human resources april 2015

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PRESENTED BY 04. 2015 Vol.3 Issue 04 THE NEW CORPORATE HR DIRECTOR 20 tips and 20 key skills María José Fraile, Bettina Rodríguez and Carolina Reynoso Butron 13 09 18 15 HR Analytics The new gold rush Change Management Helpful tips The HR Giant Within The time has come! Cultural Change?! It’s not HR’s job!!!

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  • PRESENTED BY

    04. 2015Vol.3 Issue 04

    The New CorporaTe hr DireCTor 20 tips and 20 key skills

    Mara Jos Fraile, Bettina Rodrguez and Carolina Reynoso Butron

    1309

    1815

    HR AnalyticsThe new gold rush

    Change ManagementHelpful tips

    The HR Giant Within The time has come!

    Cultural Change?! Its not HRs job!!!

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  • PRESENTED BY

    Features

    The New Corporate HR Director 20 tips and 20 key skillsThe Human Capital manager in a multinational must have different skills, as complex as their own profession. PG.06

    06 The New Corporate HR Director 20 tips and 20 key skills Mara Jos Fraile, Bettina rodrguez and Carolina reynoso Butron

    09 HR Analytics The new gold rush David Green

    10 Bounce Back Increasing workforce resilience angela payne

    13 Change Management Helpful tips Bill Mcelwain

    14 People Management How analytics is changing it Bernard Marr

    15 Cultural Change?! Its not HRs job!!! Donna McGeorge

    16 Change Initiatives Why HR should lead Carol anderson

    17 Why Great Strategies Fall Short? A few reasons Charlotte Ntreh

    18 The HR Giant Within The time has come! Lisa Milani

    20 Has Your Career Jumped The Shark? Five obstacles to career advancement Tom Sims

    22 Skills Gap Innovation, the key to attracting young workers Tom Turpin

    04. 2015Vol.3 Issue 04

    1309

    1815

    HR AnalyticsThe new gold rush

    Change ManagementHelpful tips

    The HR Giant Within The time has come!

    Cultural Change?! Its not HRs job!!!

  • When I received the articles for the April issue of HR Strategy and Planning Excellence, I made a word cloud of all the used words. The main message that the authors seem to be sending us is: HR MUST CHANGE! (the exclamation mark is mine).

    The contributions can be divided into three groups: Change management guidance, the opportunities of HR analytics and what HR MUST do, to have more impact in their organization.

    In the first group, change management guidance, Angela Payne in Bounce Back, gives six tips on what to do when you want to ensure your people can adapt and bounce back after change is announced. Bill McEl-wain also gives some helpful tips in Change Management. There is no recipe for effective and impactful change management. Listing to your people and making sure they understand the need for change are important ingredients.

    Bernard Marr and David Green are two of my favourite authors who write about HR Analytics, and the opportunities Big Data and HR analytics create for HR. In People Management (how analytics is changing it) Bernard touches on an ethical question: How can you use the power of analytics to enhance the work of people, without being too intrusive into the private lives of people? Clear communication, building a level of trust and showing the benefits to people and organization are key. In HR Analytics David Green states, it does seem that the stars of HR analytics have finally aligned and 2015 will prove to be a pivotal year.

    In the last group, What HR MUST do, Carol Anderson in Change Initiatives: Why HR should lead makes the argument that HR should lead change initiatives. Donna McGeorge appears to think otherwise, in Cultural Change?! Its not HRs job!!! The team that wrote The New Corporate HR Director (Mara Jos Fraile, Bettina Rodrguez and Carolina Reynoso Butron) gives us a list

    of 20 tips and skills they consider important for a corporate HR Director, and they write they could have given many more! I am glad I am no longer a Corporate HR Director as I would have had many deficiencies; I would certainly like to meet the people who have all the skills on their list! Tom Simms in Has Your Career Jumped The Shark? finds Strategic thinking the most important skill for an HR professional. Lisa Milani is very positive in her contribution The HR Giant Within: The time for HR has (finally) come!

    Having read the articles a couple of thoughts cross my mind:

    Why is it considered to be important what the HR folks are doing? I am not a member of The Union of HR professionals, and I think it is more important to focus on what can be done to make organizations great places to work, than on who will be directing and executing the projects.

    Change is very often seen as the transi-tion from State A to State B, where it seems that continuous change is more and more the daily (best) practice.

    I totally agree with David Green when he predicts that 2015 is the year for a break-through in HR analytics. This will enable organizations to base their people and or-ganization interventions more on facts and less on opinions.

    I hope this April issue will inspire you!

    Guest Editors Note

    HR Strategy and Planning Excellenceis published monthly by HR.com,124 Wellington Street EastAurora, OntarioCanada L4G 1J1.

    Editorial Purpose: Our mission is to promote HR Strategy and Planning on constructivevalues, sound ethics, and timeless principles.

    Article Submissions:Please send any correspondence, articles,letters to the editor, and requests to reprint, republish, or excerptarticles to: Editorial Department, HR Strategy and Planning124 Wellington Street East, Aurora, Ontario Canada L4G 1J1.Phone: 1-877-472-6648Email: [email protected]

    Customer Service/Circulation:For customer service, or information on products and services, call 1-877-472-6648 or email: [email protected]

    Internet Address: www.hr.com

    HR Strategy and Planning Excellence Publishing:Debbie McGrath, CEO, HR.com,PublisherShelley Marsland-Beard, Product ManagerAdnan Saleem, Design and Layout

    Marketing Offices:HR.com124 Wellington Street EastAurora, OntarioCanada L4G 1J11-877-472-6648

    Copyright 2015 HR.comNo part of this publication may bereproduced or transmitted in any form without written permission from the publisher. Quotations must be credited.

    To submit articles for future issues submit your article to:[email protected]

    Vol.3 Issue. 04

    Tom Haak is the founder and Director of the HR Trend Institute. Tom has an extensive experience in HR Management in multina-tional companies. From 2006-2014 he was the global HR Director for ARCADIS. Prior to ARCADIS he worked in senior HR positions at Aon, KPMG and Philips Electronics. Tom has a keen interest in innovative HR and how

    organizations can benefit from trend shifts. Email [email protected] http://hrtrendinstitute.com

    Have a say?Write to the Editor.

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  • The New Corporate HR Director20 tips and 20 key skills

    What makes a good corporate HR director? The answer is not simple, we could talk about leadership, strategic vision, flexibility...but in reality it entails a set of many different skills, being skilled in different contexts and times, having a global and local vision, knowing what makes an excellent professional. The Human Capital manager in a multinational must have different skills, as complex as their own profession. Of course, all of these can be worked at and developed. In this regard, it is important that these professionals be vigilant, because your post today is highly strategic; good talent management marks the difference between excellent organizations and those that are left behind. Especially at a moment when its commonly known that its so hard to find the right people for each position, and even more to retain them. In this article, we have collected twenty tips and skills that we consider very important for a corporate HR director, to guide him or her through developing and improving skills, on the day to day job, although we could cite many more, of course. Lets take a look at them.

