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