Category: Archive

Posted on

1999

The Workforce Optimas Awards are a celebration of the power of human resourcesmanagement. Annually, Workforce recognizes HR programs that have made theirbusinesses better. The winners are selected in 10 categories: General Excellence,Competitive Advantage, Financial Impact, Global Outlook, Innovation, ManagingChange, Partnership, Quality of Life, Service, and Vision. The winning programsare profiled in the March issue of Workforce magazine with additional informationprovided at Workforce online.


It is with great pleasure that Workforce celebrates the winners of Optimas Awards 1999:


GeneralExcellence:
Sears, Roebuck, & Co.
HR has developed a landmark tool that’s helped prove the correlation between employee satisfaction and profits.
CompetitiveAdvantage:
Buckman Laboratories Int’l, Inc.
Buckman’s employees can enhance their performance at any time, from anywhere.
FinancialImpact:
Humana Inc.
HR built an in-house staffing agency, saving $12 million in recruiting costs in a single year.
GlobalOutlook:
Molex. Inc.
A global mindset helps shift emphasis from one area of the world to another during economic downturns, while still investing in the future.
Innovation:
W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc.
No decision-making hierarchies, no pre-determined channels of communication, and no defined jobs.
ManagingChange:
Malden Mills Industries, Inc.
A devastating fire destroyed three Malden buildings – HR created a special center to inform and retrain 1,400 displaced employees.
Partnership:
LearnShare LLC
Seventeen corporate partners have teamed up to exchange training material, share knowledge, and jointly fund new programs.
Qualityof Life:
Fannie Mae
Fannie Mae offers a wide range of benefits to help employees balance the demands of work and family.
Service:
Valsper Corporation
HR has created 12 job families that embrace the company’s 3,830 different jobs.
Vision:
Cessna Aircraft Corporation
Cessna’s 21st Training Program has become a model welfare-to-work initiative.
Posted on

Assess Your Company for Development

The statements below are designed as an initial assessment of how your organization,division, and/or department is doing at responding to the employee search forpersonal growth and development. The assessment is meant to guide your thinking,not to provide a definative quantitative appraisal of your progress. For eachquestion below, use the scale provided to answer how true the statement is ofyour work environment: 1 = not true, 2 = somewhat true, 3 = true

__ Managersin our company sit down with employees and discuss their developmentand the organization’s plans for their growth at least every six months.
__ Employeesare often given the opportunity to be part of task groups and assignmentsoutside their core job responsibilities.
__ Ourcompany has a career-development program that helps people becomemore aware of and responsible for their own career development.
__ Employeesin our company have learning plans that identify what skills theywant to learn, and they have input into those plans.
__ Thetraining programs in our company and the trainers who lead them focuson the application of the learning to personal as well as to professionallife.
__ Transferringto a new project, assignment, or division in our company is an openprocess with few barriers.
__ Duringtheir first year, new recruits are often pleased by the opportunitiesfor growth and/or interesting work.
__ Theannual performance review is not the only opportunity to discuss developmentneeds.
__ Ourorganization supports sabbaticals, when employees take a period oftime to achieve a personal goal.
__ TOTAL

Score:

< 12
Take a full week’s management retreat for brainstorming policiesthat address these concerns.
13-17
You’re beginning to look responsive.
18-22
You are above average in meeting today’s workers’ needs, butthere is still room for improvement.
> 22
You are an inspiring example, and probably have the best workersand a strong bottom line to show for it.
Posted on

Retention Strategies That Respond to Worker Values

Finding and keeping great employees has never been so critical, but the wayto get the job done has changed dramatically in the past few years. That’sbecause employees view their work differently than they used to, a fact thathas given rise to an overall shift in workplace values. Understanding this shiftis essential to building a strong company while saving on payroll. Ignoringit will cast you on the other side of the divide.

    Why bone up on employee values? Because if a heated-upeconomy in the past decade helped thrust so-called knowledge workers into thedriver’s seat, a slowed-down economy isn’t about to eject them. Fourother factors have strapped them securely into their position of potency: theglobal market, worker empowerment, changing demographics, and a determinationto make career sacrifices for a better work/life balance.


    Traditionally, raises and promotions have been theincentives offered to workers to stem turnover. But with the rise of globalcompetition and wages, combined with a collapse of hierarchies and the accompanyingshrinkage in the promotion pool, HR directors have been forced to turn to amore organic crop of incentives. What they have learned is this: so-called softbenefits are not only less expensive but also more effective.


    If the reward is cash, it generally takes 5 to 8 percentof an employee’s salary to change behavior, according to the American Productivity& Quality Center in Houston and the American Compensation Association. Ifthe reward isn’t cash, it costs about 4 percent.


    As baby boomers retire, there simply won’t beenough warm, educated bodies to fill all the positions available. Immigrationis not the solution. Most other westernized countries are heading into theirown skilled-labor shortages. And nonwesternized countries are short on educatedworkers. Since 60 percent of boomers are planning early retirement, the skilled-laborgap will begin building to a crisis by 2005 even if the economic slowdown continues.


    “Wise companies will not let any short-term downturnalter their efforts to become one of the most desirable places to work,”says John B. Izzo, a West Coast-based retention strategist and speaker.


