People Management = Soft Skills: Then why so hard?

Managing People shouldn’t be so hard. The Human condition should have been worked out by now surely? But daily I observe seemingly intelligent Line Managers underestimating the importance of People to their Businesses.Australia has long since moved away from the labour-intensive Manufacturing Industry Sector. We now engage more Service Sector employees than ever before and Knowledge workers are major contributor to our Economy. But we still deride the value of People Management.

In talking to CEO of SME’s recently they all had a similar line. There are two types of People Management:

1. Functional which is all about Compliance, Legal Policies and transactions

2. Practical, which is the Line Managers responsibility to manage their People

There is, they argue, a place for both. Yes, I hear you say, where is the but? The but is none of them have found Business focussed HR support. Most HR support is “transaction centric”. The CEO’s think that traditional HR is too focussed on the Functional aspect and pay not enough heed to improving Line Managers competence to manage their people. Enter the Legislative changes that are a regular impost on Business.

The CEO’s think that for the main part this just distracts the HR support from doing what the CEO’s want them to do and legitimises the functional role that HR says it has to play. Truly what value-add does all this bring to business?

We have lurched from Work Choices to the Fair Work Act and now have an uncertain future with the looming election. We have multiple OHS legislations. We have uncertainty about contract of and contract for service, differing payroll tax regimes and ever-changing superannuation laws. Equal opportunity and harassment legislation are misunderstood at best and ignored at worst, not to mention tax law and Corporate Governance.

So where to from here?

Research shows that the Best Employers are those that manage their People effectively through engagement. They deliver the highest level of performance in both revenue growth and profit/earnings growth through employee engagement. 

Best Employer attributes include: 

• Leaders really believing their employees are their most important asset
• Communication with employees is simple, regular and effective
• High potential employees are Identified & developed
• Employees are Inspired and maintain a passion for outstanding achievement
• The organisation creates a compelling employment experience.

To achieve anything near this type of Best Employer standard Businesses need to:

• Define a direction for the Business and communicate that clearly
  • Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
  • Ensure Compliance with prevailing law, but in a straightforward and relevant manner. 
    •  Do not wear a ball gown to a BBQ
  • Ensure  Line Managers are set up for success not failure and they seriously manage their people
    • Do what you say you will do
  • Attract and retain talent
    • Keep the good ones
  • Constantly engage your team and aim to have them speak highly of you as an organisation
    • You pass the BBQ test (employees are proud to say they work for you)

By simply considering these as possible for your organisation you can make a difference. Don’t be simply transactional, be strategic about your people.

As I said to a room full of Engineers recently: “Would you ever dig a tunnel without?

• a clear plan
• a clear budget
• a set of Key milestones and
• project objectives.

“No, never” they all answered in unison. “Then how the hell do you get away with managing people without most of those same elements?” I was deafened by the silence.

My case rests your honour!

Martin Nally is the founder and MD of hranywhere - a Human Resources Service Company, offering People solutions to meet business needs. He has been an HR practitioner for over 25 years. He has held a number of Executive HR positions across Blue Chip Australian and International Companies.

Martin holds degrees in Economics (University of Tasmania) and Business Studies (Victoria College), and a Fellow of the Australian Human Resources Institute, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Insurance and a Chartered Member of the Institute of Company Directors. Martin is an Executive Committee member of ASHRR (Aust Senior HR Roundtable) and is a member of RMIT’s Advisory Board on Management, Chairman of the Board at St Kevin’s College, Toorak, and a Director of Aspire Learning.

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How can meaning and authenticity impact performance?

Business bookshelves are groaning under the weight of single ideas padded out to 250 pages, recycled and repackaged messages and occasionally, some ground breaking insights. I recently read a book that falls into the last category – “ Meaning Inc. – the Blueprint for Business Success in the 21st century” by Gurnek Bains. Bains is founder and CEO of YSC, a corporate psychology consultancy with global offices.

