There are many HR Training Programs out there, but not all HR training is created equal.   Here are some tips on how best to choose a program:

1.  Consider your objectives in attending a program:

Are you new to HR?  Do you need a comprehensive program, that covers various disciplines of HR to provide a broader overview?  Or, do you need more targeted training, such as learning about anti-harassment and discrimination or how to conduct internal investigations?

2.  Consider your needs regarding recertification credits for HR professional credentials.  If you have the PHR, SPHR, or GPHR certification, you will want to choose a program that will maximize your time.  Make sure you attend a program that is HRCI accredited.

3.  If you are not certified as a PHR, SPHR, or GPHR, but you would like to earn your certification, then consider courses that will help to prepare you for the exam.  And, don’t rely on just SHRM for the prep courses.  If you go to http://www.rpchr.com/about/upcomingevents  you’ll find a list of upcoming HR training for HR Generalists and HR Business Partners that provides a great foundation of knowledge in HR management to prepare for the PHR and SPHR exam.

4.  Consider, geographically, where the HR training will be held.  Sometimes, training programs are held in cities that are close to you–and others that may be offered in locations that are desirable vacation destinations.  Consider attending an HR training in a place, such as Key West, and turning it into a mini vacation.  Leverage the company expense account for travel to/from, but then use a bit of vacation time to enjoy a little leisure time!

5.  Consider the cost of the program–and evaluate this carefully.  Be very, very wary of low cost HR programs that are a few hundred dollars.  The old saying, “you get what you pay for” is absolutely true.  Often, there are seminars at the local hotel for just a few hundred bucks.  Problem is, the instructors’ knowledge of the subject will be questionable and a good portion of the time the instructor will be trying to peddle books and audio programs vs. teaching a quality professional development program.

6.  Consider the faculty members who will be teaching the program.  If the faculty member is not certified in HR–ask yourself why…  Someone who is truly an HR educator will have an advanced degree, have professional credentials–and will have had a significant career in the profession.  Find out about the credentials of instructors before you sign up for a program.

7.  Back to cost of HR training:  A good HR training program, for three days, will cost between $1700-$2100 for a three-day, 18 credit hour program.  If you’re choosing a program that is less than $1700, I would caution you to review the instructor’s credentials and inquire about the organization sponsoring the training.

8.  Lastly, consider your return-on-investment when choosing an HR training program.  If attending the program will increase your knowledge, your confidence in your job, help you minimize risk for your organization, and boost your career–what’s that worth to you?  By investing, let’s say $1800, in a training program–but the knowledge you receive helps your organization significantly reduce HR costs, say around $125k for the year, you just generated a huge ROI for the organization!

Until next time…

Natalie.

Natalie Ivey is President & CEO of Results Performance Consulting, Inc., a Boca Raton, FL based consulting firm that specializes in HR training and certification programs, leadership development training, and professional development training programs.  www.rpchr.com

As an HR consultant and educator within the HR profession, I am often asked this question, “How do I deal with difficult managers?”   When I ask for more detail, I usually get about the same response:  “Well, managers just don’t ‘get it’ when I tell them they don’t have enough documentation to fire an employee…or when I let them know an employee has made a complaint about them.  They want to defend their position, like they’re defending battle ground…it’s exhausting!”

Well, I have a few responses for how to deal with difficult managers.  For starters, HR sometimes invites conflict by failing to have established a good relationship with managers (aka “Ops” kind of managers) in the first place.  The time to build relationships with managers is before an employee or organizational issue crops up.  So, how do you build that relationship?  For starters, invite managers to join you for a cup of coffee to “talk shop” and to understand their challenges.  If HR reaches out to learn how it can be a better internal consultant and adviser, a more cordial and collaborative relationship will ensue.   Also, help them to understand your role a bit more, as it relates to employee relations issues.  Often, role ambiguity exists around employee relations issues, with managers not knowing “who handles what” regarding issues.  If you clarify that your role is to handle issues relating to policies and procedures–and their role is to handle departmental issues (even employee behavioral issues) then you’re on the road to minimizing conflict.  By clarifying roles and responsibilities, that alone can help a great deal.