    HR directors can’t change demographics, but today’scompanies can respond to the fourth factor affecting the employer-employee powerdynamic. As workers face a pace of change unprecedented in history, and as “empowerment”and the need for risk-taking coupled with longer hours and less leisure timehave increased their risk of burnout tenfold, employees have begun to draw linesin the sand.


    Studies show that today’s workers resist tyingup their self-identity with their work identity. Instead, they’re exploringways to balance work and leisure, family and community time. Their values areshifting discernibly. What employees want isn’t entirely new, but whatthey’re willing to give up to achieve their goals is intensifying. Allof which makes the following strategies highly appealing for finding, keeping,and engaging great staff:

  1. Be proactive in offering employees a better work/life balance
    Time spent on the job in a given year has increased by 163 hours in thelast 20 years; that’s roughly one month per year. At the same time,leisure has declined by one-third. Workers today are willing to sacrificetwice as much pay as they were just seven years ago to achieve a work/lifebalance. And 55 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds say the option of takingextended leaves or sabbaticals is a key workplace benefit.


    Companies have found they can increase productivity, revenue, or bothby 20 percent by simply implementing a work/life-balance program for staff.Likewise, experts in the field say it’s possible to reduce turnoveras much as 50 percent by introducing any of the following: dependent-careleave, child-care subsidies, elder-care programs, counseling and referral,and flexible working hours.

  2. Promote a sense of a deeper cause
    Today’s workers yearn to be motivated by more than a company’sbottom line. Firms that are good corporate citizens or that rewrite theirmission statements to promote a sense of a deeper cause have an edge-thoughonly a small percentage of companies have paid attention to this reality.Merck, the pharmaceutical company, says it aims “to preserve and improvehuman life.” Another loyalty-builder is allowing employees to volunteerin the community on company time. Surveys show that, faced with a choiceof making more money or earning “enough” doing work that makesthe world a better place, 86 percent of today’s workers will choosethe latter.


    The corporate manifestation of a noble cause takes many forms-from showingvideos about how important the company’s service is to customers, to“going green.” A Fairmont Hotels maid says it takes more timeto recycle, for example, but “doing the recycling is the most importantpart of my job and makes me feel like I did something important in my day.”

  3. Offer opportunities for professional growth and development
    The employee of today has little job security, is restless by nature, andlives in the era of personal growth. He or she seeks both personal and professionalnourishment. The most successful information-technology companies spend7 to 10 percent of their payroll on training, compared with the standard2 to 3 percent. Mentoring is becoming ever more popular, not only becauseit is often more effective than training (up to 70 percent of employee knowledgeis obtained informally on the job) but also because it can help revitalizeolder workforce members matched with younger employees.


    A 1999 Gallup poll named the lack of opportunities to learn and grow asa top reason for employee dissatisfaction. Kinko’s, Inc., took thisinformation to heart and implemented a training program that gave coworkersa training path and career direction. The result? Turnover tumbled from78 to 50 percent.


    Even more impressive is the mid-sized insurance company that gives employeescareer-development accounts toward courses, personal coaching, or careercounseling amounting to 2.5 percent of their annual salaries. A softwareconsulting firm recently cut turnover 35 percent by sitting down with employeesat the hiring stage and helping them determine realistic time frames fortheir career-advancement expectations. It also offered formal career-developmentdiscussions several times during an employee’s first year.


    “The work environment and sense of team spirit have subtly becomemore critical elements,” says Stacy Sullivan, head of HR at Google,where turnover is almost nil. “Many companies do not realize that theyhave control of their retention issue if they take the extra step to ensurethat their employees are working on interesting work, and feeling that theyare adding value, learning continuously, and challenging themselves to domore.”

  4. Treat employees more like partners
    While executives tend to believe that corporate hierarchies have been busted,employees beg to differ. A 1999 Watson Wyatt Canada survey indicated that61 percent of senior managers felt that they treated employees as valuedbusiness partners, whereas only 27 percent of the employees agreed. Thereality is that workers today are no longer satisfied with empowerment;they want a sense of ownership. That means they expect to make suggestionswithout regard to age or rank, be included in generous profit-sharing plans(team bonuses are especially effective), and work in an environment thatis free of such symbols of entrenched hierarchy as rigid titles and executiveoffices.


    Above all, they want regular feedback. A 1998 Gallup poll found that workerswho felt that their opinions counted were the most likely to contributetheir full energy and dedication to their jobs. Unfortunately, less thanhalf of workers report receiving regular communication from their supervisorsregarding work performance.

  5. Help workers to find community in the workplace
    Longer work hours, smaller families, later marriage, more mobility, andconsumerism have all but squeezed out the traditional pillars of community-church,extended family, and neighborhoods. Meanwhile, technology, flexible workhours, and contract work have reduced the opportunities for chats at thewater cooler. Workplaces that proactively accept the mantle of communitybuilding by creating more opportunity for interaction-from Friday nightbarbecues to “pool with the president” nights-will experiencehigher retention.


    Businesses determined to woo the best talent today are metamorphosinginto community centers, with recreational facilities and programs aimedat building community spirit. As Pete Makowski, CEO of Citrus Valley HealthPartners, outside Los Angeles, says, “People are reaching out morefor a sense that the organization is a caring place that provides a senseof deep community.”


