The Loop December 2015 Web

Think about how much time you spend
undertaking Human Resource
activities in your working week?
10%, 20%, 50%...or is it much more?
Often when we enter leadership or management roles, dealing
with Human Resource (HR) matters seems like it will be such a
small part of our everyday work. Those taking on management
responsibilities often have minimal expertise and experience in
areas such as recruitment, retention, performance management,
pay and working conditions.
As many of you would have experienced, this component of your
work can become the biggest part of what you do, both time
wise and emotionally. Finding ways to develop skills, knowledge
and understanding of HR matters that allow you to support and
lead your staff well, is essential to anyone in leadership.
IT IS HARD AND IT DOES TAKE SKILL
The skills needed to recruit and select the right people; to
induct them and offer a quality probation process; to keep them
motivated and professionally developed; address performance
issues as they arise; and farewell staff with appropriate levels
of celebration should not be underestimated. The reality is that
when things are going well in your service, delivering on these
stages of the employee life cycle can happen with a great deal
of ease and so not much attention is paid until things start to go
pear shaped. When there is a clear understanding of where
each employee is at and strategic responses to their needs
are implemented, the skills needed for quality HR become
your greatest asset. They allow you to minimise risk to your
organisation, they act as an effective workload management
tool for leaders and they open up new ways for you to connect
with your staff and build high functioning teams.
KNOW YOUR BOUNDARIES AND BE IN
THE DISCOMFORT
It’s important when fulfilling a HR function that you are clear
from the outset of where your boundaries lie, both in terms
of your responsibilities and your capabilities. For example
your Service’s existing policies and procedures in relation to
matters like recruitment and selection need to be adhered to,
but in examining them you may be able to find opportunities
to engage in different interview questioning and models that
still allow you to adhere to the policy. When boundaries are
clear, you are more likely to get things right the first time and
you are more likely to act ethically. The important distinction
to make is that having clear boundaries is not about avoiding
the parts of the work that are uncomfortable. For example,
if you do not feel you have the skills to have a performance
management conversation but it is a requirement of your
role, you need to take steps to expand your skills or call in
appropriate support in order for you to get it done. Feeling
a level of discomfort is normal, particularly when conducting
performance management processes or informing others of a
decision that is not in their favour. Learning to balance your
boundaries with your individual tolerance for uncomfortable
situations is of great importance in fulfilling HR functions.
YOU CAN USE CREATIVITY AND STILL
WORK WITH THE PROCEDURE
When walking through the different stages of the employee
life cycle we often think that we have to do everything as per
a step by step procedure. This means that some interactions
around HR become dry and boring when they don’t need to
be. When it comes to tasks like interviewing, building job
descriptions, coaching and mentoring, conducting appraisals
and doing exit interviewing there is a lot of opportunity to
get creative and think outside of the box. Using art, group
processes, strengths cards, critical reflection processes,
external facilitators, action research and stakeholder
engagement you can find that HR processes can also add
value to many other parts of your service’s growth and
development. For example asking a staff member to pick
from a range of picture cards ones that represent: where they
were 12 months ago in their role; where they are at now; and
where they hope to be in 12 months, stimulates conversation
that feeds easily into the appraisal process. This more creative
questioning and exploration can prompt reflections and ideas
that would otherwise remain untapped in a simple tick box,
form filling out type of meeting.
QUALITY MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE
AND GET A BAT PHONE
There are many benefits to engaging in HR focused
professional development and training. Improving the quality
of your HR processes, filters through to all other aspects of
your organisation and most importantly can promote good
overall team functioning. Team morale increases when HR
processes are clear, consistent and of a high quality. There is
also a need to acknowledge that you cannot be all things, to
all people, all of the time and therefore identifying a person,
consultant or organisation who has a higher level of expertise
in HR matters than you is essential to doing this part of your
job well. There is great benefit in having someone on the bat
phone that you can connect with at times of challenge.
If you are interested in expanding and
improving the way you go about your HR
functions then feel free to connect with us here
at Workforce Council. Or come along to Totally
HR: Right People, Right Skills, Right Workforce
on SATURDAY 23RD JANUARY 2016.
We would love to see you there.
FOR MORE DETAILS on Totally HR: Right People, Right Skills, Right Workforce visit www.workforce.org.au
or call 1800 112 585.
WORKFORCE.ORG.AU 7