So, let’s say you’ve done that–and you’re still dealing with “Manager Bob” who is frustrated with you over something like an employee disciplinary issue.  Your position is that policy and past practice dictate that you err on the side of caution and not move forward with terminating “Fred” the employee.  However, Bob’s position is that Fred is a lousy employee and needs to go.  You’ve reached somewhat of an impasse–and it’s getting ugly.  How to handle that?

The first step is in acknowledging Bob’s frustration:  “Bob, look…I understand that you feel Fred needs to go.  I can tell you are very passionate about this, and I get that he is not a stellar performer.  From my perspective, and very much a risk management perspective, we will be stepping on a legal landmine if we were to move to termination too prematurely.  We are better off taking another 30-60 days to document his poor performance–and then move to termination.  He’s been written up for attendance and tardiness–but not for below expectations performance.  If we move to terminate now, we will be deviating from our normal disciplinary practice.  That can lead to claims of discrimination, which can be very costly.”

Now, there may be a bazillion other issues surrounding Fred’s performance issue.  For the purposes of helping you understand what to do, here, don’t get hung up on the decision-making… Focus on the word choices I just used to address the conflict itself:  “From my perspective…”  “From my risk management perspective…”  “If we…then…X will happen.”

The idea is to put the problem on the other side of the fence, so to speak, and work on it more collaboratively.  Too often, employee issues or interpretation of policy issues turn into World War III between HR and Leadership teams.  You’re both on the same side, and it’s important to address that.  Often, by framing the issue as a problem that you both must solve, it then requires that you work together to find a solution.  If Bob just isn’t satisfied with your “perspective” and wants to go over your head and somewhat amplify the conflict, then so be it.  Let Bob go over your head.  However, what you need is a supportive boss in HR who will share your perspective on the issue. (Hopefully, you briefed him/her on the Bob issue…)

Part of the process in dealing with difficult managers is actually “sticking to your guns” sometimes.  It’s a weird dynamic, but sometimes by being somewhat of a worthy adversary, you actually gain respect from operations people.  If you are too wishy-washy in your decision-making and you simply acquiesce to Bob, by saying something like, “Well, Bob, if you want to go ahead and fire Fred, I suppose I don’t have any way to stop you.  All I can tell you is that it is a risky termination…”   This is called “Yielding” behavior in a Conflict workshop I teach, which is a word for “caving in.”

It’s one thing to explore a different outcome with an employee relations issue, but it is entirely another to just cave in to meet whatever the manager demands.  If you continue to do that, it will weaken your position in HR or Employee Relations.   Remember, not all conflict is bad.  Having a healthy debate with a leader is a good thing.  What you have to remember is to maintain your composure, use good conflict competencies, and avoid getting argumentative.  Put the problem “on the other side of the fence” and work on it together.

Until next time…

Natalie.

Natalie Ivey is President & CEO of Results Performance Consulting, Inc. (RPC) in Boca Raton, FL.  Ms. Ivey is an HR consultant and educator within the HR profession and routinely facilitate HR certification programs and consults with organizations to improve their leadership behavior, employee relations, and organizational performance.  www.rpchr.com

I’m often asked by HR professionals in my workshops, “how do I get my managers to actually MANAGE employee performance?”  I usually probe and ask some questions, and usually the kinds of answers I get are: “our managers just avoid issues…”, “they’re so busy doing email and going to meetings that they just ‘let things go’ with employees until situations get so bad…”, “our supervisors just don’t seem to ‘get’ that we can’t just fire employees without doing our due diligence.”