    It’s not all just talk. In 1997, 40 employees of Baptist Health Systemsin Miami who were confronted with personal crises received donations ofpaid time off from fellow employees. The effort was coordinated by the company.Marriott International has set up a 24-hour hot line to help employees withfamily and personal problems.

  6. Start rebuilding trust
    Since the downsizing of the 1980s, fewer employees have positive attitudesabout the workplace. Only 37 percent rate the level of honesty in theirworkplaces as high or very high. Only 14 percent agree that people trusteach other. While 54 percent of senior managers think the level of trustbetween corporate ranks is good, only 27 percent of employees agree. Theysay that entrenched hierarchy is one of the key barriers to rebuilding trust.


    TD Industries in Dallas addresses the trust issue by cross-training employeesto ensure that people can keep working during slowdowns. The company’sturnover rate for new hires is 15 percent. By comparison, the constructionindustry average for new hires is 100 percent.


    Trust can come crashing down in an instant, but it takes years to rebuildit. An Arthur Andersen study identifies the key factors of an ethical cultureas leadership, consistency and fairness, open talk about ethics, and employees’perception that ethical behavior is rewarded.

Workforce,July 2001, pp. 37-41 — SubscribeNow!

Posted on

On the Contrary Confessions of a Procrastinator

Let’s say it’s Friday morning and you have some type of creative project dueMonday. You’ve postponed the project for weeks because the right ideas weren’tforthcoming. But now the deadline is looming, you feel as if you’ve been livingon diet pills and black coffee, and you’re trying to determine how to generatethe creativity you need in such a short time. Let’s say the project is somethinglike, oh, a monthly column.


    Seeking an environment sure to stimulate creativity and concentration, you decide to join a friend in Vail for the weekend. While she attends a conference,you’ll have long, uninterrupted hours of joyful productivity.


    You check into the hotel, your friend heads to her workshop, and you wanderaround the hotel room. You spin the dial for the ceiling fan, trying to figureout which direction makes the fan go slower. You look out the courtyard window,convinced you’d be more creative if only you had a river view. You eye yourfolder full of notes on the coffee table and feel like you’re back in collegeavoiding a term paper on yellow journalism.


    White noise! That’s what you need to stimulate the creative juices! You gatheryour notes and trek down to the lobby. On the way, you see a sign for the hotelspa, and before you know it, you’re inquiring about a hot stone massage. Relaxation!That’s what you need to be creative! You hear the price and quickly calculatethat you can purchase either a 50-minute massage or two pairs of on-sale shoes.You opt for the shoes, thank the tall blond woman behind the counter, and continueyour search for a creative work spot.


    Rounding the corner into the lobby, you see, of all things, a hotel library,complete with dark floor-to-ceiling bookcases and overstuffed chairs. That,for sure, is the best place to get your project done.


    You settle into a wing chair. It’s drafty on your ankles, so you move to anotherchair. The pillow is too big, so you move once again. Finally, you settle ontoa couch and smile faintly at a middle-aged woman who is reading a paperbackon the love seat nearby. She seems upset with you for some reason.


    After reviewing your notes, you close your eyes and try to settle your mindin an effort to let the best creative ideas emerge. Instead, you become distractedby a conversation about a lost luggage tag.


    “What do you mean you lost it?”


    “I mean it was here a minute ago and now it’s not. How hard is that?!”


    “Don’t get snippy. You always get snippy.”


    “I’m not snippy. I’m trying to get our luggage.”


    You open your eyes. There must be an idea here. Laying blame. Finding fault.Miscommunication. These are excellent topics! You watch the arguing couple –both of whom are slightly overweight and dressed in fringed western wear –and your enthusiasm for the topic fades.


    You close your eyes again, take a deep breath, and silently question why somany hotels smell like coffee, chlorine, and new carpet. There’s an idea: hotelscents! Oh jeez. Meeting Monday’s deadline is going to be much harder than youthought.


    Opening your notebook, you force yourself to jot down several potential topics.Acquaintances versus friendship. Workplace eccentrics. Five things every managershould know. You look disgustedly at the brief list. Nobody wants to read aboutthese things.


    You pull out a fresh sheet of paper and, with great effort, jot down a fewmore ideas, one of which grows into an enormous half-page doodle involving flowersand lightning bolts. Tapping your pen on your thigh, you smile at the paperbackreader, who is glaring at you once again. What’s her problem, anyway? Maybeyou need quiet time after all.


    You gather your materials and head back to the room, where you spend 20 minutes deciding where the most creative place would be. The couch? Too stiff. The bed?Too tempting. This is ridiculous. The environment has nothing to do with creativityand deadlines. Discipline does. Sit down and start working.


    Once again, you pull out your notebook and, what’s that, a granola bar? Cool!You eat half of it, wipe the stiff, pebbly crumbs off the table and onto thefloor, and think about how difficult it is to come up with creative ideas onyour own. Brainstorming is so much easier in a group. All that energy and attitudeand adrenaline forces good ideas to the surface. This project would be so mucheasier if only you could work with other people.


    Or would it?


    You cock your head, look at your list of rejected ideas, and realize that everysingle good idea for any project you’ve ever done — either alone or in groups– has always been preceded by a long list of very bad ideas. Hard work. Frustration.The pull of an overpriced massage. You always feel these things when you facean important deadline. Haven’t you learned that you can’t rush the process?That creativity is not inherently easy?