    Strategy1.Tip: Manage transformationKey skill: Adaptability

    We live in a changing world; we have gone from local to global, from the physical to the virtual, from certainty to uncertainty. A liquid time, quoting the words of the sociologist, Zygmut Bauman. The key competence to work in this context is the ability to adapt to change. If the only certainty these days is that everything changes; then its useless to turn a blind eye to

    the new emerging realities, instead we must grab and embrace each new scenario fearlessly. 2.Tip: Predict the futureKey skill: Vision

    This isnt about the art of prediction. Forecasting the future is also about managing change, detecting emerging trends before they take root, and anticipating any situation. Its about going that one step further. Theres no perfect formula on how. Just be constantly curious, forever alert to the local and global reality, read different media, study trends, analyze different indicators; and travel, travel and walk a lot. As Don Quixote said, He, who reads a lot and walk a lot, sees a lot and knows a lot.3.Tip: Strengthen continual learning and trainingKey skill: Constant learning

    None of this makes sense if one doesnt train up competencies, and promote global learning throughout your organization. In the current liquid context we speak of, a key responsibility of corporate HR management is to make sure that there is no gap between the employees tasks and their level of training to perform them. Its interesting to combine traditional training styles with new trends (MOOCs, e-learning, webinars, wikis, etc.) in order to build a global learning environment, ideally on a single platform that is always accessible and nurtures col-lective intelligence.4.Tip: Align strategically with managementKey skill: Business vision

    Behind are the times when each department worked in isola-tion. Today, everyone is aware that the HR department works together with all other departments and with management. Not only are they aligned, but also their indicators have become critical to business management. And talent management is considered one of the top three priorities for CEOs worldwide. Stay alert, because this is how predictive analytics will play a key role.5.Tip: Strengthen HR within the organizationKey skill: Involvement

    Good talent management will unquestionably lead to a posi-tive perception of HR held by the entire organization. This is the best way to promote our department internally. However, the corporate HR director must be astute and should know how to promote his departments actions, among both employees and management, to get them to adopt policies as their own throughout the entire organization. In this case, the analytical indicators we spoke of earlier may be very useful in demonstrat-ing ROI internally.Management 6.Tip: Integrate global with localKey skill: Flexibility

    Today more than ever, glocal (global-local) has become the new panacea of any organization. Its about having global HR policies, while integrating local and regional peculiarities.

    ByMaraJosFraile,BettinaRodrguezandCarolinaReynosoButron

    COVER ARtiClE

    6 HR Strategy and Planning Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 04.2015Submit your Articles

    Click here for a high resolution image

  • 7HR Strategy and Planning Excellence presented by HR.com | 04.2015 Submit your Articles

    Thats why a good corporate human resources policy must be the result of efforts to dialogue and share business best practices internationally, without losing sight of the need to promote a common and inclusive HR culture.7.Tip: Manage global complexityKey skill: International vision

    Our world is global, so HR managers must sidestep tactics based on border differences, and think of their organization as a whole. International talent management raises very important and diverse challenges. One is the great challenge of talent gap or the distance between the skills required and those found in employees today. This requires tools for searching the best talent worldwide, and also knowing how to train and find the best internal talent. Another key challenge is talent retention, when we have very low numbers of truly loyal staff today.8.Tip: Manage diversityKey skill: Integration

    It then goes to follow that theres a need to work with very diverse teams. Different generations millennials bring in a new approach to the current labor model, demanding greater flexibility on the job and greater corporate responsibility. Differ-ent nationalities and cultural contexts this calls for a different approach to the traditional expat and how employees should

    receive training for international mobility very early on, turning this into a plus for career development rather than an experience to be compensated with fat benefit packages.9.Tip: Count on the best technologyKey skill: Technological innovation

    One of the trump cards for achieving integrated HR man-agement is to have the technological tools that facilitate it. A global HR solution with one unique record per employee worldwide for global management throughout the working lives of employees, from the recruitment process to full-blown development within the organization will greatly facilitate this undertaking. A solution, which also allows for the different local needs and integrates these so that we can find out what is happening in our organization worldwide in real time and obtain the analytical indicators required to improve our day to day activities.10.Tip: Boost company-wide engagementKey skill: Employee experience manager

    One of the things to bear in mind today is the importance of the experience gained both at the internal and external levels. Its no longer just about selling a product, but also the engaging experience that comes with it. Its no longer about only reward-ing employees, but also making their days in the company a pleasurable activity, satisfying and motivating them. Good steps towards work life balance, strengthening initiative, innovation and creativity in employees and work flexibility, among others, will help to create this state of well-being.Communication 11.Tip: Be a global information and communication sourceKey skill: Communication

    The HR department must not be isolated. It must also be a source of information for the entire company and the central hub of communication. This way, the organization becomes open with information flowing freely and boosting communica-tion between employees. Internal social networks, communities and shared knowledge centers are essential, and also help us to reinforce the improvement of internal skills, the search for the best talent or mutual support networks.12.Tip: Keep a marketing focusKey skill: Brand management

    Nowadays marketing has to be developed globally across the entire company. A corporate brand strategy involves the entire organization at all levels. To a large extent, this requires a much more multi-functional collaboration than ever. Setting up close links between the marketing and HR departments amplifies com-munication towards the (respective) customers. A corporate HR director can play a key role in helping to develop this chain of brand enhancement that starts with the organizations internal values and culminates with the perception of the values the company wants customers to experience. This way marketing techniques also help foster the development of the strategies of the HR department itself.13.Tip: Transmit the corporate identityKey skill: Value broadcaster

    Since one of the fundamental tasks of the corporate HR direc-tor is to transmit corporate values, this person must reflect these and be an example of trustworthiness for the entire organization.

    The New Corporate HR Director

  • 8 HR Strategy and Planning Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 04.2015Submit your Articles

    Personal skills are covered in the next point, but with regards to communication, this especially involves improving corporate channels, and give voice to the varied differences from a global and inclusive perspective.14.Tip: Prioritize the search for the best talent Key skill: Employer branding ambassador

    There is still a long way to go in creating a compelling brand and a strong company culture. As mentioned earlier, marketing and HR collaboration is again evident in employer branding. Collaborating as a whole on brand strategy, while ensuring the company meets its commitment, together with how the company culture breathes daily will enhance talent recruitment and retentionone of the top priorities of HR leaders today. It is therefore important to develop a strategy for selecting global talent with all the tools for innovation at our disposal (social recruiting, big data, predictive analytics, etc...).15.Tip: Manage change in communicationKey skill: Social focus