I could go on here…the essence of the complaints from HR professionals is that managers just seem to be too busy to do good performance management.  The question I have is, “what the heck are they workin’ on???”  Supervisors and managers are leaders, which means the majority of the time they need to be leading. However, many supervisors and managers are sort of “working” managers in that they have to-do lists a mile long, filled with tasks, of which very few of those tasks have much to do with managing employee performance.  Well, now there’s the problem.  If the to-do lists are filled up with a ton of tasks–who’s actually managing employee performance and leading the troops?  News flash–no one is.

So, in order for leaders to be effective in managing performance they first need to have the infrastructure. What I mean by infrastructure is that a performance management system must first be in place.  A system begins with accurate, up-to-date job descriptions, interview guides that include competency-based and behavior-based interview questions, and a performance review process that has aligning competencies and behavioral anchors, and clear performance objectives and standards.   Additionally, a good comp and benefits structure must be present, career development and advancement, mentoring, training and development in both technical and soft skills, and a solid one-on-one coaching and feedback process.  A one-on-one process means that monthly, each supervisor meets with his/her respective direct reports for a one-hour, 1:1 face time session–without fail.  For employees managed remotely, this is done via Skype or simply a conference call.  Nonetheless, it is a regular vehicle in which both the leader and direct reports rely on for consistent, two-way communication.  The benefits of the 1:1 sessions are enormous, but more importantly it provides a level of accountability.

In the event employee performance simply doesn’t improve, the next step is moving into a documented performance improvement plan, called a PIP, which is a roadmap to performance improvement.  However, the PIP is only as good as the effort the leader puts into it to help get the employee performance back on track.  Beyond the PIP is progressive discipline and ultimately termination.  All of these steps are part of the backbone–or infrastructure of a performance management system.  Often, HR points the finger at leadership because performance isn’t managed.  Yet, HR has failed to provide adequate resources, or a backbone system, for leaders to operate within.  In other words, if they don’t have the right coaching and training skills (via a leadership training program) and they haven’t been taught how to evalate performance, coach and give feedback–or even document a disciplinary warning…whose fault is that?  HR must own the infrastructure and ensure the leaders are trained properly and also coached in how to use the process.

For additional questions, drop me a line at natalie@rpchr.com

Until next time…

Natalie.

I’m often asked by HR professionals in my workshops, “how do I get my managers to actually MANAGE employee performance?”  I usually probe and ask some questions, and usually the kinds of answers I get are: “our managers just avoid issues…”, “they’re so busy doing email and going to meetings that they just ‘let things go’ with employees until situations get so bad…”, “our supervisors just don’t seem to ‘get’ that we can’t just fire employees without doing our due diligence.”

I could go on here…the essence of the complaints from HR professionals is that managers just seem to be too busy to do good performance management.  The question I have is, “what the heck are they workin’ on???”  Supervisors and managers are leaders, which means the majority of the time they need to be leading. However, many supervisors and managers are sort of “working” managers in that they have to-do lists a mile long, filled with tasks, of which very few of those tasks have much to do with managing employee performance.  Well, now there’s the problem.  If the to-do lists are filled up with a ton of tasks–who’s actually managing employee performance and leading the troops?  News flash–no one is.

So, in order for leaders to be effective in managing performance they first need to have the infrastructure. What I mean by infrastructure is that a performance management system must first be in place.  A system begins with accurate, up-to-date job descriptions, interview guides that include competency-based and behavior-based interview questions, and a performance review process that has aligning competencies and behavioral anchors, and clear performance objectives and standards.   Additionally, a good comp and benefits structure must be present, career development and advancement, mentoring, training and development in both technical and soft skills, and a solid one-on-one coaching and feedback process.  A one-on-one process means that monthly, each supervisor meets with his/her respective direct reports for a one-hour, 1:1 face time session–without fail.  For employees managed remotely, this is done via Skype or simply a conference call.  Nonetheless, it is a regular vehicle in which both the leader and direct reports rely on for consistent, two-way communication.  The benefits of the 1:1 sessions are enormous, but more importantly it provides a level of accountability.