    You hear the ring of the elevator in the hallway and it dawns on you that brainstorming– both alone and in groups — may be frustrating, but it’s a necessary partof the creative process. Why? Because you never know when and where good ideaswill arise. The key is to keep going, like a child’s wind-up toy, past the dread,past the doubt, and past the early sense of disappointment that always accompaniesan important project.


    If you keep working and quit looking for quick fixes, the work will get done.It always does. And usually without the benefit of a massage.


Workforce, July 2001, pp. 20-21— SubscribeNow!

Other columns by Shari:

Posted on

Corporate Communications Can Make You a Winner

It takes all the running you can do to keep in the same place,” theRed Queen explained to Alice in Through the Looking Glass. “If youwant to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that.”Two traditional support functions, human resources and corporate communications,had been running in place for quite a long time. But no longer. And in their effortsto renew and transform themselves, they have often been working together to “getsomewhere else.”


    Over the years, there have always been areas of cooperationbetween these two functions. But rarely has there been so much serious collaborationin areas of strategic importance to the organization.


    In our experience, we have countedat least 10 different areas where corporate communications — especially employeecommunications — has found significant ways to collaborate with HR. Here areshort profiles of each of these collaborations, and the impact they seek:

  1. Recruitment and retention
  2. Launch of new policies and procedures
  3. Performance appraisal
  4. Post-merger integration (or post-spin-off regrouping)
  5. Employee benefits
  6. Business literacy
  7. Communication skills enhancement
  8. Reward system communications
  9. Reputation management
  10. Aligning performance with corporate strategy

Recruitment and retention
    Attracting and holding on to talented people has becomean HR priority, particularly in fields where skills are in high demand, and thelure of dot-coms is especially strong. Corporate communications can play severalroles to help HR address this concern:

  • Improving the quality and impact of recruiting materials and messages

  • Enhancing the new employee orientation process, including the communicationof key cultural values and career growth opportunities

  • Effectively presenting employee benefits plans as a corporate asset (see Employee Benefits section below)

  • Recognizing employee accomplishment

  • Keeping employees well informed

  • Expanding the channels for employees to use for raising questions, andfor sharing their opinions about the organization and how to make it better

    In recent years, organizations have found the lattertwo challenges to be particularly critical in retaining talented employees.The following example provides illustration:

In the increasingly dynamic financial services industry, a leadingplayer faced a retention problem for the first time in its history. Surveysof younger employees conducted by HR discovered a set of job expectations significantlydifferent from those of older cohorts, including a strong need to be kept inthe know and to have their opinions listened to.

The survey also brought tolight what had been an inadequate corporate effort to help employees connectwith one another, with the company, and with big-picture issues facing the firm.Not only was this causing some people to leave, but word also had gotten “outon the street,” and this was affecting recruiting.

The company did not, in fact, have a well-developed employee communication program,so building this function became step number one. Another strategy involvedthe development — with HR — of a more versatile and engaging intranet site.

Plans included designing an intranet that would support increased informationsharing, both up and down the organization as well as across traditional organizationalboundaries. And to make organizational communications more personal, the planalso called for a series of “town hall meetings” that would featurereal-time conversation with senior management on where the company was headed,and what the career implications might be.

Returnto Top


Launch of new policies and procedures
    When important policies and work practices are introduced,HR wants to be sure of three things:

  1. To get the attention of the workforce

  2. To satisfactorily explain what changes are to be made, and why they’reimportant

  3. To allow for healthy dialogue between management and the rest of the workforce

    Effective communication tactics are critical to makingthese messages both compelling and well understood. Open communication channelsand forums for raising issues are also critical ingredients for success. Eachof these three objectives can be better served through an active collaborationbetween HR and corporate communications. Here are two examples of such collaboration.

  • When valuable proprietary information began to turn up at the competition,a major grocery products company called a huddle to develop a more effectiveinformation security system. At the heart of their plan was a program tochange the way employees worldwide think about and treat valuable companyinformation.


    Through an intranet site designed by corporate communications,the program offered information, turnkey resources, and “how-to’s”so employees could learn to better protect the company’s valuable informationassets. And the program also helped share less sensitive information morebroadly within the organization to drive efficiencies and best practices.

  • In a very different situation, a large truck manufacturer wanted to establisha new set of work rules that would reduce the number of grievances filed.Here, HR worked with communications to train several levels of management,including frontline supervisors, on how to present the new work rules, andanswer questions in this highly sensitive area.


    The result of this intervention– coming on the heels of an extended work stoppage — was a surprisinglylow number of union incidents, and an improved work climate for both sides.

Returnto Top


Performance appraisal
    Following the typical guidelines of this traditionalHR responsibility is for some organizations an exercise of going through themotions. Yet most companies want employees to be increasingly goal-oriented,and accountable for measurable performance outcomes. How can the performance-appraisalprocess play a more productive and meaningful role in support of higher levelsof performance and improved feedback to employees? Here are two illustrationsof this challenge being picked up jointly by HR and corporate communications:

  1. For a leading architectural firm, the main problem was that managers didn’tfeel that the program in place made a good fit with their normal way ofworking and relating with people. Even more to the point, the task of havingperformance-evaluation conversations didn’t come naturally and hence, theyrarely happened at all. When the problem was identified at least partiallyas a communications problem, the company could begin to address it morerealistically (see below).

