HRComatrix

Did you ever wonder about lack of engagement, loss of morale, decline in productivity? Of course. And the more it happened, the more we pushed because we had our goals to meet. HR usually does not deal with that type of issue. At least not to the extent of line managers do. We do witness the struggles, and managers are - seriously - held accountable for their results. What about HR people?  Is the decline in productivity and lack of engagement in an organization the reflection of line managers not meeting their goals or HR not being accountable for its own? Maybe both with some intricacies.  Clinton Wingrove , HR consultant, raised questions about lack of accountability of HR people . With good reasons? I let you reflect on the issue. Granted, consultants view things slightly differently than those who are in "operations", and get "excited" about it. But that's what being a consultant is about. One point, however: HR reflects a couple of things: 1) The cult...

Oops! I can imagine eyebrows raising. The notion of fun can differ from one person to another. Some recollection of "fun HR times' could be of when incentives had different names and different forms. Maybe it was when HR derived from union formation. For the longest time, HR was to almost be a "band aid" to counteract the effects of harsh working conditions. Over time, HR had become viewed as "fun" by some: party trays, Christmas party, various forms of encouragement . And again, over time, to those who viewed HR practice as such (fun), HR had become overly complicated, "professional." Perception of HR can differ from one person to another. But I think that for the common employee, HR has too faces: the "good", caring face translating in employee incentives and nice benefits, and the "ugly", evil face translating in policies, procedures, rules and regulations, and legalities. This "two-face" HR has been omnipr...

Rhonda Knisley asked if your daily practices show that Your Employees Really Matter To You? (HRToolbox ). It appears that managers seem to be immune to sanctions when it comes to "errors" or "mistakes" in some organizations. Common observation of employees is that too often managers are not held accountable for their actions, except in some circumstances when they do not play along with office politics. And I mean "office politics," which is often interpreted and communicated as "company policy" throughout a unit organization. Of course, it is more than correct for a supervisor to stand for their managers in front of a crowd. As a supervisor, you support and correct, and some apologies might be in order in certain circumstances, along the way. But isn'it out of line to cover their mistakes in a permanent and consistent fashion, do their projects, close a blind eye on their repeated mishaps on the basis that they are new to the job...

A current article from Ann Welsh in HRToolbox entitled " Don't Let Your Age or Life Stage Get in the Way of You and Your Dreams " has been so inspirational to me. Although I have encountered, listened to, and helped so many people who are facing that very same problem, I realize that it remains almost a "taboo" subject. We do not like talking seriously about the triangle of age, dreams, and life circumstances because conscientiously or not we think that it would not be "adult-like" to revisit this subject.  Ann Welsh found inspirations for her article in  Barbara Crowley 's September 1st 2012 The New York Times article, and from a writing by Judith Timson in The Globe and Mail as well. We can get discouraged by so many things. People may crush your dreams, or due to life circumstances you might have "given up"on them. While it is ok to recognize our weaknesses, we also need to not "let go" of our dreams without a fight...

On Fearful Employees: What should the Production Manager do? The issue here is about frustrated and fearful employees. They fear retaliation and therefore do not "voice their disgust with the Company." So, what should the production manager do? ( http://hr.toolbox.com/people/hrpractitioner/ ) This is why engagement survey results cannot be taken for granted. However, I have observed that employees would be more open to answer freely if they are assured that their direct supervisor, or production manager cannot view the answers. In any event, it is important that surveys be anonymous and taken out of sight of direct supervisors. In the event that the survey happens to be in the form of an open discussion, it is obvious that results could not be valid nor reliable to a great extent. Maybe the question here is not about an engagement survey. Is it about having a discussion group in the context of process improvement? In that event, there is a need for a neut...

On Promotion Criteria Using Forced Ranking: Effect on Promotion Success How often a manager would say "numbers do not lie. This is objective" whenever presenting a performance evaluation? Objectivity is relative in the sense that results derive from both controllable issues and uncontrollable ones, both from the employee's and the manager's standpoint. More importantly, when the manager creates the surrounding factors that will affect performance, who is liable for the results? So, I cannot agree enough with the fact that performance evaluation can be so flawed and far from being reflective of an individual performance, let alone potential. It is so crucial to train supervisors on the meaning of any performance system, be it a forced ranking or forced distribution. There is so much technicality in a performance appraisal that is misunderstood by supervisors. My concern is that in large corporations, particularly those having a divisional structur...

Synopsis on KPI for Marketing Staff What Key Performance Indicators (KPI) should be used for Marketing Staff? It is best to measure your performance based on the following: 1) In relation to company performance: therefore, performance indicators that are common to all departments, shared within the company and that the company puts emphasis on. 2) Department specific performance indicators. Although you can get some general insights from other organizations, your main focus would be to ask yourself and the leadership what best measures the success of the marketing department. How does the marketing department relate to the company's goals and to what extent? What defines your marketing department? What is it to accomplish? That would be a starting and revolving point. And of course, weighing is important for fairness.