In the event employee performance simply doesn’t improve, the next step is moving into a documented performance improvement plan, called a PIP, which is a roadmap to performance improvement.  However, the PIP is only as good as the effort the leader puts into it to help get the employee performance back on track.  Beyond the PIP is progressive discipline and ultimately termination.  All of these steps are part of the backbone–or infrastructure of a performance management system.  Often, HR points the finger at leadership because performance isn’t managed.  Yet, HR has failed to provide adequate resources, or a backbone system, for leaders to operate within.  In other words, if they don’t have the right coaching and training skills (via a leadership training program) and they haven’t been taught how to evalate performance, coach and give feedback–or even document a disciplinary warning…whose fault is that?  HR must own the infrastructure and ensure the leaders are trained properly and also coached in how to use the process.

For additional questions, drop me a line at natalie@rpchr.com

Until next time…

Natalie.

Since 1993, the Family and Medical Leave Act has provided 12 weeks of unpaid leave for employees with a serious health condition or who have a spouse or immediate family member with a serious health condition.     So, what is considered “serious”?  According to the Department of Labor, a serious condition is defined as a condition that would require an employee to be absent from work for 3 consecutive days, see a health care provider within those 3 days, have to go back to the doc within 7 days for additional follow-up, and then have either ongoing treatment beyond that or have to go back to the doc within 30 days.   However, here is where it gets tricky… The “ongoing” treatment part.  For many employees, the use (or abuse) of Family and Medical Leave (FML) has become commonplace.  As an example, many employees call in “FMLA” if they’re going to be late for work, which might indicate that something involving their serious health condition is causing them to be late for work…  In actuality, it isn’t the serious health condition that’s causing the tardiness, but rather too many hits to the snooze button…  Instead of receiving a disciplinary warning, these types of employees have learned how to play the system so they can come/go as they please without repercussions.  For many managers, they fear challenging the employee on the tardiness or absences for fear of stepping on legal landmines.  Not good…

Right now we’re in one of the toughest economic climates the U.S. has ever seen, short of The Great Depression.  For many businesses, particularly smaller employers, the need for increased productivity and efficiency is critical.  Yet, when employers are experiencing rampant abuse of family and medical leave–and not holding employees accountable–it’s the same as being overcharged by suppliers.  So, why don’t more employers clamp down on the abuse?  The answer:  because they don’t know how.

Here are a few tips to get you started on curbing FMLA Abuse:

1.  Perform an audit on all FML granted within the past year, or whatever is an appropriate time-frame for your business.

2.  Identify patterns.  When do employees call in?  Are they giving adequate notice before the start of their shifts?  Are there patterns with “FMLA days”??? Mondays and Fridays or in conjunction with off days?

3.  Review your FMLA company policy regarding using paid time off.  If you do not require employees to use their sick/vac/PTO concurrently with FMLA–change your policy.  This one change, alone, will improve your productivity.

4.  Change your policy to prohibit moonlighting.  For some employers, FMLA abuse happens when employees wish to take time off from the primary employer in order to secure other employment, temporarily.  In one instance, an employee with an accounting/tax background took about 8 weeks of FMLA during tax season…   She used the company’s salary continuation benefits to receive full pay for the first 4 weeks, then took a week of paid vacation, and then 3 weeks unpaid.  However she earned far more $$ doing taxes, so she made out like a bandit.  So, prohibit moonlighting in your policy and if you catch employees moonlighting, terminate them immediately.

5.  After auditing your FMLA cases you find some abuses, confront the employees to let them know you will be closely monitoring all FML, going forward.  And, indicate that you will be doing a lot more follow-up with physicians, etc. and hold employees accountable.  In the event fraud is detected, indicate that you will terminate or even prosecute for fraud.  When employees know there will be consequences for committing fraud, the behavior will change immediately.

If you would like more information about curbing FMLA abuse, just drop me a line or give me a call.

Enjoy!

Natalie Ivey

Natalie Ivey, MBA, SPHR is the principal with Results Performance Consulting, Inc. a firm based in Boca Raton, Florida that provides HR management consulting and professional development training.