  2. In another company that worked primarily on government projects, the problemwas largely the same, with the additional dimension of a general lack ofspecificity regarding what was to be evaluated. Once again, the processdidn’t really fit the reality of the work, and holding conversations aboutperformance appraisal seemed artificial at best.

    Both companies approached the task of improving theirperformance-appraisal process as being in large measure a communications challenge.In both cases, the improvement strategy focused on participating managers developingtheir own criteria and “scripts,” and thus being better able to ownwhat was now becoming more of a professional-development process.


    The role thatcommunications played in each instance was to work alongside HR to sound outmanagers, then facilitate a workshop that clearly acknowledged the importanceof making performance-appraisal conversations easier to manage. Sincethe workshops also provided the opportunity for participants to develop theirown performance criteria and success indicators, ownership in the process wasstrengthened as well.

Returnto Top

Post-merger integration (or post-spin-off regrouping)
    Much has been written about this topic. But we stilldon’t always get it right. Two companies that did a good job were also successfulin another kind of integration — coordinating how HR and corporate communicationsmight work together to make these restructurings as relatively painless as possiblefor employees.

  • A large transportation company had acquired a significant portion of theassets of another, including some valuable employees. The challenge wasto hold on to the employees, and to make them feel wanted, valued, and productivewhen they joined the acquiring company. A task force of HR and communicationsstaff from both companies met to plan how best to manage this integration.


    Their recommendations led to an emphasis on how the newcomers might bestbe welcomed, and how they could be mentored so as to get the lay of thenew land as quickly as possible. Two separate program initiatives were putin place to accomplish the recommendations, and task force members — particularlythose from the acquired company — played a lead role in making them work.

  • For a spin-off from a leading information-storage company, the collaborationbetween HR and communications focused on how to quickly engage the “spun-off”– and somewhat disoriented — workforce in shaping its new workplace andits new business. The challenge was to build morale and support for thenew company, while getting employees excited about the future. The strategyinvolved a communication campaign that would educate employees about thenew business opportunity, and an initiative to engage all employees in aplanning process that generated ideas for how to succeed.

    This ownership-building effort accomplished its objectives.Employees embraced the new business plan and stayed engaged as planners. Nokey employees were lost. The company was able to maintain business momentum,with strong initial earnings and sustained stock prices.

Returnto Top


Employee benefits
    At a time of mounting pressure to control benefits costs,HR people are simultaneously aware of the importance of making the corporatebenefits plan an asset in recruitment and retention. So HR departments oftensee benefits plan changes as an opportunity to set new expectations, attainhigher enrollment percentages, and create a new “contract” with employeesthat invites more shared responsibility in shaping optimal plans for everyone.The challenge in each of these opportunities is to communicate well — withcandor, clarity, and creativity.

  • A hotel chain wanted to launch a non-traditional program that rewardedemployees monetarily for taking preventive health-care measures. To introducethe program, the company designed a communications initiative that centeredon simple yet surprising health-care facts (e.g., “a can of soda containsone cup of sugar”), displayed in high employee traffic areas. In addition,key health-care messages were systematically delivered through employeemeetings, special events, and a video featuring testimonials from currentprogram participants.

  • For a large credit union, the challenge was to use the launch of a new401(k) plan to reposition the entire benefits program from its identityas an entitlement to one of reward for performance. The strategyused to support HR’s initiative was to enlist the help of the most crediblecommunicators inside the organization, the branch managers.


    While specialmaterials were sent directly to employees to pique their interest, branchmanagers were armed with an interactive presentation to help employees andtheir spouses better understand the benefits of participation in the newplan. The outcome of the communications campaign was a 6 percent rise inplan participation.

Returnto Top


Business literacy
    Companies increasingly feel the need to help their workforcesbecome more aware of the business environment and of how their business works.The premise is simple: If employees are knowledgeable about the marketplace,how money is made, and what customers want, they will be better able to helpthe company be more competitive. Here are two examples of HR/communicationscollaboration on improving business literacy.

  • A global communications company had undergone some major restructuring,including both acquisitions and spin-offs, to reposition itself in an industrythat was being changed dramatically by new technologies. To engage all handsin moving aggressively into the future, several support functions, includingHR and communications, joined together to better inform and educate theworkforce about ongoing moves and decisions.


    Two set pieces in this initiative were a newly developed intranet that featuredstories on where the business was going (with opportunities for Q&A), anda direct e-mail communication from the CEO to all employees. The intranet siteis meant to be educative as well as a timely source of information; it willadd context and depth to news items that illustrate where the company is headed,and why.


    The CEO e-mail — judged to be the most popular corporate communicationin the organization — is sent only when the CEO needs to announce (or set acontext for) an anticipated event or a recent decision. Employees greatly appreciateits directness, as well as the opportunity to get important information straightfrom the head of the company.

  • A regional energy company needed to reshape its culture and performanceexpectations in light of projected deregulation and outside competition.The company decided to rebuild its strategy around a service-oriented corporatebrand, requiring that employees see themselves as implementers ofsuch a brand promise.


