Human Resource Management

Any HR department (or individual) must deal with personnel management issues that ensure basic compliance with labor law, etc. However, moving beyond this compliance/administrative mindset to a Workplace Satisfaction mindset is what truly separates high performing organizations. The Gallup Organization has done extensive research in this regard and their Q12 Workplace survey is critical in our approach. Moreover, there are basic human resource levers that can be pulled to improve the organizational effectiveness of any organization and our focus is on these issues.

Assessment Questions: Are we comfortable that we are complying with basic labor law? Is there a point person to handle personnel inquiries and what is their level of experience and training? Do we currently manage our staff as valuable assets that can be leveraged or positions that need to be slotted? Are we happy with the level of talent being recruited into the agency? What is our approach to employee retention and succession planning? Do we provide staff with the education and training they need to be successful at their jobs? Does our performance management process align with strategic objectives and values? Is our compensation system considered equitable by staff? Are we using compensation as a strategic lever to reward performance? Do we have an effective communications infrastructure? Do we regularly measure employee satisfaction and if yes, then how do we act on this information?

Intervention: Administration of workplace survey and focus groups to solicit employee feedback. Development of HR Committee/team to establish HR priorities. Development of formal HR plan to address five organizational levers: hiring and succession planning; education and training; performance management; compensation, benefits & rewards; and communications

Miscellaneous: The HR function has been significantly elevated in status in the for profit sector as it has begun to appreciate the impact HR has on the bottom line. Non-profits often underinvest in this area and struggle to see the same bottom line connection. The trick is to move beyond this mindset and clearly tie HR efforts to bottom line performance accountability where possible.

Approach:  

• Review and assess HR policies and procedures manual 
• Audit existing personnel management responsibilities and assess whether there are outsourcing opportunities 
• Review and assess approach to five organizational infrastructure levers:
1. hiring and succession planning
2. education and training
3. performance management
4. compensation, benefits & rewards
5. communications strategy 
• Review past employee satisfaction or feedback data that pertain to the workplace environment 
• Administer workplace survey to gauge current employee opinions if no effort has been made in this regard within the last 6 months (1) Create scorecard for all personnel with supervisory responsibility 
• Conduct focus group(s) with staff to further probe workplace issues 
• Establish internal supervisor/management best practices and facilitate dialogue amongst supervisors on how they can best learn from each other 
• Create staff HR committee as an on-going vehicle to provide feedback on workplace issues 
• Create HR plan that builds on assessment process and sets clear short and long term goals and objective