I’m often asked by HR professionals, “How do I convince my boss that we need management training?”  The first problem is that many HR professionals, who recognize that training is needed, are not the strongest or most influential members in the organization.  Therefore, the place to start is gaining the power to influence the change.  How do you do it?  By gathering facts.  You must first analyze what’s going on that tells you, “we need management training!”
Some examples are:

How many employee complaints about supervisors and managers are you getting into HR or Employee Relations?

Are you seeing more complaints of unfairness, favortism, harassment, discrimination, hostile work environment?

What do your turnover #’s look like?  Where is your turnover coming from?

What do your metrics look like?  Are you losing customers or seeing profit decline?

Do you have managers who work a bazillion hours, are burned out, frustrated, and get irritated when employees “interrupt” them?

Are your performance appraisals a total joke?  Is the eval process simply a “check the box” paperwork exercise for managers?  Do they groan at the mere thought of having to actually evaluate employees and give them feedback?

These are just some examples that scream, “we need management training!”

Now, how to convince the boss:  Pull your facts together and quantify how much time it is taking to handle complaints, the cost involved, the potential risks of litigation from unresolved workplace conflicts, and then ask your boss, “Boss, what do you think our organization would look like if our managers were better leaders?  What if they delegated and developed employees?  What if we didn’t have a revolving door into HR because of all the employee complaints?  What if managers actually addressed issues properly and they didn’t blow up into employee relations issues that involve HR?  What if our employees had more autonomy and the managers didn’t work nearly 60 hours a week?”

When you present these questions to help the boss (decision maker for training) visualize what the organization could look like, you’re on the road to strategic planning to build a management training program.    The next step is using your leverage.  Get aligned with a senior leader who will become your champion.  If you are a more junior member of the management team, then you definitely need this senior-level support for your management training program.  He/she needs to help you present a business case to the decision maker.

Now, the issue is usually about spending money.  The boss doesn’t want to spend the money on training.  Yet, the boss may complain daily about the management team not handling X,Y,Z issues.  You can’t have it both ways.  Either you invest in building the capability of your management team by giving them what I call a “software upgrade” so they work more efficiently–or you can continue running old software that doesn’t do the job.  In our highly technical world, we totally get it that we need to upgrade the software in our systems to work more efficiently.  Yet, when it comes to professional development such as management training, so many senior leaders can’t seem to justify the “human software upgrade.”

Good Luck!

See you next time…

Natalie.

Natalie Ivey is a performance consultant, author, and professional speaker who provides contemporary leadership and employee development training.  Ms. Ivey can be reached at rpchr.com or at 561-208-6480.

The case currently before the Supreme Court, involving a police officer who used his mobile device to “sext” his wife, girlfriend, and co-worker, is a reminder of the need for great–not just good–policies surrounding electronic communications.  We are, indeed, in the electronic age; therefore, policies that were effective six months ago–may now be outdated.  What does this mean for U.S. employers and HR professionals?  It means you need to take out your current policies regarding employee use of computers, email, the Internet,…dust em off, and identify whether or not your policies cover use of mobile devices, posting of information on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc., clarifies specifically what KINDS of mobile devices your people are using and what behavior is prohibited, and addresses use of social media and impacts to the organization…  The key here is ensuring that employees clearly understand that the equipment being issued to them is (1) owned by the company, (2) the equipment and messages and recordings sent and received electronically will be monitored, and (3) they have no reasonable expectation of privacy.   Also, that they have clear instructions regarding their use of social media, too.   I bring this up in this blog because of the what-ifs here… What if an employee made allegations that her supervisor is a “sexual harasser” and “predator” of his direct reports and posted it on her wall on Facebook??  Is that behavior covered in your policy–or not??