    Working with HR, communications designed an education campaign that utilizedtwo delivery vehicles:

    • the widely read corporate newsletter, to which a supplement was addedto regularly address the changing business environment and the variouscompany products and services that would be brought into play

    • a group meeting agenda featuring a “learning map” exercisethat would lead employees to draw informed conclusions about the futureof the business

Returnto Top


Communication skills enhancement
    A considerable amount of recent research has pointedto the enormous significance of the supervisor’s communications to his or heremployees. Often the most trusted source of information and the most reliablesource of answers to urgent questions, the supervisor can have a major impacton employee focus and morale, especially during times of transition and change.The two companies below both invested in training their supervisors to enhancetheir communication skills. One of them actually started the process with topmanagement.

  • At an international bio-medical services organization, employee surveyshad indicated confusion and lowered morale. Key people were also defectingto the competition. The senior management team determined to target improvingcommunication across the organization as a priority goal. Their strategyinvolved getting out some forceful and consistent messages, but also raisingthe quality of management communication with employees.


    A series of workshops,following some organization-wide communications addressing issues identifiedin the survey, helped to orient several levels of managers on how they couldincrease dialogue, improve their listening skills, and drive home severalcritical points about recent directions and why they made sense.

  • A series of restructurings had created an atmosphere of wariness and fearfor many of this defense contractor’s employees. To address the situation,the company’s CEO prompted the training and development and the communicationsstaffs to make communication between supervisors and their teams a criticalimprovement goal.


    The challenge was met by designing and conducting two-waycommunications workshops for more than a thousand middle and frontline supervisors.


    A second dimension of this initiative was to create interactive bulletinboards in high-traffic rooms and halls to keep people informed. The workshopsreceived national recognition when they were cited in a Conference Boardreport.

Returnto Top


Reward system communications
    As corporate reward systems continue to add performance-contingentdimensions, and become more versatile in their use of alternative reward andrecognition strategies, the role of communicating these elements takes on increasedimportance. Jerry McAdams, co-author of the recent book RewardingTeams: Lessons from the Trenches, concludes that companies that are effectiveat motivating teams “communicate, communicate, communicate.”


    The potentialoutcomes from HR and corporate communications collaborating around reward-systemcommunications are clear: more forceful, more widely understood, and more effectivereward and recognition practices.

  • An energy company needing to drive customer satisfaction as a leading businessmeasure sought to reposition its employee reward system around a customer-satisfactionindex scored on a quarterly basis. Working with the HR department, corporatecommunications helped to launch the new compensation plan in the contextof business strategy and the changing energy marketplace. Parallel to thiseffort, communications ran a series of articles in the employee newsletterabout company initiatives related to customer service, and improving customersatisfaction. The satisfaction index showed a steady climb for six quarters,and has basically stayed at this level since.

Returnto Top

Reputation management
    Managing the company’s reputation as a corporate citizenis a task of growing importance as companies seek to strengthen their presencein the communities where they do business, and seek to improve relationshipswith a variety of non-client constituents. The task of presenting the face ofthe company to the outside world typically falls to corporate communications.But community relations, corporate philanthropy, and even employee relations– usually more attached to the HR function — also play a significant rolein shaping corporate citizenship. Bringing them all together has the potentialto create major synergies, and greater success, as the following case attests.

  • A global services company desired to complement its corporate communicationsactivities with a more targeted effort to strengthen relationships in localmarkets. It organized a task force at the corporate level that includedall the staff support functions having a stake in healthy local communityrelations. Led by corporate communications, the task force designed andconducted a series of planning workshops at sites across the organization.


    The workshops challenged a mix of departmental managers from each regionto develop strategies for making the company more visible — and more admired– in these communities. Project designs featured a more personal and thoroughgoingapproach to investing philanthropic dollars in community organizations andprojects.


    As a result of this active collaboration, opinion surveys haveshown, the company actually strengthened its reputation as an admired organization.

Returnto Top


Aligning performance with corporate strategy
    As companies restructure and shift strategies to keepup with changing markets and competition, there is often a lag in work unitawareness of new priorities, and in understanding the implications of new directionsfor their jobs. In the following example, HR and corporate communications workedclosely to help the workforce keep critical business goals on target.

  • An international ag-chem company had gone through two significant mergers,and now needed to regroup and create a more unified front around its businessstrategy. Spurred by an internal advisory committee that had researchedthe “balanced scorecard” approach to strategy, the HR and communicationsdepartments joined forces to develop and launch a scorecard initiative thatlinked up with a new performance-appraisal process.


    The effort involvedsenior management messages to the workforce to position the project, launchsessions for all employees on how the appraisal process would connect toa balanced scorecard, and a series of workshops for supervisory managerson how they might shape their own scorecards with their work teams.


    Theoutcome was a more clearly defined “line-of-sight” between workunit objectives and corporate goals, and a more focused and knowledgeableworkforce.

Returnto Top


“Getting somewhere else” together
    Over the past decade, both human resources and corporatecommunications have increasingly found seats at the table where business strategydecisions are made. In the process, they have also found opportunities to worktogether in advancing the fortunes of the business on a variety of fronts.


    In particular, they have shown an aptitude for collaboratingon raising employee knowledge and morale, with positive consequences to productivityand job retention. As this trend continues, executives from both these corporatefunctions will find further ways to turn their common stake into a common cause.

