice on Employment Relations laws, developing a competency framework for leaders in the organisation” etc.
  • Check the other person’s understanding. Don’t ask closed or leading questions e.g. “Do you understand my role as HR professional?” (they will most likely just  say ‘yes’). Instead, ask open questions e.g. “What do you  understand about my role as HR professional?”.
  • Try using a personal ReadMe document like those  from Silicon Valley’s Top Tech Companies which is especially useful when starting a new relationship with your stakeholders.
  • Keep the conversation going. Don’t stop making sure that expectations are aligned. Check in with your stakeholders on a regular basis. The world of work continues to change rapidly so keep on top of where you and your stakeholders are at in terms of expectations of HR as a key business resource.

Photo by Louis Francia on Unsplash

So there we have it. It’s really that simple. The three key steps you can take to get on the same page as others in your organisation:

  1. Don’t Assume! Identify current expectations
  2. Identify expectation gaps
  3. Bridge the gaps

Remember, failure to align expectations can be detrimental to you, your stakeholders and the organisation. If you align expectations, you will be rewarded with increased productivity, higher levels of engagement and a stronger, more positive workplace culture. Oh, and you will gain a lot more job satisfaction as a result.

If you have any other strategies to build expectation alignment of HR within an organisation, I would love to hear about them!

Why am I doing this?

As a Workplace Psychologist I want to support HR in the workplace because I believe that this is where real change happens – where the people are. And none of us can do it alone.

If you want to know more about shifting mindsets through coaching or groupwork, check out my website www.shiftconsulting.com.au or feel free to get in touch via email, phone or reach out to me on LinkedIn.

If you are interested in receiving my follow-up newsletters, click here to get on my mailing list for your HR Support Insights newsletters. Also, if you find you have similar support needs highlighted in this article, I am also offering a 20 minute quasi-coaching session on how you might get the support you need. Obligation free.

small shift – Big Change

The Results are in: What Support Does HR Need and Want?

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Last month I Googled “What support does HR need” and was not especially surprised by what I found.

Google’s search suggestions were all about what people want and need from HR professionals. What customers want, what employees want. But what about the HR professionals? I decided to find out more by going directly to HR professionals. I asked them about the challenges they face and the support they need.

Key Themes

Figure 2: Thematic Interdependencies

Figure 1: Key Themes

Here is what I found… Overall, the key themes that emerged from HR professionals across a range of industries (see Figure 1) included first and foremost a desire for the backing and support from leadership within their organisations, emotional and psychological support in what is often a stressful and ambiguous role, and respect for the value HR can and does add to the business.

My interpretation of the other 4 key themes (strategic focus, limited resources, soft skill development and aligned expectations) is that they are irrevocably intertwined with the other three key themes of leadership backing, emotional & psychological support, and respect for value-add. Let me explain (for a diagrammatic explanation see Figure 2 below).

  • If HR has leadership backing and is respected for the value they can add to an organisation, they are likely to be included in and expected to contribute to discussions around strategy (rather than being seen as an ‘order taker’.
  • Similarly, with leadership backing and respect for their value-add, HR is more likely to have access to the resources (time, financial, headcount).
  • Having sufficient resources to manage operational HR functions efficiently gives HR the capacity to take a more strategic focus.
  • Leadership backing is also likely to influence the respect others in the organisation have for the value HR adds and vice versa. That is, if HR is seen to be respected within and outside of the organisation, leaders are more likely to back HR when needed.
  • ‘Soft skills’ development such as communicating with influence, having difficult conversations, and time management, also requires adequate resourcing.
  • Increased capability in ‘soft skills’ should help build credibility and thereby increase the likelihood of leadership backing and respect for HR’s ability to add value.
  • Strong ‘soft skills’ will likely positively impact HR’s ability to access the resources they need, be viewed as strategic member of the leadership team, and ensure that expectations (both at the leadership and employee levels) about the role of HR are aligned.
  • Where expectations about the role of HR are aligned between HR, the leadership team and the business overall, respect and leadership backing will likely follow because open and robust conversations happen when there is respect and trust.
  • Adequate resourcing is more likely to follow where there is an alignment of expectations.
  • If expectations of the role HR plays is clear, then HR is able to more effectively contribute meaningfully to the strategic direction of the organisation.