This is not another “In Search of Excellence” or “Built to Last”, books that looked back and analysed the precursors of success. Many of their successful companies floundered. Bains, using the widespread research of YSC, has delivered a concept that is enduring that is, creating meaning for employees, customers and stakeholders. His premise is that bringing meaning into the workplace is the best way to motivate staff and achieve sustainable high performance, and uses a number of corporate examples on the journey.

Bains argues that the following attributes are present in companies who create meaning:

• An invigorating sense of purpose that goes beyond business success and which makes people feel that they are changing society as opposed to servicing needs
• The courage to set extremely challenging goals and to be ground breaking in the pursuit of the core purpose
• An innovative approach to benefits and the treatment of people which makes them feel special
• A culture that allows people to be themselves and to feel that they are personally making a difference and utilizing their distinct talents
• A rigorous and at times almost aggressive approach to evaluating performance and contribution
• Clear and authentically grounded values which are lived through thick and thin
• A concern for the sider and particularly, the environmental and societal impacts of business activities
• Through all the above, an excellent reputation with consumers and other political and social stakeholders
• Excellent long term performance coupled with a preparedness to sacrifice short term gains if their achievement conflicts with the core purpose and values.

I must say that from recent experience, particularly working with people under 35, this series of prerequisites really resonates. It is all about being authentic.

I am lifted by these insights in the context of the potential contribution that Acelero can make within these prerequisites. Firstly, the Acelero approach is about tailor made alignment to the organisation’s strategies and values. So a company wanting to follow Bains insights on creating meaning, can set on the journey and measure progress. It is easy to measure behaviours and values, as well as competencies and objectives using the Acelero system. Putting the company in the wider social context is also achievable, depending on what is set up to be measured. Secondly, the “rigorous approach to evaluating performance” can’t be adequately achieved using pen and paper, spread sheets, or transactional HR systems stretched to measure performance  – ones that the majority of corporate Australia currently uses.

Measuring performance effectively provides the mechanism for people to have an impact through agreed goals.

Of course, a clear sense of purpose and the leadership vision to set a course based on Bains approach very much depends on the CEO and her executive team, but once established has a much better chance of success if reinforced through measurement, something which will, in its own right, make a significant contribution to productivity and performance.

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Take steps now to re-engage and retain high-value employees

Despite foregoing pay rises and perks throughout the downturn, most employees now require very little from their employers to become re-engaged at work. In fact, many workers were exploited or ignored during the downturn and people have done a lot with less. Now, the risk is that employers have used up their engagement capital and returned to business as usual without considering the impact on their staff. Some are not even at ground zero when it comes to engaging their workforce - with employees either passively or actively disengaged.

The good news: Initiatives to re-engage these employees don’t need to be expensive or time-consuming. Workers have been exhausted from that pressure to perform for no reward. But when asked what they mean by reward, employees’ most common response is: “I just want someone to say thank you. I just want someone to say, ‘Man, you just put in such a massive effort over these last three months; I really appreciate it’. In most cases, recognition and encouragement is all people really want.

Beware disengagement events

As the employment market continues to recover, many employers should expect to face a rush of resignations, and “disengagement events” cause this to happen, including bonus time, or the resignation of just one employee. It’s the beginning of ‘musical chairs’ - when a key colleague leaves, it really destabilises the team dynamic.

Employers should act quickly when this occurs. Low-cost initiatives might include changing the seating arrangements; giving certain members of the team a different project to work on (and instilling a sense of urgency to complete it); holding social events to get people bonding; and celebrating team successes.

The key is to think about what employees will say when they go home at night to their partner, You want people to say, ‘it’s a real shame that Sarah’s resigned, but I’m getting to know Mary really well because we’re working on this new project’.”

Disengaged employee alert

Once employees become actively disengaged it’s usually too late for an employer to do anything about it.