Posted on

Personnel Management Systems, Inc.

Personnel Management Systems, Inc. (PMSI) focuses on the nuts and bolts of HR administration, providing outsourced human resources for small and medium-sized companies.


Today’s competitive business environment impels more companies to turn over portions of their overhead operations to specialists. PMSI is not a consultancy or advisory firm. The company has an 18-year track record of managing key administrative functions for clients, enabling them to focus exclusively on their core businesses while recognizing significant savings and increased expertise.


PMSI starts by helping clients determine the highest priorities among their human resources needs. Once those priorities are set, PMSI turns its attention to managing those functions for clients.


PMSI’s staff of nearly 50 HR professionals works with more than 100 different companies throughout the Pacific Northwest and Colorado. Headquartered in Kirkland, Wash., PMSI also has Washington state offices in Tacoma and Everett and one in Denver, Colo. Its clients span a range of industries.


To contact PMSI, visit http://www.hrpmsi.com,call 877/590-7674, or e-mail paulw@hrpmsi.com.


Posted on

HR Challenges Solved!

Founded in 1925 in downtown San Jose, CA, One Workplace (OWP) is a leading businessresource for the work environment. OWPprovides a full range of consulting, products, and services that assistcompanies in thinking about their workspace and how it relates to their people,culture, processes, and technology.

One Workplace’s Challenge


As an Executive Director of Human Resources, JeffreyCrocker had a primary mission: find an HRIS that consisted of a comprehensiveHuman Resources and Benefits module, payroll interface, and a full-servicetraining module. The objective was tofind an architecture that enabled HR to maintain the employee information in acentralized, shared, Web-native database. Othercriteria included finding a system that would support future needs as thebusiness grew.

During his search,Jeffrey read about NuView Systems, in an article published inHuman ResourcesExecutive Magazine. NuViewSystems, Inc., is an award-winning Web-native HRIS solutions provider.After meeting with NuView, Jeffrey found that they focused on solutionsand not just software. He was alsoimpressed with the emphasis on staying ahead of their competitors with bothdesign and technology. One Workplaceexecutive committee found that NuView’s MyHRIS was not only a superiorproduct, but could quickly give OWP a positive return on their investment.

Onceall of the potential solutions were identified, One Workplace created astrategic matrix. This allowed OWP toevaluate 20 different criteria, which were critical to their HRIS needs andrequirements. Jeffrey strongly emphasized his company’s mission for growinginto an HR solution rather than growing out off their existing HR package.


After an exhaustive evaluation and search process, One Workplace narrowedtheir search down to five finalists.  Fromthe beginning Jeffrey emphasized his desire for a product that would interfacewith ADP, their payroll provider. Initially, Jeffrey was not impressed with theoverall “look and feel” of MyHRIS. This was common feedback amongst clients and prospects, which led the enhancement of our newest version — MyHRIS 3.0. After two months, NuView Systemsultimately won the business of One Workplace by providing them with all thesolutions they had been in search of.

Ryan Thomas ofNuView was assigned as the Project Manager and conducted the implementation andcustomizations for One Workplace. Thedesired results were delivered on time and within budget. 

 


The Results

Ina recent meeting with Jeffrey, he discussed some of the most impressive aspectsof NuView Systems. He stated howimpressed he is by “NuView’s genuine commitment to partner with OneWorkplace in finding a strategic solution for their current and upcomingchallenges.” He appreciates NuView’s conservative style of under-committing and over-delivering,which is not typical. He also said“NuView helped him to understand the full potential of an HRIS solution.”

If you are making an informed decision to buy or rent an HRIS solution, you will ultimately choose NuView Systems–MyHRIS.–Jeffrey Crocker

AnitaWagner, a Human Resources manager for OWP recently used MyHRIS to gatherinformation on current and previous employees. Shewas able to access all the information in a fraction of the time it would havetaken prior to utilizing NuView’s MyHRIS reporting tools.Another Human Resources manager supports the San Francisco and Oaklandoffices from her virtual office in Los Angeles. Without MyHRIS’ Web-native functionality, this would not bepossible. 

 


FastReturn on Investment (ROI)


Afterperforming all of the needed research on all the HR packages, the executivecommittee found the MyHRIS proposal to be significantly more cost-effective.In addition, they found it to be a superior product that would result ina return on investment.

OneWorkplace employees now have the ability to be proactive providers.They have the solutions that will “help with tomorrow’s challengesand put out today’s fires.”

Arecent testimonial by Jeffrey Crocker, which expresses his satisfaction w/NuView Systems –

“I did not want to hesitate in writing toyou to tell you how impressed we are with your company and MyHRIS. I have workedwith several members of your team, and I can’t say enough about theirprofessionalism, knowledge and customer service. I have attended numeroustraining sessions, as well as presented many ourselves, and I can honestly saythat I have never attended a training that was more meaningful, enjoyable andmemorable. The three of us who participated in the training have different skillsets technically and in the Human Resources field. Your trainer was able totailor the training to accommodate all of us and apply MyHRIS to our “reallife” Human Resources needs.”

