What started as an isolated article or post seems to have now become a steady stream. Barely a day goes past where I don’t happen upon some status update, some commentary on employee experience, some so called expert telling me why all of the problems organisations in the twenty-first century are experiencing are HR’s “fault”.
Ask me my least favourite phrase from the world of work, and it’s a tough one. You’d have to be a considerably more tolerant person than I am not to grit your teeth when a classic such as “low hanging fruit”, “let’s take a deep dive”, or “I’m going to reach out to them” is trotted out.
However, coming in at Number 1, without a shadow of a doubt, is that all time perennial favourite: “I’m just such a People Person.”
With Christmas just around the corner, I thought now was the perfect time to share with you my HR predictions for the year ahead. We’ve seen the world of HR continue to transform as we’ve progressed through 2017, and I don’t see that changing as we head into 2018 and beyond. Here, then, are the things I believe all HR practitioners should look to expect:
Today’s blog post was inspired by a fantastic article I read recently. The article in question contained insight from a number of HR professionals who had progressed to become CEOs, and the things they learnt along the way.
A question I have been asked on a number of occasions during my career in HR is “whose side are you on?” The implication being that HR, by the nature of its function, must be biased towards supporting the employer or employee during its many day to day transactions and activities.
What’s in a name, people ask? Well, plenty, it turns out, when you get onto the thorny topic of job titles.
For some reason, job titles (along with desk location and dress code) are one of the elements of working life which seem to elicit more of an emotive response in people than almost anything else. For many of us, our job title is a primary facet of our work identity, and therefore it is given increased weight when it comes to its significance and the value we place on it.
As the end of year approaches at pace, in between the Christmas festivities it might be time to think about getting your HR house in order.
Most of us will have started the year with some sort of plan of action in the form of our HR strategy. Precisely what that strategy looks like will vary dramatically – anything from a formal strategy document to a roughly drawn out to do list! Either way, it will have outlined our target areas of focus for the year.
One of the most regular training requests I get asked for is advice on handling difficult conversations. Whether it’s managing a tough client negotiation, dealing with a grievance, or even asking for a pay rise… there are certain conversational topics which we seem to come pre-programmed to want to avoid.
Before I started my HR career, I trained and worked as a professional actor. I made the decision early on to change my career path after fairly rapidly realising that the cutthroat world of professional theatre was unlikely to offer me the financial security I was looking for!
If you read my blog post: What Does The HR Department Actually Do, you’ll know that one of the delivery focus areas I referenced was Legislative Compliance. We have a responsibility to our organisation to ensure that we are legally compliant and have people practices in place supporting this.
However, how do you ensure that you strike the right balance? How do you ensure that your policies are compliant and your organisation stays out of any employment tribunals without spending all of your time here, at the detriment of the engagement and experience of your employees, and the achievement of your organisational goals?
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