    In our era we have lived through the last major change in com-munication, we have moved from mass media to interactive com-munication through internet. Communication is a facet added to every area of our lives through mobile devices. We cannot just talk of social networks, but rather a social, multi channel, multimedia and constant communication. Our organization must not stay stuck in the old one-way communication and it should enhance interaction in all directions and senses. This is especially critical in a multinational organization: The corporate HR department must work to break down the physical barriers that block these communication modes from taking place, and enhancing access for all employees to the same organization-wide resources for engagement.Personal Skills16.Tip: Exemplify integrityKey skill: Integrity

    As we said earlier, the corporate HR leader must be an example of the kind of corporate management he wants to promote. Such that his actions and decisions must be aligned with this management without contradictions. This implies cultivating an upright and determined personality. Thats not to say that one cannot make mistakes, but one must be capable of rectifying and returning to the right path when it happens.17.Tip: Inspire the entire organizationKey skill: Leadership

    Theres been much talk about the most important qualities of a good leader, but it is important to stress here the relevance of this quality in a multinational company. Leading all parts of the organization towards a common goal; managing diver-sity and integrating the differences require a high degree of commitment and charisma. Inspiring the entire organization, regardless of geography or cultural circumstances is no easy task and will require a combination of what we talked about earlier: Stronger communication, the right technology tools and good management.18.Tip: Be influentialKey skill: Persuasion

    These days it is not enough to be a strategist or manager, the HR leader at the corporate level has to be an agent of global

    change. We are living in late post modernity, in which the only constant is endless change, although this sounds contradictory.

    In this context, the HR leader must be able to influence stra-tegic decisions in the company for human capital management to advance in the right direction, and not miss the boat for transformation. In turn, he must persuasively sell the need for change across to all departmental levels of the company.19.Tip: Inspire trustKey skill: Trustworthiness

    More than ever in uncertain times, it is crucial for the cor-porate HR leader to build trust throughout the organization. This is achieved with a set of different skills, such as coherence, responsibility, dedication and strong leadership. It is not easy to manage uncertainty. Not knowing what will happen in times of constant change can cause stress, anxiety or fear in many employees. Thats why trust in the company must be above all reinforced at the corporate level. 20.Tip: Be flexible and reconcileKey skill: Open minded

    Today it is vital to be open to change, because as we have been saying, the remedy is uncertainty. This forces us to improvise, adapt to new situations, and always seek to improve on the current state. All this is impossible if the HR leader is not open to new ideas, flexible in the face of circumstances for transformation, and willing to reconcile all aspects of diversity that we have been discussing from the start. And as we mentioned, the keys to this open mind are insatiable curiosity and constant learning.S&P

    The New Corporate HR Director

    Mara Jos Fraile is the Meta4 Corporate HR Director with extensive experience in the people management field, adjusting the HR function to the different developmental stages of a company: hyper-growth, mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, crisis management, among others. She has also had the opportunity to work directly in the product line, supporting software application design, consulting and pre-sales solutions for HR management and knowledge management.Connect: Mara Jos Fraile Follow @MariaJoseFraile

    Bettina Rodrguez graduated in Foreign Trade and Marketing, and holds an MBA from the Instituto de Empresa. She has held various positions in train-ing, pre-sales and marketing. Her professional career has always developed in the international environment of B2B companies in the HR technology sector. She currently manages the Meta4 Corporate Marketing department.Connect Bettina Rodrguez FlickFollow @bettinarflick

    Carolina Reynoso Butron develops the Meta4 social media strategy and mar-keting content for each of the different markets in which the company oper-ates: Global, France, Latin America, and Spain, among others. Her interest in continuous learning has led her to train in different disciplines at universities in Madrid, Paris and Salamanca. She holds a BA in History, Communication, MA in Multimedia Journalism, and her latest research work focused on the phenomena of gamification.Connect Carolina Reynoso Butron Follow @CarolReynoso

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  • 9HR Strategy and Planning Excellence presented by HR.com | 04.2015 Submit your Articles

    Maybe its something in the water or perhaps its simply the advent of a new year and all the hype that accompanies it, but it does seem there has been a visible momentum shift in the adoption of analytics in HR.

    Writing in Forbes, industry sage Josh Bersin boldly proclaims the geeks have arrived in HR and that HR departments are finally getting serious about analytics. And I mean serious. HR has been dipping its feet in the analytics ocean for years without fully taking the plunge, but Bersin asserts that instead of just talking about the opportunity to apply data to people decisions, companies are now stepping up and making the investment.

    From my discussions with HR leaders I sense too that the accelerator pedal has been pressed to the floor even if many organisations are still in the embryonic stage of datifying their HR departments. On ERE, John Zappe latched onto Bersins article and cited supportingresearch from Wanted Analyticsthat the number of human resources jobs advertised in Q4 2014 requiring big data and analytical skills had risen markedly year-on-year by 54%.

    Could we be on the precipice of the HR equivalent of a gold rush? CHROs and other CXO have watched with envy as com-panies as diverse as Unilever, ABN Amro, Shell and Sears have built HR analytics functions and reaped the benefits of applying a data driven approach to talent. HR has suddenly become an interesting career destination for a number of hitherto unlikely highly skilled geeks. In the same Forbes article, Bersin talks of PhD statisticians, engineers, and computer scientists together, all working on people analytics for their companies.

    In another excellent recent article (A Quant, Physicist, & Chemist Walk Into HR), Benjamin Taylor Chief Data Scientist (now thats a job title and a half ) at HireVue and one of the geeks highlighted by Bersin explains what attracted him from Wall Street to HR. Taylor makes an irrefutable case of why HR is ripe for disruption, has multiple challenging data problems and demands cross-pollination from other industries. This clarion call defines why HR presents such a compelling career proposition if you just happen to be a nuclear physicist, chemist, mechanical engineer, data scientist or meteorologist.

    However, before HR joyously exclaims gold, a note of caution. It wasnt that long ago Bersin (yes, him again) published a fairly damning indictment of HRs immaturity with analytics. This study (see Figure below) showed that only 4% of companies had achieved the capability to perform predictive analytics on their workforce and only 14% had done any significant statistical analysis of employee data. This leaves a whopping 86% with fools gold rather than the genuine article. All the more reason to hope that Taylors call to arms for HR cross-pollination will be heeded.

    Bersin by Deloittes Talent Analytics Maturity Model

    Initiatives like the CIPD ledValuing Your Talent, which aims to provide employers with a clearer understanding of, and common means of describing, the way in which people impact the performance of their organisation will certainly help HR sort the wood from the trees.

    Time will tell if Bersin is right to call it as he has, but it does seem that the stars of HR analytics have finally aligned and 2015 will prove to be a pivotal year. Lets hope so because as to paraphrase Mark Twains character Mulberry Sellers: Theres gold in them thar data and theres millions in it. S&P

    HR Analytics The new gold rush

    By David Green

    David Green is a Director at Cielo,the leading global Recruitment Process Outsourcing and talent acquisition firm. Davidhas helped a number of organisations design data driven talent acquisition programmes that drive effectiveness, growth and competitive advantage. He also speaks and writes on HR Analytics and other key tenets driving the seismic change in the future of work.Email [email protected] @david_green_ukConnect David Green

    FEAtURE

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    Maybe its something in the water or perhaps its sim-ply the advent of a new year and all the hype that ac-companies it, but it does seem there has been a visible momentum shift in the adoption of analytics in hr.