In the case currently before the Supreme Court, the officer’s immediate supervisor somewhat “trumped” the City of Ontario’s company policy by allowing personal use of the company-owned equipment–provided the officers paid for text message overage charges.   The question I have is this:  What if we had a supervisor who told one of his employees, “Fred, I know we have a policy regarding anti-harassment and all…but I want you to go over and put this Playboy magazine on Henry’s desk.  Since we know he’s gay, I’m sure he’ll find this hysterical…”  Eeeek, you say??  Of course you do, because anyone with a lick of sense would know that this supervisor is “stuck on stupid.”

We certainly wouldn’t tolerate a supervisor “trumping” the company’s anti-harassment policy and we would certainly hold him accountable for his actions.   So, I wonder how this current privacy case involving electronic communications will turn out.  What if the Supreme Court rules that the supervisor’s actions–in superceding city (company) policy–legitimately created a reasonable expectation of privacy for the officer?  What kind of Pandora’s box will we have opened??  I wonder if the ruling will then suddenly open the floodgates for other employment law cases in which a supervisor can create some sort of “safe harbor” for an employee, thus somewhat nullifying the policies we have in place?  I don’t profess to be a labor and employment law attorney, but I do pay attention to these kinds of cases.

When I saw the ADAAA enacted last year, I immediately knew Pandora’s box had been opened…  As I suspected, in a year and a half we now have many, many more employees claiming to have a disability in order to seek accommodations, or what I call “special deals” in the workplace… I’m not begrudging folks who legitimately have disabilities , migraine headaches or other issues that may qualify them as being disabled, but what I am saying is that rulings in these kinds of high profile cases often have severe ripple effects for American employers.   Let’s stay tuned to see how this turns out…in the meantime, go get your company policies, review them, and have a pow-wow with your legal counsel–pronto! :O)

See ya’ next time…

Natalie Ivey

Natalie Ivey, MBA, SPHR, is President of Results Performance Consulting, Inc. and is a professional speaker and writer with expertise in HR management and development and employee relations.

The answer to that question is–it depends.  Are you an HR professional with a ton of experience in recruitment, interviewing, salary negotiation and looking for ajob in HR?  Chances are–you don’t need a coach–you’ve already got it covered with your own skill set.  However, if you are a professional who seems “stuck” in your career or you recently experienced job loss–the answer is:  yes.

Let me first explain the differences between a Career Coach, a Career Counselor, and a Career Consultant.

A Career Counselor typically works in more academic environments, has a background in psychology and usually at least a Master’s degree.  Also, a counselor has the ability to administer a number of different assessments to determine aptitude for different occupations.  Most job seekers in transition will not find this beneficial, as needs may be more immediate to secure employment.

A Career Coach approaches working with someone from more of an emotional perspective, helping individuals overcome the devastation of job loss or to work through destructive behaviors that are preventing them from moving their lives forward.  Coaches–who are true professionals–have been certified by ICF, the International Coaching Federation or other certifying agencies.  A Career Coach will often work with an individual for 6 months to a year to assist with a transition.  However, many career coaches are not professional writers–which means they do not have the skills to write a professional resume that will get the phone to ring…

A Career Management Consultant usually works with an individual on a short-term basis to navigate him/her toward employment–much more quickly.  As a Career Consultant, I am a professional writer and senior-level HR professional with expertise in resume writing and professional development training.   During the initial consultation, I always assess whether or not an individual is in need of more in-depth coaching.  If so, I refer them to one of my colleagues who is an executive coach so they can work through what are often “jumbled thoughts” about their career direction.   As a Career Consultant, a typical client engagement is less than three months.  The reason?  Career Consultants work with individuals who have a clearer understanding of their job search objective, time frame, and have specific industries in mind.  Consultants do help individuals with career transition to other occupations and industries, too, however it is a faster process for career transition.  In using myself as the example, I’ve worked in leadership and HR for over 20 years, and I have the unique skill set to quickly assess someone’s skills, behavioral competencies, and identify other occupations and industries they may be suitable for.

To learn more about working with a Career Coach, Counselor, or a Career Consultant–give me a call.  I’ll be happy to help!

Until next time!

