This year I resolve... to make more resolutions!

It's that time of year, kids. Time for all the boys and girls to share their plans for the upcoming year! It's trite I know. But I'm hoping by making my resolutions known, you all will keep me accountable. Maybe this will be the first year I keep all of my resolutions!

1. Hit the gym!

Everyone says this one, I know! So why should I be any different? Seriously though, I was member to our town's nicest gym, owned by the local hospital and I loved it. But I let laziness and illness get me kicked out of a great program where I got to go for free. This year I'm back in and I plan on staying in!

2. Be more organized!

I've never been a neat freak, though I'm not a slob either. But in 2012, I went back to grad school, joined the Junior League and decided to find a social life. This left me little time for the unimportant things like housework. So, what does any smart girl do in 2013 when she's looking for solutions to life's problems? I hit up Pinterest! There I found all kinds of great suggested schedules for dividing housework up throughout the week! Another quick visit to shabbyprincess.com for some cute scrapbooking downloads and now the following hangs on my refrigerator!

Somehow, having things broken up like this, makes housework seem like a less daunting task. I don't have to mop all my floors – I only have to do the bathroom today! It makes the whole thing seem much more approachable and doable. Three days in and my kitchen, bathroom and living room all look gorgeous! And I am much less stressed about the rest of it! Whew!

3. Stop taking everything so personally.

This one is a hard one for me. I have a habit of thinking everything someone says is a dig at me in some way. Call it insecurity, call it being oversensitive, whatever. It's a problem I've had since I was a child and I need to get over it. So, in 2013, if you have a problem with me, you're going to have to tell me about it, because I am going to be over in my own space trying to assume that you don't! Did that make sense to anyone but me?

4. Get back on the horse, romantically speaking.

I've been knocked around a little emotionally the past few years. Because of that, I've been a little hesitant to put myself back out there. But this year, I'm going to do it! So friends, this is your invitation for setups. If you know someone, help a girl out. This is the year when Ginny starts to date again.

5. Take time for myself.

School, pets, Junior League and other community commitments has sometimes had me feeling a little spread thin. So this year, I'm taking time for myself. I vow to take time to stop and smell the wine, when needed. So friends, if I tell you I need to be alone one night, it's not because I don't love you and don't want to spend time with you. It's just because I need some quiet time for myself to rest and replenish. I hope you understand. In the end it will make me a much happier, relaxed person.

That's all, folks! My resolutions for 2013! I'll try and keep you updated on how well I'm doing at keeping them. Wish me luck and happy new year!

MHRM 6120 • Blog Data Management and Ethics

Ethics and data management are the topics of conversation this week in grad school. We’re asked to think about what we would do if someone with whom we worked asked us to manipulate data for the “benefit of the organization” and whether our response would differ if a superior asked us to do it.

Working in Marketing, the opportunity to present manipulated data is always available. We print annual reports for our health system as well as our cancer treatment center. It’s tempting to tweak the data to paint the organization in a better light, isn’t it? Fortunately, my manager doesn’t believe in doing anything unethical like this. We present the data – both good and bad – as it is.

Sure, we might try and powder the pig, Accentuate the positive and not draw attention to the negative. But at the end of the day, the information, she’s still a pig, and it’s a pig the public will see.

It’s so hard to say no when it’s a manager asking you, though. I had a co-worker call me a few years ago. She was upset because it was time to do the employee survey and her manager had taken her survey forms from her so that the staff could not write anything bad about the department. Talk about skewing the data! This manager would rather have no data for their department than have something bad out there.

The employee was too intimidated to do anything about it and I wanted to help her, so I called human resources and explained the problem. The next day the department had a visit from the Human Resources Director. She came over for a “friendly visit” to remind everyone that the employee survey had begun and she expected 100% participation! Now the manager had no choice but to pass the forms out.

But how dare she put my friend in such an awkward position? I wondered how I would’ve reacted in the same situation. I like to think I would’ve stood up to my manager and passed out the forms, but I can’t really say. I do know I believe that misrepresenting data doesn’t really help the organization, or anyone for that matter, at all. 