    Click here for a high resolution image

  • Working today requires that we be change ready. Markets shift, needs evolve and the competitive landscape is redrawn. Organizations need employees who can adapt, recover and remain productive in the midst of change, transition or uncertainty.The Current Situation

    Once an organization has announced a restructuring, merger or new line of business, how do you ensure employees can absorb high levels of ambiguity, cope with change and stay focused on business? Today, change initiatives are a common fact of organi-zational life. However, the challenge of successfully implementing change remains. Change needs to be planned, carefully managed, monitored and measured.Why it Matters?

    The stakes are hardly inconsequential. From the moment you announce news of change, you run the risk that workforce performance will suffer. Employees living with uncertainty for extended periods of time will at the least, experience confusion and anxiety that may impede productivity. They may fear for the future security of their own jobs and may disengage. With its workforce distracted, the organization as a whole faces a cascading set of threats. Falling productivity imperils critical business functions, compromising customer service and satisfac-tion. Business performance can plummet.

    The sooner your people can adapt and bounce back after change is announced, the better you can compete.What to Do About it?

    Uncertainty and stress are inevitable parts of change, but a major disruption in business continuity isnt. Resiliency is a trait individu-als can develop and strengthen. Here are six key steps you can take to ensure that your people survive change and bounce back quickly.

    1.Ensure that executive leadership is fully engaged. Major change requires major leadership. Top management can sponsor change actively and visibly by impressing upon the entire organization the necessity for change and the benefits to be realized.

    2.Formulate a comprehensive, well-structured change manage-ment plan. No plan, no quick bounce back. Its as simple as that. The proposed changes have to be introduced with forethought, appropriate

    supports have to be marshalled and resiliency has to be cultivated.3.Communicate clearly and consistently. Theres nothing more

    damaging than an unfounded rumor and nothing more inevitable when the organizations leadership remains tight lipped about whats in store and why. The organization needs to be clear about its messaging and have mechanisms in place to ensure that everyone in authority works from the same playbook.

    4.Comprehensively engage front-line managers. Front-line man-agers are at the leading edge of any change event. Give them direction and training specifically related to the change event. Their role is to identify team challenges and apply resilience-building key practices during one-on-one conversations with immediate reports.

    5.Provide tools, resources and coaching. Simple, actionable change management tools and resources can make a profound contribution to managing change successfully and sustainably. As a follow-up to reinforce sustainability, coach-facilitated group meetings should be held to ensure that managers and employees are putting their change management skills into practice and implementing change effectively.

    6.Conduct pulse surveys. What you dont know can definitely hurt you. You need to keep abreast of whats happening on the ground and, if appropriate, adjust your strategy to ensure that your change event remains entirely under your control. Pulse surveys targeting employee morale and productivity will provide you with crucial insight on how employees are adapting and whether your initiative is still on track. What are people thinking and feeling? Have you been communicating with them effectively? Is the training youre providing working? Are productivity levels being maintained?

    In todays increasingly fluid business environment, organizations everywhere are under pressure to adopt significant change with greater frequency. Those companies that can manage change best enjoy a clear competitive advantage. The sooner your people can adapt and bounce back, the better you can compete. The more completely you can maintain the continuity of your operations, the stronger your performance and the more secure your competitive position. Taking an organized, carefully conceived approach to managing change is more important than ever. S&P

    Bounce BackIncreasing workforce resilience

    ByAngelaPayne

    Angela Payne joined Lee Hecht Harrison in 2012 and is the Country Manager for Canada. Prior to this assignment, she was the companys senior sales executive responsible for managing the sales team on a national basis. Angela has held senior positions within the Canadian subsidiaries of Adecco SA for over 14 years, including Adecco Canada and most recently with Lee Hecht Harrison. Email: [email protected] Visit www.lhh.com

    10 HR Strategy and Planning Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 04.2015Submit your Articles

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    Today, change initiatives are a common fact of orga-nizational life. however, the challenge of successfully implementing change remains. Change needs to be planned, carefully managed, monitored and measured.

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  • 13HR Strategy and Planning Excellence presented by HR.com | 04.2015 Submit your Articles

    What is Change Management?Change management has always been a mild consideration in

    traditional businesses, but it has become a more significant concern in modern business. It has most recently been recognized as a task perhaps beyond coaching. Some businesses are now considering the Change Management task worthy of position assignments and recruiting efforts are evident that some businesses are hiring Change Managers, in order to execute change where workplace resistance or cultural erosion may occur as a result.

    While no one truly expects to move through life without change, most people are naturally apprehensive about change, and for a very good reason. If one considers what signs of change relating to survival meant over tens of thousands of years. Noticing rivers drying up, or game and food supplies diminishing; meant our distant ancestors had to view change as potentially life threatening. Interestingly enough, they also became instigators of change in order to protect them-selves against unforeseen and abrupt changes events that could be catastrophic, if not anticipated or planned for. Implementing typical Change Management processes, or focusing on the creation of Change Expectant employees as well, is really as simple as deciding which will best facilitate a fluid and lasting method of business operation. After all, the most successful societies were change expectant and implemented change with self-fulfilling enthusiasm in comparison to coercive regimes, where creative change lagged alongside menial or antagonistic change.

    For obvious reasons, we need to make changes in our business plans, operational processes, such as safety and environmental functions, financial, and at times, even our product or branding. The people that drive these day-to-day operations may need to be expanded, contracted or re-deployed entirely, depending on the change and that change may besocrucial that the very survival of the business depends on it. Just imagine the changes at Kodak, while the digital camera was on the rise. If you were a front line employee there, could you have endured the change? Or, would you have preferred to be an instigator of the change?Change Management Tips

    Heres a true story of a local business that had made a management change in one of their area operations. It was a fairly substantial change and involved bringing in a new manager from another area to make some, Big Changes. The current management had been either fired or demoted and the new guy was going to make it all work well again. Of course, he hit the ground running and with a box of books titled, Who Moved My Cheese, by Spencer Johnson, M.D. The book tells a short tale of mice and humans living in a maze and coping with cheese arrangements. While I have read this book and enjoyed it as a comic and simplistic view of human and animal behavior, it was certainly wasnotthe right publication or method of introducing change into that particularly anxious environment. The feedback from the employees that read the book was very negative. Not that they resented the impending change, but because they had felt degraded. Essentially, the expectancy of their ability to work with

    or implement change had been reduced to comparing them to mice in a maze. They thought more of themselves than that and the whole subsequent Change Management effort failed miserably as talented people moved away from that particular maze. The book might be okay to share with a friend, or family member, but Change Manag-ers and especiallyNew Managers, would do well to avoid issuing this publication to the mice beneath you. Because thats exactly how it will be received.