Emotional and Psychological Support

Photo by Andrew Seaman on Unsplash

Finally, the second most cited area for support for HR was the need for emotional and psychological support including development of resilience. This is not all that surprising if we view the other 6 support themes that my research highlighted through the lens of Martin Seligman’s Theory of well-being model (PERMA):

 

Positive Emotion – lack of perceived support and respect from the leadership team and others in the organisation is likely to result in feeling negative emotions.

Engagement – doing work that is not aligned with one’s strengths or desires and having a lack of resources and/or skills to do one’s best work is likely to result in disengagement and frustration.

Relationship – lack of perceived support and respect from the leadership team and others in the organisation is likely to result in feeling disconnected from others, especially as a sole HR professional in an organisation.

Meaning & Purpose – not being included in strategy development of an organisation nor valued for its contributions can leave HR professionals feeling that they do not have a core purpose within an organisation.

Accomplishment – it is difficult to achieve and maintain a sense of accomplishment if you feel overstretched due to under-resourcing, that the goals you need to achieve are unrealistic and when you don’t feel you have the skills you need to achieve those goals.

To my mind, if HR feel they have the support they need across all other 6 themes, their levels of resilience will automatically lift, they will feel less pressure and stress and as a result require less extraneous emotional and psychological support with the exception of one area – dealing with other people’s (or their own) mental health-related issues where referral to a professional psychologist or professional training are the best options. Realistically however, it is likely that HR professionals will continue to experience challenges across the 6 key themes at least in the short-to-medium term and as such will likely benefit form additional emotional and psychological support.

So, what now?

While my sample size was relatively small, it nevertheless gives us an insight into key themes for where HR professionals are feeling the pressure and in what specific areas they would like support in order to be part of their organisation’s success.

After collating results and summarising outcomes, I want to offer some suggestions on what HR could do to get the support they need across all 7 themes. I have started by reflecting on Stephen Covey’s circle of influence (which suggests we focus on the things that we can do something about).

What can you do to get the support you need?

So, what might HR professionals do to build the support they need? Here’s a snapshot of my initial thoughts which I will be expanding upon in subsequent follow-up posts:

Photo by Noah Buscher on Unsplash

Leadership Backing – take a ‘customer insights’ approach and ask questions, lots of questions (about what your leaders want) and listen, then tailor your messages accordingly; identify a champion – someone influential in the organisation that ‘gets it’; have a vision and communicate it with passion and influence.

Emotional & Psychological Support – join HR networks; get a coach; use stress management and resilience building strategies to enhance wellbeing and effectively manage change.

Respect for the value HR adds – firstly be clear in yourself about what value HR adds to your business, then market your HR services and initiatives to show how they meet organisational goals and targets; use metrics – show how HR initiatives reduce costs, increase revenues; articulate clearly value add in language business leaders understand.

Strategic Focus – develop a people strategy that clearly links in with corporate strategy; make long and short-term goals; free up time for strategy development.

Limited Resources – look at your time management strategies; delegate; innovate.

‘Soft Skills’ Development – access training and development for yourself; consider getting a coach outside of the organisation; ask for feedback.

Aligned Expectations – ask questions and listen.

If you are a HR professional who feels like you are drowning in a sea of other people’s issues then it’s time to focus on the goals of strategy, culture, and engagement which you can clearly see in the distance. Don’t be dragged back down into the murky depths of other people’s problems.

Remember, whilst you might not have direct control over the backing of your leadership team or the respect for the value HR adds to a business, you DOhave control to change your approach and to reach out and get the support you need…be it coaching support, training and development, or peer support.

Changing your mindset and the business’ mindset about the role HR plays is no easy task. And it’s even more difficult if you try to do it on your own.

If you are interested in receiving my follow-up newsletters, click here to get on my mailing list for your HR Support Insights newsletters. Also, if you find you have similar support needs highlighted in this article, I am also offering a 20 minute quasi-coaching session on how you might get the support you need. Obligation free.

Why am I doing this?

As a Workplace Psychologist I want to support HR in the workplace because I believe that this is where real change happens – where the people are. And none of us can do it alone.

If you want to know more about shifting mindsets through coaching or groupwork, check out my website www.shiftconsulting.com.au or feel free to get in touch via email, phone or reach out to me on LinkedIn.

Small Shift – Big Change