Lies, they always catch up with you and dealing with an ethics scandal is a lot harder than any other controversy. It’s like I said last week, trust is one of the hardest things to win back once you’ve lost it. That’s why it’s always better to be honest in the first place.

MHRM 6120

Building Trust

 …if developed and leveraged, the one thing has potential to create unparalleled success and prosperity in every dimension of life. 

Yet, it is the least understood, most neglected, and most underestimated possibility of our time. That one thing is trust. —Stephen Covey

In class this week, we're talking about trust. How HR can create trust, challenges to building trust and how to maintain stakeholder trust. 

Trust is a tricky thing... It can be so difficult to build, so easy to destroy and next to impossible to regain once lost. 

I think it is very important for staff members to trust their HR department. And equally important that HR earn that trust by always being honest with staff.

I feel that developing a relationship with staff is important. At the hospital where I work, nurse recruiters almost act as docents to new nurses. They tour them around the medical center, make introductions, I've even see them counsel new nurses months after they are hired. I think this kind of relationship is important in building trust among employees. 

Listening is another skill HR can use to build and maintain trust. Conduct employee surveys, not just to measure, but improve. After one of our employee surveys, departments met with management to discuss results and improvements that could be made to improve morale. Our representative looked us in the eye, told us all of our ideas were good and good be accomplished and then followed through with none of them. This is not a successful means to maintain trust with your employees. Do you think the next year we offered any ideas to improve things in our office? Why would we bother when we didn't believe anything would change?

Proper communication, I believe, is the key to both earning and maintaining stakeholder trust. People by nature resist change, but if HR properly communicate the reason behind the change, staff may be more likely to accept the change. As the relationship between staff members and HR continues, staff will learn to trust HR. But HR must also continue to earn it by communicating effectively and honestly at all times.



References:
Covey, S. R. (2006). The SPEED of trust: The one thing that changes everything (p. 1). New York, NY: Free Press.

Joy to the World! Joy to ME!

Or How the Junior League (and a few other things) Saved My Life

So, for the last two years, I've been a complete Scrooge over the holidays. I haven't put up a tree, I haven't really wanted to celebrate at all. 

Those that know me well – and have known me a while – can tell you that the last few years have been so difficult for me. I lost my dad and a close friend to cancer, fell hard for someone and lost him, then immediately lost a dear friend in a horrendous one-two punch. I've been sullen and depressed and I didn't even want to be around myself, let alone anyone else. I'd be lying if I said there weren't days I considered ending it all....

What a difference a year can make! 

In January, I took things into my own hands and decided I would make some friends. So, I joined the local chapter of the Junior League. I was worried it might be a group of stuffy, snobby well-to-do ladies (you know, like the girls in The Help), but I couldn't have been more wrong! The group is very diverse, with all ethnicities, income levels and ages. They are very active in the community, giving to agencies to improve child mental health, and I'm so proud to be a part of it. I've had the opportunity to make some new friendships for which I am so very grateful!

I've also gone back to school. The reasons for going back were numerous, but mostly it was to keep my brain stimulated and to keep me interested in something besides just sitting around watching TV (don't worry, TV fans, I'm still a couch potato, just not as bad as before!). It's sometimes stressful, but I am so glad to have the opportunity to continue my education and to keep learning and growing. 

Now I've gone from sitting home alone feeling sorry for myself to running around wishing I had time to sit down! It seems like there's always something going on.

BUT I'M HAPPY! :-)

I didn't even realize the change was occurring until this past month. And now with Christmas approaching? Forget about it! I can't stop smiling. I can't stop humming Christmas carols! I can't stop buying decorations! Last night, I ran into Hobby Lobby to get some magnets for a craft project, and I left with a mini-tree for my desk, yet another stocking and a little sprig of holly to place in the bud vase of my car! 

I'm in a completely different frame of mind this December than months before and I wish to thank everyone who helped me get here, but there just isn't enough time or web space! But I'm especially grateful to my mom, my brother, my sister-in-law and their beautiful family, the girls in the Junior League and my dear friend Rachael, who always manages to make me feel sane even when I feel everything around me is insane!