    Instead; use dialog in group or team meetings that promotes the concept of creative change and employee contribution. This approach will foster a more cooperative and willing change expectant player, than a: Here, read this and brace for impact, book. People that are given opportunities and incentives to be the creators of the very change needed to help the business; can initiate some of the most broadly accepted changes of all. Although the story of Spence Silver and Art Fry; the collaborators of the Post-It-Note creation at 3M, is not purely a change management story, but it does involve creative collaboration and changes to production and marketing that hadnt been expected.

    Trust the inner spirit of the people within your organization to become initiators of truly needed change through challenging and collaborative dialogue. Teams should be guided to create idea lists of changes needed, or even imagined for their business divisions. These ideas should address the potential challenges of predesigned concepts for growth, improvement and market competitiveness. There should be incentives and bonus programs that serve as key motivational items for creative and profitable contributions. Change expectant employees are easy to recognize: They are the ones knocking on your door with a new idea. Dont just grin and wish them a good day, spend some time nurturing that attempt to seed your business. Perhaps the first idea was a poor one, but think of the passion that drove it.

    There are times when change will not be pleasant no matter how many meetings are held. In my location, the recent drop in oil pricing has caused some immediate and painful change requirements for some businesses to ensure survival. But it would be folly to throw in the towel before trying to create a positive change expectant and change aggressive work force. Who knows what great new ideas for equipment deployment, modification and utilization may erupt? S&P

    Change ManagementHelpful tips

    ByBillMcElwain

    Bill McElwain is President at Ascent Business Consulting Ltd. Bill has worked extensively in the investment industry, construction, oilfield and transporta-tion sectors and has over 20-years of Leadership and Operational experience.Connect Bill McElwainVisit http://ascentbusinessconsulting.ca/

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  • Google has regularly been voted the best company in America to work for its staff get free meals, generous paid holidays, access to nap pods for power-napping during the business day, and are even encouraged to grow their own fruit and vegetables at work.

    And, despite their old dont be evil motto, Google top brass hasnt set things up this way simply because they are lovely people. Like everything they do, their decisions were based squarely on data and in this case the data showed that treating their staff well would increase employee satisfaction.

    Employers have been using analytics for some time now to understand what makes their staff tick using metrics such as staff engagement to understand what drives productivity and innovation in the workplace.

    The Big Data revolution has accelerated this practice as well as taken it in new directions companies now have more data than ever on their employees, and more tools and technology with which to analyze this data.

    But can or should we monitor people who work for us in the same way we monitor our machinery and equipment? Can their behavior be predicted, or even manipulated, in the same way? Is it even ethical to try?

    After all, people are far less predictable, more nuanced in our reactions to events or situations, and complex in our motiva-tions. If the productivity of a piece of machinery is consistently lower than it should be, its a safe bet that its faulty. If a human beings productivity is dwindling there could be a hundred reasons illness, coping with stress at home, or beginning to feel demotivated by the job.

    The fact that these questions remain unanswered has certainly not stopped many with pushing ahead and trying it out anyway!

    Hitachis Business Microscope service enables companies to fit their staff with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags which track their movements around the workplace and even monitor sound waves to identify how stressed or relaxed they are when they speak.

    Inone trial, a retailer was able to increase sales by 15% after they noticed that the presence of a member of staff in certain areas of the store had a high impact on products sold, while in other areas, their presence had very little effect.

    The devices arent limited in use to businesses whose staff regularly move around to complete their jobs. In a seated office environment, they record how long an employee spends at their desk along with how much time they spend interacting with other staff, who they talk to, the distance they stand from each other during conversations, and the enthusiasm with which they contribute to meetings.

    It may sound Orwellian, but how well it is received by staff will probably entirely depend on the way it is used. If it is used as a disci-plinary tool focused on the behavior of individuals, it is sure to lead to resentment. But, when used as a way to gain an overview of the company as a whole, and how it interacts to get the job done, it will probably generate far less complaints and far more useful insights.

    Retaining staff (or reducing churn) is often a key priority for businesses. Top talent is always in demand, and assuring that it wont be poached by competitors is always a challenge. To this end, Forbes

    carried out a study in 2013 which found a strong link between the rate of pay required to keep a member of staff, and their level of productivity.

    Middle-performing staff could be expected to stay loyal even if their earnings dropped as low as 91% of the average salary for their job. High-fliers, by contrast, would begin to look around for other opportunities if their salary is below 120% of the average.

    Companies have leveraged these insights to come up with algorithms which predict when they may be in danger of losing a key member of staff allowing them to step in and intervene.

    The fact is that in the age of Big Data analysis, measuring the ef-ficiency of staff, and identifying the factors that may be affecting it, is a relatively simple process, with the amount of data that employers are now capable of collecting from their employees, and the advanced tools which are available for analysis.

    The benefits to a company which is able to accurately identify why one particular customer sales representative outperforms his or her colleagues are obvious. However, if implemented in a sloppy or dis-criminatory fashion, they could also lead to serious problems with staff trust, and the level of intrusion into their private lives that they feel.

    With many companies now routinely scanning contents of emails and monitoring the activities of their staff on social media, it is clear that some may feel concerned.

    Will employees resent this level of analysis of their day-to-day activi-ties? Some certainly will. But as I said before it will depend entirely on how it is implemented. In short, there are far more useful, and less provocative uses for employee data collection and analysis, than enforcing discipline over who takes the most bathroom breaks.

    It is something we are likely to become used to over time just as in the consumer sphere, we are getting more used to handing private companies our personal information in return for a more convenient service.

    And, if the end result is a decision by their employer to double their paid holiday, provide free food, and encourage them to sleep on the job it is unlikely they will get many complaints!

    As always, I am keen to hear your thoughts on the topic, please feel free to comment. S&P

    People ManagementHow analytics is changing it

    By Bernard Marr

    14 HR Strategy and Planning Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 04.2015Submit your Articles

    Bernard Marr is a global enterprise performance expert and a best-selling business author. He helps companies to better manage, measure, report and analyze performance. His leading-edge work with major companies, organisations and governments across the globe makes him an acclaimed and award-winning keynote speaker, researcher, consultant and teacher. Bernard is acknowledged by the CEO Journal as one of todays leading business brains.Email [email protected] Visit www.ap-institute.com Follow @BernardMarr

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  • 15HR Strategy and Planning Excellence presented by HR.com | 04.2015 Submit your Articles

    Over lunch with an HR professional recently, he asked me if I would be interested in engaging with them around a cultural change project. By his description, the culture was in sore need of a boost and perhaps if I came in and offered a few motivational workshops, we might fix it.

    I asked who in the leadership team is asking for this? What does the leadership team want from the culture? Who is your champion or sponsor for this? I fully expected him to reply The CEO. Instead, he said, No-one. Its me.