Natalie Ivey

Natalie Ivey is the founder of Results Performance Consulting, Inc., a firm that helps individuals and organizations through Career and HR management consulting and professional development training.  www.rpchr.com

Recently, I was talking with a friend of mine about the current state of the job market in the U.S.  My friend is an executive with a pharmaceutical company and her comment to me was, “Nat, the bodies are dropping everywhere.”  Meaning, that after several mergers with other companies, more senior-level leaders and professionals are being given their severance packages and told, “Thanks, it’s been great…but there’s the door…you’re no longer needed.”

In talking with her, it got me thinking that the current state of the economy is a bit like the child’s game, “Musical Chairs.”  “Around and around, round we go, where it stops, nobody knows.”   When the music stops, someone is going to be without a chair to sit in–or have a job.   Well, here we are in January 2010 in the largest game of Musical Chairs we’ve ever seen.   Companies have to make strategic decisions to cut their labor expenses, streamline operations, and work more efficiently.  Understandable, but these strategic decisions are shifting a lot of leadership talent to the unemployment lines and into long periods of unemployment.

I’m seeing more senior-level, very talented people experience extremely long periods of unemployment.  Why?  I’m actually investigating that right now, but anecdotally I think it’s a few key things:

1.  Lack of skills in how to “fish” for a new job, externally. I think for many senior-level leaders/professionals, they’ve been entrenched in particular occupations or industries for so long that they’ve never had to go look for a job because they’ve always had one.    For many, they’ve always been promoted internally for new opportunities, or back in the good ‘ole days, a headhunter sought them out.   In essence, these professionals have never “learned how to fish” to find a job externally.  As an example, a client of mine had worked at a VP level in banking for over 25 years.  Upon receiving the news he was losing his job because the bank was closing, his response was,”What do I do now?”  He lacked job searching skills, as his only thought process about finding a job was the Sunday classifieds or going to CareerBuilder.  He had no knowledge of social media–at all.   After being unemployed for eight months, he finally came to me and expressed these comments: “I have been trying to find a job.  I’ve applied for a ton of positions online.  I’ve called to follow-up, but I can’t get anyone to call me back…  It’s so frustrating.  The pressure is building, I have a mortgage to pay, I’m draining my savings and I’m about to have to tap into my 401k.  I’ve worked in banking all these years, I have a ton of leadership experience, but all anyone in HR sees is that I’ve only worked in banking/finance.  They can’t see that I have skills in successfully leading employees, working with customers, handling compliance, and that I can–and want to–adapt to a new position in a new industry.”

With that gentleman, we had to revamp his resume to showcase his true talents in leading people, managing budgets, communicating with clients, etc. to make him more portable–and attractive–to other industries.  And, we had to introduce him to LinkedIn and social media.  The other thing we had to do was work on his self-esteem.  After months of unemployment, this confident, former banking executive was beginning to feel like a failure.   His extended period of unemployment was exacerbating the problem of him landing a job, as he wasn’t coming across as confident during interviews.  So, vicious cycle had emerged continually keeping him unemployed.

2.  Lack of “sharpening the saw” with continuing education. I see a lot of senior-level people who possess great skills in what they do–but they don’t possess great skills beyond that.  What I mean by that is they’ve been complacent in managing their own careers.  Once the “music stopped” and they lost their jobs–they were suddenly thrust into a environment that requires survival skills.  Not unlike being marooned on a desert island without survival skills.  What I’m referring to when I say “sharpen the saw” is one of Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits.  In this job market, the survival skills are in the form of both formal and informal education.  Informal education may be certification programs, such as earning a Lean 6 Sigma Certification, or going back to school to earn an advanced degree, or getting a degree in a new field that is emerging, such as bio-tech.

So, for senior-level leaders and professionals, who are struggling in the  job market, it’s time you reassess your situation.  You’ve got to get yourself some additional job search/career training–and you need to sharpen your saw.

Until next time…

Natalie.