Jeffrey Crocker, Executive Director of Human Resources,
One Workplace

Jeffrey’s goalwas to provide a cost-effective Human Resources Solution that would solve the HRchallenges for his company. One Workplaceemployees now have the ability to be proactive providers using the NuView MyHRISsystem. They now have solutions that will help with tomorrow’s challengeswhile putting out today’s fires.

CongratulationsJeffrey, you did it!


Credits 

One Workplace
JeffreyCrocker
ExecutiveDirector of Human Resources
1057Montague Expressway
Milpitas,CA 95035
Phone:408.263.1001
Fax:408.263.3322
www.oneworkplace.com

NuViewSystems, Inc.
DineenBartolo
MarketingManager
155West Street, Suite #7
Wilmington,MA 01887
Phone:800.244.7654
Fax:978.988.1263
www.nuviewinc.com

Posted on

Intranets Help Keep Goodwill of Downsized Employees

These days, company layoffs are painful for everyone involved, from the downsizedemployees to their managers to HR, which has the task of delivering the news.


But there are ways to ease the hurt. Companies likeCisco Systems are trying to ease the pain of necessary workforce reductionsby providing employees with “transition intranets.” These intranetsfeature everything from job leads, counseling services, and résumé-writingtips to severance documents and other information of interest to workers duringthe transition period. In return, employers avoid creating widespread alarmand, in many cases, are able to salvage relationships with departing employees.


Even if exact numbers or targets of layoffs have notyet been determined, a transition intranet can help promote a sense of calm.When Washington Mutual acquired Home Savings Bank of America at the end of 1999,the latter created a transition intranet that featured, among other things,daily updates on the merger and its implications.


“One thing you cannot have is any darkness, anyinterruption of communication,” says Alan Feuerstein, then Home SavingsBank communications specialist for information services. “The transitionintranet alleviated the panic.”


Cisco’s intranet, called Cisco Pathfinder, featuresjob listings from over 430 companies, including Cisco customers, partners, andvendors. Employees can set up their own job-seeker profiles that potential employerscan search. There’s also information on career networking events, résuméwriting, and interview preparation.


“People tell our human resources department thatit’s very helpful — a good source of information, tips, and guidance,”Cisco spokesperson Chris Peacock says.


For all the goodwill they can potentially create, transitionintranets are a relative bargain. If a company already has an employee intranet,they cost virtually nothing. At Home Savings, Feuerstein and the rest of theIT team simply leveraged the company’s existing intranet technology. Their onlyreal task was to change the content, all of which had to be approved by HR.


Instead of instructional information about Home SavingsBank products, the employee intranet began to feature severance documents andjob-search tools, including the capability to search the major Internet jobsites and job openings with the acquiring company, Washington Mutual.


“Employees have to know their rights in such asituation, and we published every document as it became available, includingcomplete severance-package information,” Feuerstein says. The Home SavingsBank intranet stayed in place for a year, throughout the entire transition period.The company even set up a full transition office in a small building in theparking lot. There, 20 computer terminals were installed — so that employeeswho didn’t have access to a computer on the job were able to access information.


In the end, transition intranets can serve emotionalas well as practical purposes. “The workforce-reduction process was a difficultone,” Peacock says, “but Cisco has tried to be open, respectful, andhelpful to the people affected.”


Workforce, July 2001, p. 15 — SubscribeNow!

Posted on

Table of Contents July 2001

Vicious gossip, procrastination, seasonal staffing, and more — all in this month’s issue of Workforce! Subscribe now!

Features

Gossip Poisons Business. HR Can Stop It
Whisper campaigns can ruin a workplace. Here are the steps that HR can take to squelch malicious gossip and clear the air.
By Samuel Greengard
 
The HRMS Tune-Up: Keep Your System Running Smoothly
Even if HRMS maintenance isn’t one of your formal duties, knowing about backups, upkeep, and long-term troubleshooting can save you time, trouble, and money.
By Sarah Fister Gale
 
Retention Strategies That Respond to Worker Values
What do employees value? If you know that, you have the key to building a retention strategy that doesn’t rely solely on raises.
By Pam Withers
 
A New Model for Controlling Health-Care Costs
In an expert’s view, some cost sharing is critical to success. Employees who pay for some care with their own money are more likely to ask, “Is this necessary?”
By Mary S. Case

Departments
Between the Lines
Giving up gossip.
 
Mailbox
“At will” isn’t the solution • Recruiter-proofing
The Buzz
Intranets that help keep the goodwill of downsized employees • The toll on caregivers • Raw Data: Overworked America • Well Done: Culture shifts
 
On the Contrary
Creativity leads Shari Caudron on a merry chase, staying just out of reach while her deadline looms.
 
What Works
What does it take to motivate people? It depends on the people. Tom Terez illustrates with a tale of two inspired businessmen.
 
Dear Workforce:
HR gently addresses a boss’s bad behavior. • Assessing whether you need a mentor, or a coach. • Forms for a smooth work flow.
 
Legal Insight
Pension investment counseling that won’t bring a lawsuit. • Resolving a bereavement-leave issue. • A high price for a discriminatory insurance policy.
 
Small, Medium, Large
Seasonal shifts and unexpected staffing needs can catch a company short-handed. Here is how three organizations meet their needs for specialized peak-period help.
 
Think Twice
It’s not easy being a green company. But Todd Raphael shows how an attitude of environmental responsibility can make your company a place that people want to work.