    He went on to explain that the leadership team is too busy for this and has delegated it to HR, and in turn, it was delegated to him. I felt very sorry for him as I believed he is either being set up to fail, or the leadership in the organisation have no idea what it takes to bring about cultural change.

    I believe there are three key factors he needs to consider to get started:Vision

    Definewhat you want the culture to be. Diagnosewhere it is now. What do you want to keep and

    what are the root causes of some of the less favorable aspects of the existing culture?

    Design the future, identifying the key levers to bring about change.Leadership

    Do the leaders haveconfidencein the vision? Are theycongruentin their behaviors? Can they stand inconvictionabout future?

    Change Management All aspects of the organisation need to be addressed in the

    management of the change. Impact on, meaning for, and communication toIndividuals,

    Teams & OrganisationSo,what roleDOESHR play?I believe the same role that any

    other function or leader would play. The responsibilities that fall into the function of HR can have a tremendous impact.

    Design of the employee value proposition Recruiting for the desired culture, Education/training, Leadership succession planning... to name a few.And the role of Finance? Designing systems and processes

    that support the culture.

    The role of Sales and/or Marketing? What are the key mes-sages we want our customers to know about our culture. Or IT? How do we provide technological infrastructure to support the culture we want to build.

    Its not one persons job, its everyones job.AND it takes time. Hosting motivational workshops or events,

    sending e-mails, and putting posters on a wall will not fix it.Its only when you haveALIGNMENT between the vision

    of the organisation and the vision of the culture,SPONSOR-SHIPat the highest level of the organisation and support from the senior, or executive leadership team, and a co-ordinated change managementPLANthat you can begin to bring about cultural change. S&P

    Cultural Change?!Its not HRs job!!!

    By Donna McGeorge

    For almost 20 years, Donna McGeorge has worked in HR, L&D and OD in several global organisations, including Ernst & Young, Ansett Airlines and Ford Motor Company. In her private consulting practice she has trained, facil-itated and consulted to KPMG, Flight Centre, Ford, Bunnings, Nissan Motor Company, Moet Hennessy Diageo China, ChangAn Ford, NAB and ANZ Bank. Donna is currently working with a number of global companies on organizational change, and is the author of two books, The Pen is Mightier than the Slide(published May 2014) and Get Engaged(published February 2015).Email [email protected] Connect Donna McGeorgeVisit www.donnamcgeorge.com

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    its only when you haveaLiGNMeNTbetween the vision of the organisation and the vision of the culture,SpoN-SorShipat the highest level of the organisation and support from the senior, or executive leadership team, and a co-ordinated change management pLaN that you can begin to bring about cultural change.

    Click here for a high resolution image

  • 16 HR Strategy and Planning Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 04.2015Submit your Articles

    Change management is about people, performance and leader-ship, ergo, one would think HR should be leading the charge (or at least playing a major role). Unfortunately, in many cases, HR is not involved because it does not bring the skill sets that would be useful to organizational change or is simply not even invited to the party. More concerning is that CEOs dont hold their HR leadership accountable for building the necessary expertise that would facilitate effecting change. Without the internal expertise, organizations, more often than not, look to outside consultants to provide the needed assistance to effect the organizational changes theyre looking for.

    Whats striking here, even with the expertise of outside consultants, change guru John Kotter, (Kotter International) still claims that70% of change efforts fail; this is a pretty dismal record. Kotters approach for change management is for organizations to take a consistent, holistic approach to changing themselves, and engaging their work-force effectively.

    Changing themselves. Engaging their workforce. Sounds like learn-ing, development and human resources to me so why isnt HR part of the solution?

    Kotters research spans 4 decades and I have almost 4 decades of HR executive roles in large, multi-unit organizations behind me and from what Ive seen, Kotters research is dead on. Change may come in the form of a merger, a shift in technology, the launch of a new strategy, or a change in organizational leadership. And each change or combination of changes create anxiety and concern in the workforce, which requires strong, coordinated leadership that understand the dynamics of change, foster open channels of candid communication, and facilitate a careful exploration of organizational culture in the context of the change.

    Leading the leadership in providing the organizational guidance is where HR can bring tremendous value because HR has, or should have, a top level view of people, programs and process. They have a unique vantage pointto breach silos and facilitate organizational change.

    If HR is going to lead the change process, they need the knowledge, skills and resources to make it happen. Many HR Teams, though, are missing the critical expertise needed for leading change. For example, HR needs:

    Project Management Skills.Im not talking about HR being project managers but they must understand the need for effectiveproject managementso they can provide good counsel as part of the leader-ship team, counsel that could include ensuring there is executive sponsorship with authority and courage to make key decisions, having a having a clear definition of the purpose, scope and expected results, and evaluating the results against the expectations.

    Learning and Development Skills.With organizational change comes the need for behavioral change, and the more dramatic the change, the more intentional the organization must be in defining, teaching and holding themselves accountable for the behavior change. Kotter says to engage the workforce, but that is not an easy task. It means that the workforce needs to clearly understand both the change and the need to change. It means that they need a voice to share concerns and provide input.

    Organizational learningis all about setting clear expectations, providing knowledge and resources, and evaluating and tweaking the result, and developing strength in leadership to lead change.

    The programs and processes that are typically owned by HR train-ing and performance management should align to the realities of the organizational change.

    HR needs to lead this effort because HR is all about people. HR leadership that can assess learning needs, create formal and informal learning opportunities, and evaluate the effectiveness are, in fact, leading organizational change. If the HR programs do not accomplish this, they are not relevant.

    Systems Thinking Skills.Change in todays world is complex, and a change in one process can have unintended consequences that ripple through the organization. Understanding howsystems work, and being able to facilitate the discovery of interacting systems among diverse groups of people brings credibility to the change leader.

    With organizational complexity often comes silod thinking that leads to decisions being made without effective analysis and risk assessment. Leaders need to understand the implication of their decisions, and collaborate effectively across the organization. This is a skill that must be developed in leadership. It is also a process that begs for oversight, to maintain the coordinated perspective of the organizational change.

    If HR programs are aligned and relevant, they provide good busi-ness intelligence that illustrates challenges and opportunities with the organizational change. If these programs are not aligned and relevant, they are wasting valuable time.

    But there is an opportunity here: CEOs need to challenge their HR teams to provide the leadership the organization needs to suc-cessfully effect change and hold them accountable for the skills and performance. This may mean shifting workload so that HR can truly be a change partner, coach the organization and through this, drive successful change.