As I travel around the country teaching HR continuing ed classes, I talk with a lot of business people on airplanes, shuttles, restaurants, etc.   What’s interesting is to hear what business people have to say about HR.   Well…I’m here to tell you that “it ain’t good.”   When I inquire as to why other professionals (Sales, Ops, R&D, Marketing, etc.) don’t have a high opinion of HR, these are the responses I get:
“HR doesn’t have a clue…”   “HR always says, ‘no’ to everything…”  “HR adds so much bureaucracy to our organization…it takes FOREVER to get anything done”  “HR…well I really don’t know WHAT  those ladies over in HR do, except for handle orientations and benefits stuff…” “HR never seems to ‘get it’ that we’re trying to launch a new product right now…we can’t waste time attending benefits meetings right now…”  “We all have to quantify our results…Sales does it, Operations does it, R&D does it, but HR just sort of bumbles along not really being held accountable.”  “Our HR VP doesn’t even know how to read the P&L…she’s clueless.”  “Oh..our HR people?? Please…spare me the conversation.  Those people up in HR just don’t seem to understand what we do.  The HR Director wanted to implement a new computer system for doing reviews, succession planning, and all the bells and whistles.  I’m all for that, but the damn thing was going to cost us $110,000!  We’re in full crisis mode right now trying to make payroll every month, let alone incur a capital expenditure!”

You see???  These are comments from a cross-section of business professionals that I have met on airplanes, in airport lounges/restaurants, etc. The common denominator is that HR seems disconnected, and HR’s value is simply not visible to them.  It is apparent that they “don’t get” HR and what HR does for their organizations.  Which means that HR is not doing a good enough PR campaign to promote the good things it’s doing.  And, a root cause may be that HR just isn’t aligned with the organization’s big picture goals.  In order for HR to showcase what HR has done to contribute–HR has to know how to impact the financials.  And, HR has to know how to time its initiatives and capital expenditures.

In this month’s RPC Performance Digest, I talked about the need for financial management education within the HR profession.  The reason I wrote about that this month is that I’ve encountered a significant number of professionals who truly do not know how to read a P&L or a Balance Sheet.

So, the topic for this blog is HRD 2010:  HR Accounting & Finance 101.   What this means is that senior HR leaders must partner with their training & development folks  in 2010 to build a basic accounting/finance curriculum.  The goal:  Increase HR’s knowledge of how to analyze and interpret financial statements.  My suggestion would be to give a simple test to HR professionals.  Give them a copy of the company’s current financials and ask them to answer some important questions.   Score the tests–implement new financial analysis curriculum–and then give another identical test, just using a different quarter’s financials.  The effectiveness of the training will be evident.

This past year has taught us all a lesson about how volatile business can be.  Huge organizations fell…millions lost jobs…and lending came to a screeching halt causing the worst economic meltdown we’ve seen since The Great Depression.  So, considering that HR is the group responsible for all things “people” and labor costs are among the highest expense lines on a P&L, suffice it say HR has to get smarter in this area…

Also, here is a fact:  80% of the HR profession is comprised by women.  And, most of the members of the profession have climbed up through the ranks from more administrative roles–not leadership roles or finance roles.  Therefore, a knowledge gap in analyzing and interpreting financials does indeed exist.

As I shared in this month’s RPC Digest, 20 percent of the HR professionals I interact with in classroom education (HR certification programs) indicated that they did not know how to read a company’s financials.  That means that HR doesn’t know how to read an annual report–or other financials such as a Balance Sheet or a Statement of Cash Flow.  If HR doesn’t speak the language of money and finance–how will HR ever get that seat at the table??? Answer:  it won’t.

So, HRD practitioners:  2010 is the year of Accounting and Finance curriculum for HR.  And, HR professionasl, 2010 is the year that you take ownership of your career development:  get financial knowledge!

I wish all of my readers a very joyous holiday season and a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Warmest holiday wishes,

Natalie Ivey
HRD Consultant/Principal
rpchr.com