However employers can be alert to several signs, including employees who:

• arrive late and leave early (if this is a departure from the employee’s normal behaviour);
• stop volunteering for projects;
• make a jobsite their internet homepage;
• are unusually well-dressed (to attend interviews);
• start taking unaccounted-for leave; and
• withdraw from their social bonds. One of the biggest connection triggers at work is people - people at work make people stay at work. So if someone is thinking about leaving, they have to start withdrawing from social contacts at work - ‘I can’t meet you at the pub tonight’ or ‘No, you go to lunch without me’.

Prepare now

All of the major disconnection events at work have completely different solutions. To convince senior executives of the need to take action, I recommend that HR managers build a business case that outlines the extent of the possible damage to the organisation. They should identify high-value people first, and attach a value to their loss - pricing the risk, effectively, of people leaving.

The business case needs data, so you need to understand why people join your organisation, and why people quit. Look at your exit interviews, and if you don’t have them, get good data from the last 20 people who’ve gone. Next, go to your high-value people and ask them, why are you still here? How long do you want to stay? What do you want more of? What do you want less of?

Get some really rich data, because there’s going to be a lot of no-cost to low-cost solutions that you can put in place, but you have to be targeted.

Lisa Halloran is Director of Retention Partners, which she founded in 2000 to focus on exit interview outsourcing, retention surveys and manager retention skills training. Lisa is an expert on employee retention, with 14 years’ experience in HR management roles, and has provided HR policy and strategic planning consulting services to blue chip financial services firms, FMCG, television, pharmaceutical and education as well as the NSW public sector. Lisa will be speaking at Acelero’s upcoming free Thought Leadership Events: register your interest here.

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Why do only one third of CEOs view HR as a strategic partner?

Is it to do with the fact that HR has become narrow with little or no time spent outside the discipline? Does this functional specialisation lead to a lack of business awareness? Do HR professionals have the ability to link culture and people issues to what makes the business really perform?

Some HR professionals have a fine strategic relationship with your CEO, but most probably don’t. Here are three powerful ways, in my experience as CEO, that can forge the desired relationship and turn it into a powerful partnership:

1.      Understand the Business and the CEO

Do you really understand what drives your business? Do you fully understand the impact of appropriate people role alignment for these drivers? Do you understand the CEO agenda? Do you know the biggest problems the CEO is currently facing? Do you know how your competitors solve the big issues? Do you know clearly the CEO expectations of you?

Achievement of the desired strategic relationship with the CEO will be largely based on impacting what the CEO is measured on and cares about. Walk in her shoes and once you have identified what is important (which will almost certainly include making her look good in front of the board), develop a plan for yourself around CEO influence and inclusion.

2.      Take a business approach

One of the reasons that there are so many strong CEO – CFO relationships is that they both speak the same language – for example, return on investment. HR can talk ROI too, but needs to be outcome focused. For example, instead of ROI on talent management, talk ROI on productivity (as it is impacted by talent management).  HR often claims to be hampered by an inability to measure dispassionately. I don’t buy this argument. All the tools exist and should be introduced (with business cases) as required. Even with an effective HR manager at the Australian Tourist Commission, how I wish our change program had been supported by measuring the performance and behaviour of our people in the context of the new strategy and culture.

Don Argus, Chair of BHP, at a Leadership Dinner in Victoria in December 2009, said, “Success goes to those enterprises whose leaders mobilise their people and unleash their competency, creativity and commitment. One of the things that has surprised me in over 50 years is that these leaders operated by instinct. Why did they go with their gut? Because there was no solid data to make the case to invest in people!”  What an invitation to the HR community in corporate Australia. Work with your CEO’s on the basis that almost every decision requires a business case, and that like the CEO, you need to do it in a quantitative and analytical way. Then the CEO will not need to rely on instinct, and the organisation will have a greater chance of sustainable success.

 3.      Perform and market yourself

Apart from gaining respect by running an effective HR function, you can create a reputation for being a centre of excellence in an organisation. Being the talent launching pad, the ideas centre, or the information source will create credibility within the business, one which can be developed further at CEO level by offering, for example, “heads up” warnings on key issues.