    But only HR has the overall insight into the people, teams and organizational performance that gives them a vantage point that is unique within the organization. If HR is up to the challenge and is aligned and relevant, they are in the best position to lead organizational change and the whole organization becomes better. If CEOs need to bring in outside expertise to do the work HR should be doing, then the question needs to be asked Why do I need HR? S&P

    Originally published in http://attheintersectionblog.com/

    =

    ChangeInitiativesWhy HR should lead

    ByCarolAnderson

    Carol Anderson is a Principal withAnderson Performance Partnersa boutique consulting firm with the mission of helping the HR profession be as valuable to their clients as possible, intersecting performance and learning to actually drive organizational results. She has held HR leadership roles in health care, financial services, retail and the military. Most recently she served as Chief Learning Officer for a large health care system in Central Florida, with respon-sibility for talent development, leadership, professional and clinical education and team member engagement. Email [email protected] www.andersonperformancepartners.com

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  • Do you ever wonder why great strategies fall short?Here are a few reasons why great isnt good enough.1. Great strategies are a starting point. They are like a fresh

    ball of clay formed into its initial shape. Shiny, new, fragrant, clean. But its just that a starting point for future twist, turns and ready to be shaped over and over. If left in its current shape, it will become brittle and useless.

    2. Great is relative. Its worth is measured by ones mind at a point in time. Whats great today may be mediocre tomorrow. Strategy is mobile, ever changing, continually seeking the next addition. Never quite making it to doneness. Given the speed of change, strategies must be fluid and constantly seeking a greater level of performance.

    3. A great strategy alone doesnt equal success. Successful strategies take into account many things including resources, challenges, execution, decisions and drivers. Forward thinking, continual planning and future actions will adjust and reshape your strategy.

    4. Great is overrated. How many times a day do you use the

    word great? Have a great day, Great, lets meet at 12:00, Great job, Johnny, I had a great time. The truth is that weve marginalized greatness. Great no longer really means great in day-to-day vernacular.

    So, the next time youre creating a strategy, dont create just a great strategy. Create an effective, efficient, executable, mea-surable and adjustable strategy that moves and grows with your business.

    Let me know how it goes and have a GREAT day! S&P

    This article was originally published in http://www.people-results.com

    WhyGreatStrategiesFallShort?A few reasons

    ByCharlotteNtreh

    Charlotte Ntreh is a Partner at PeopleResults where she helps clients build and sustain high performing, impactful and effective organizations with measurable results. Visit [email protected] @cntreh

    17HR Strategy and Planning Excellence presented by HR.com | 04.2015 Submit your Articles

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  • For over 20 years, CFOs have allocated budget dollars to optimize the material supply chain. The Law of Diminishing Returns is kicking in. As a result, its time to look to other LOBs to optimize and gain efficiencies. For some organizations, Human Resource departments are undergoing a change that will completely transform the professional world. The time has come for HR to become the giant within the organization and take its seat at the table.

    While the cost of labor differs from industry to industry, it can account for an average of 20-40% of the organizations expenses. Modern HR understands how crucial it is to place the data and tools in the hands of managers and employees, to greatly reduce the expense of the organization.

    Modern businesses are increasingly moving their data onto the cloud, while setting up access to it through mobile devices and streamlining their procedures into their employees daily activities. As they move onto the cloud, they gain a consolidated view of their workforce from recruitment to retirement. They have the tools to transform their entire business and find the best use for every employee.

    Companies that are slow to move to modern HR will con-tinue to address the same challenges every year. To illustrate,

    the average application is twenty years old. Many organizations are forced to function on technology that was created before mobile, social media, search engines and the cloud. Moreover, 75% of those applications are fundamentally customized such that their owners no longer recognize the antiquated technology. Sadly, the companies that are tethered to these applications are watching their IT budgets become drained year after year to maintain them. They throw good money after bad.

    CHROs must constantly execute and plan initiatives that support all LOBs. The HR organization plays a vital role in the success of the enterprises they serve. HRs role in the companys success is more important than ever as the U.S. economy con-tinues to grow. S&P

    TheHRGiantWithinThe time has come!

    ByLisaMilani

    18 HR Strategy and Planning Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 04.2015Submit your Articles

    Lisa Milani is an HCM Consultant with Oracle. She works directly with some of worlds most successful organizations to streamline processes and make critical decisions to promote growth.Email [email protected] Lisa MilaniFollow @lmilani_HCM

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  • You may be too young to have watched new episodes of the sitcom Happy Days but you may be familiar with the phrase jumped the shark that emanated from this nostalgic 1970s series. The program received enthusiastic support from its audi-ence during its first few years, but over time viewer interest waned due to a lack of creativity in keeping the series fresh and relevant with the ever-changing tastes of viewers. Out of desperation, the writers created the fateful episode featuring the Fonze (the leather jacketed motorcycle riding co-star) jumping a live shark while water skiing wearing his, you guessed it, leather jacket. From this point it was all downhill for the series and hence the phrase which became a metaphor for something that has peaked.

    Having known and worked with scores of human resources professionals over the years I have seen many careers jump the metaphorical shark. These careers often began with high expec-tations buoyed by advancement through the various HR chairs only to end up stalled. The move from individual contributor to manager, and manager to executive, are frequent career shark jumpers. So how does one avoid the shark? By mastering the five occupational obstacles discussed here, HR professionals (and most professionals), will be better prepared to keep their

    careers on track. The five obstacles to career advancement are: Not understanding the business (whether for-profit, non-

    profit, or government) Not developing internal champions Not having a mentor Not embracing lifelong learning Not thinking and acting strategicallyThe Business: HR professionals often portray themselves as

    internal consultants to the organization. This characterization of the role often leaves the impression that the human resources professional is an omniscient outside expert rather than in integral business partner with skin in the game. In order to gain the trust and credibility of decision-makers, HR professionals must be perceived as insiders who understand the business, talk its language, and offer solutions that solve real business problems. Understanding the business begins with a solid comprehension of the organizations critical success factors (CSFs) that, simply stated, are those organizational attributes and outcomes that are most vital to overall enterprise success. By understanding these drivers of success the HR function is able to offer solutions that are focused on those aspects of the business that create the most

    HasYourCareerJumpedTheShark?Five obstacles to career advancement

    By Tom Sims

    20HR Strategy and Planning Excellence presented by HR.com | 04.2015 Submit your Articles

  • 21 HR Strategy and Planning Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 04.2015Submit your Articles

    value for stakeholders.Some examples of CSFs are speed to market, product inno-

    vation, lowest cost, best-in-class technology, and others that, when actuated, help ensure the viability and sustainability of the organization. So, for example, if the companys success relies on high sales volume due to commoditized low margins, the focus of human resources initiatives should be on programs, processes, and practices that help build a highly effective sales and marketing function while keeping fixed overhead as low as practicable. This might include reinventing the talent acquisition process for assessing and selecting sales and marketing personnel, implementing training in strategic selling concepts, designing compensation systems with more pay at risk, streamlining the organization to eliminate excess layers of management, etc.

    Internal Champions: Developing highly effective working relationships with the organizations thought leaders is an es-sential element in increasing ones influence and value. Thought leaders, as used in this context, can be found almost anywhere in the organization. They can be senior leaders, middle managers, technical experts, top salespeople, or administrative assistants. A thought leader is one who has influence within the organiza-tion due to position, expertise, longevity (e.g. organizational history), or simply respect by decision-makers.