HR professionals generally don’t do a good job of positioning and dare I say it, marketing themselves. If you can deliver on expectations and hopefully exceed them, ensure that your CEO and Executive Team understand the complexity of the function, and that managing and motivating the workforce requires great skill and agility. Also, take the opportunity to build your external brand through professional involvement and exposure. This will add to the reputation of you and the company, boosting your credibility with CEO and Board.

The size of the CEO acceptance challenge will clearly vary. Beliefs are difficult to change but reality is that people are fundamental to success, and reality is a powerful weapon. Your challenge of influencing, with all the tools you can muster, may be done directly or through influential others. Your job is not to shift attitude but to shift behaviour. Take this challenge as a top priority because until you have the trust and support of the CEO, you won’t be fully effective in your job.

Leave a comment › Posted in: Acelero Events

Business is a people game (and you can’t fake it)

People go to work to be paid for performing certain tasks - this of course is the basis of western economies. A person has skills and time which they sell to an organization in return for a salary. People must be paid for what they do. It puts Wheeties on the table, keeps children in school shoes and all the essential things that we have because we work.

The thing is that those people selling their skills and time ie employees -  have a choice. In-fact they have many choices:

•     Do I choose to work here - or work somewhere else for the same money (or in some cases less) because I feel better about myself and what I achieve at the place. Does my employer notice what I do?
•     Do I work hard when I’m at work and use my initiative or do I do the bare minimum?
•     Do I want to fit in and assist those around me - or make life hard for others?
•     Do I tell people outside of the organization about what a good company I work for - or that I hate my boss?
•     Do I recommend it as a great place to work - or am I asking my friends if its better at their work?
•     Do I want to continue to learn, grow and develop so I can add more for my employer and in return myself or do I do the minimum I can get away with?

This is fundamentally the question of discretionary effort. An employee can either choose to participate fully or not. They can simply go to work - do what they are told and go home without thinking about it - or thinking they will be fired. Or they can use their ‘discretionary’ effort for the good of the whole business and ultimately its profitability.

I am am constantly listening to business leaders and HR directors, all wanting and needing to do more with less. As Ann Sherry noted at the recent HR Leader awards - if you  mention the word ‘productivity’ then you are really talking about ‘people’ they are in fact one in the same thing - people doing things to improve, innovate, and grow a business.

This is simply a question of commercial return. I really like the people I work with; the RedBallooners, I am interested in what drives them, what they are passionate about, I love discovering what journey they are on and what is important to them. This cannot be faked. I like people.

The first step to being an effective manager is to like people.  And be truly interested in them. If you’re a manager and don’t like people, perhaps you’re in the wrong job. Business is a people game. I am not alone in seeing great commercial returns from listening to my team, and responding in the same way I do with customers. I leave you with some powerful statistics - let the numbers speak for themselves:

Companies that raise employee satisfaction by 20% will increase financial performance by more than 42%.
Global Study by David Maister, Practice What You Preach: What Managers Must Do to Create a High Achievement Culture (2001). Sourced from www.vault.com December 2008

A detailed study of 40 global companies found that firms with the highest percentage of engaged employees collectively increased operating income 19% and earnings per share 28% year-to-year. Those companies with the lowest percentage of engaged employees showed year-to-year declines of 33% in operating income and 11% in earnings per share.
Towers Perrin Global Workforce Study. Sourced from  www.humanresourcesmagazine.com.au December 2008

“Companies that utilised an effective employee recognition program enjoyed a 109% three-year median return to shareholders vs. a 52% return for those companies that did not.”
Watson Wyatt Study of 3 million employees, as quoted  in Forbes magazine (2004)

Hays Group research shows that 70% of engagement is determined by the employee’s direct manager.
The Hays Group, www.hayscompanies.com (2008)

Naomi Simson is Chief Experience Officer at Red Balloon Days, and has recently achieved an employee engagement score of 97%. She  will be speaking at a special Acelero lunch in November on engaging your workers - please get in touch via our website if you’d like to come along.  

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