    Forging working alliances with these individuals is important for two reasons. First, these associations offer valuable insight into perceived organizational problems and needs thereby allow-ing the HR professional to develop results-oriented programs and processes that address these important issues. Second, when seeking support for new initiatives, having thought leaders in ones camp can be the difference between approval and rejec-tion. Going it alone is rarely successful when substantial change is required.

    Mentors: When you ask most successful HR leaders what was most important in their career journey you will likely hear about a revered mentor who made a difference in their vocational tra-jectory. A mentor serves as a guide for navigating the personal, professional, and political waters of organizational life. Mentors are typically found in one of two ways. Some organizations, unfortunately few, have formal mentorship programs whereby perceived high potential employees are assigned a mentor. Often, however, the pairing of mentor and mentee is far less formal as the relationship simply forms organically with no charter or rules. These associations are based primarily on mutual respect between the parties with the tacit understanding that there is wisdom and knowledge to be imparted/accepted.

    Numerous studies have demonstrated the value of mentoring. So if ones organization does not have a mentoring program prospective mentees need to take the initiative to approach someone whom they believe can be a valuable confidant and advisor. This can be someone within the organization who has a track record of success in both producing results and main-taining effective working relationships with others, or it can be someone outside the organization with similar attributes. Once the relationship is established, regardless of who or how, it is the mentees responsibility to be available, open, honest, and willing no, desiring - to grow, in order to receive full benefit from the association.

    Lifelong Learning: The old clich The only constant in business is change is particularly relevant to shark jumping. Organizations evolve, leadership changes, customers are fickle, and technology advances exponentially. All professionals, and especially human resources professionals, must continually stay abreast of changes in their organizations, their professions, their customers (internal and external), and the world around them to remain relevant and contemporary. Plateaus begin where learning ends.

    Participating (not simply attending meetings) in professional organizations such as SHRM, HRPS, and others is a minimum. Certifications such as the PHR, SPHR, CEBS, GMS and others are good ways to learn and demonstrate ones commitment to the profession, but post-graduate courses should also be considered as these can add greater analytical and strategic depth for thinking beyond organizational symptoms to the examination of root causes which is where problems are truly solved. Only through such depth of understanding can appropriate evidence-based practices be developed for the learners organization.

    Strategic Thinking: The ability to think strategically is perhaps the most important of the five career obstacles. Understanding the business, partnering with thought leaders, having a mentor, and continual learning provide the foundation for strategic think-ing. HR careers are advanced when management perceives the HR professional to be an engineer rather than a mechanic. Of course the human resources function must certainly provide the basic mechanical functions of legal compliance, applicant tracking, HR policies, accurate and confidential record keeping, employee processing, benefits administration, etc., but it is the value-adding programs and processes that afford the human resources function a seat at the table.

    Although alignment has become an over-used word today, it remains a critical element of strategy. As examples, com-pensation programs that are heavy on base or guaranteed pay versus at-risk remuneration may not be well aligned in start-up organizations. Training programs focused primarily on techni-cal skills at the expense of managerial and leadership skills may not be aligned within traditional organizations having multiple layers of management. Onboarding programs that spend most of new employees time on how to issues versus why issues may not be aligned with organizations that have a strong culture based upon a history of exceptionalism and success. Again, a good knowledge of the organization, its CSFs, its history, and its culture provide a solid underpinning for talent management strategic alignment.

    If the shark is in sight with your career, avoid it by increasing your influence within the organization by addressing these five career obstacles. Safe skiing! S&P

    HasYourCareerJumpedTheShark?

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    Tom Sims, M.S. has over 40 years of experience in senior human resources and organization development roles in public, private, and government organizations. He is the author of E-Mails from Dad: A Contemporary Guide to Managing Todays Workforce and has written numerous articles on management and leadership for US and UK publications. Visit www.YourHRCoach.com Email [email protected] Connect Tom Sims

  • Weve all heard about the skills gap across Canada boomers are retiring and there arent enough qualified workers to fill their roles. It all paints a pretty dismal picture for Canadas economy. According to a recent Randstad study though, it seems that young Canadians are getting the message. There is a wealth of opportunity for career building within the various skilled trade sectors across the country, and people are taking notice.

    Whats drawing them in could be the opportunity for explora-tion, creation and experimentation within so-called traditional fields. Many of todays job seekers have grown up in a high-tech, dynamic era where the first and fastest to market are rewarded. We believe that innovation and the chance to work within a team of innovators is appealing to Canadian workers. Job seekers who responded to our Employer Branding Study say they are increasingly attracted to companies who require engineers, computer scientists, data architects and other highly skilled, technical professionals.

    Companies like Pratt & Whitney, IBM Canada Limited, and Bombardier that have built reputations around the newest, best or most efficient technologies get a ringing endorsement from Canadian employees, who this year rank these and other in-

    novators in the top 20 companies Canadians want to work for.A positive sign for the skills gap

    This is an important consideration in terms of addressing Canadas looming skills gap. The survey numbers show that nearly 44% of Generation Y are seeking out jobs in the Trans-

    port & Logistics sector, followed by Engineering, Construction and Manufacturing. In-demand sectors as identified by job seekers:

    1. Transport & Logistics (44%)2. Engineering & Construction (41%)3. High Tech Manufacturing (39%)4. Industry & Manufacturing (36%)5. Raw Materials (36%)6. Motor Vehicle & Parts (34%)7. Energy (32%) These numbers may seem surprising, but they point to good

    news when it comes to shrinking the skills gap and strengthening Canadas economy. Theres still work to be done at the founda-tional level, though. When it comes to skilled trades, a shift in thinking needs to be made in schools and at home that the blue collar jobs of today are the while collar jobs of tomorrow. The appetite is there among our youth lets feed it.

    A new generation of workers requires a new approach to re-cruiting. The recent Randstad study reveal that Facebook has topped LinkedIn as the preferred social channel for Canadian job seekers. Are you ready? S&P

    SkillsGapInnovation, the key to attracting young workers

    By Tom Turpin

    22HR Strategy and Planning Excellence presented by HR.com | 04.2015 Submit your Articles

    Tom Turpin is President of Randstad Canada, the countrys largest staffing, recruitment and HR services provider.Connect Tom TurpinVisit http://www.randstad.ca/

    Would like to Comment? Please Click Here.

    Companies like pratt & whitney, iBM Canada Limited, and Bombardier that have built reputations around the newest, best or most efficient technologies get a ringing endorse-ment from Canadian employees, who this year rank these and other innovators in the top 20 companies Canadians want to work for.

    when it comes to skilled trades, a shift in thinking needs to be made in schools and at home that the blue collar jobs of today are the while collar jobs of tomorrow. The appetite is there among our youth lets feed it.

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