This holiday season, take time to appreciate those that are there for you when times are tough. For all those who have loved me, know you are appreciated and loved in return. Merry Christmas, everyone!

MHRM 6120 – HR Getting a "Seat at the Table"

Some HR professionals believe the profession has continued to be challenged at getting a "seat at the table." Do I agree with this statement? Most definitely.

I myself never really understood the importance in linking HR functions with strategic planning before beginning this degree program. But now, I agree that they should be offered that seat at the table.

Historically, Human Resources has been considered the department that handles benefits and makes sure employees get their paychecks, but today companies are getting farther and farther away from that.  However, studies show that most firms only offer HR input on strategic decisions, rather than making them full strategic partners (Lawler, E. & Boudrea, J., 209, p.15).

HR should definitely have input on strategic decisions. How are they supposed to hire the employees that will help achieve the organizations strategic goals if they are not completely aware of what those goals are?

I agree with Becker, Huselid and Ulrich when they say that an effective HR system should “maximize the overall quality of human capital” by: linking selection and promotion decisions with competency models, developing strategies that provide timely and effective support for the skills demanded by the firm’s strategic implementation and enacting compensation and performance management policies that attract, retain and motivate high performance employees (Becker, B., Huselid, M. & Ulrich, D., 2001, p. 13).

I can see the hospital I work for trying to move toward including HR at the table, and I think it’s great! We have a VP of Human Resources who is considered a member of the senior management team and we focus on hiring employees that will improve our patient experience. HR was involved in the creation of our new mission statement and vision. But even we have room for improvement.

References


Becker, B., Huselid, M., & Ulrich, D. (2001). The HR scorecard: Linking people, strategy, and performance. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.


Lawler, E., & Boudreau, J. (2009). What makes HR a strategic partner? People & Strategy, 32(1), 14-22.

MHRM 6110 - Group Work

We’ve been working in groups in my Talent Management class. Group work… Why do they call it group work? Invariably, there’s at least one (or in the case of this semester) two people who contribute absolutely nothing to the assignment. I do want to give a big thank you to my partner, Anica, for being so great about helping split the load with me. We two have been doing the work of four this semester – thanks, Anica!

So, while in my last class I blogged a little about Tuckman's model of team development and how it applies to group work.

The theory behind Tuckman’s model is that groups go through stages when they work together – Forming (coming together), Storming (disagreements begin to arise as power struggles begin), Norming (acceptable behavior is determined), Performing (finally working together to accomplish task) and Adjourning (completion of task and disengagement from the group). (Tuckman & Jensen, 1977, p. 419-420).

This week my assignment is to think about Tuckman’s model and how it applies to my group in the class. Did my group experience all five of the stages? Trust me, if the two guys had checked in there would have been some storming! LOL

But I don’t think Anica and I experienced that at all. I think we worked really well together. We had similar styles. So we really just got together (Forming), split up the workload, which I think we both agreed on and had a similar idea how to approach that (Norming) and then we went to work (Performing). I checked our group discussion board today and we both expressed how we enjoyed working together, so even though the final project still needs to be put together, we’ve pretty much already reached the Adjourning stage.

Of course I wish we had all group members participating. But if I could get stuck in another group with only one other person carrying their weight, I hope it would be with her again!

References

Tuckman, B. W., & Jensen, M. A. C. (1977). Stages of small-group development revisited. Group and Organization Studies (pre-1986), 2(4), 419-427.

MHRM 6110 - Outsourcing Talent Management

Outsourcing. It's a word that strikes fear into the hearts of call center employees, assembly line workers and yes, even HR employees all over the world.

Now it's not only telemarketers, automobile manufacturers and the like being replaced by automation and third party companies. Talent management programs and Human Resources work is being outsourced as well. 

The new trend is to have HR functions like payroll and benefits administration outsourced to third parties (Galagan, 2007, p.1). Did you know that companies with more than 10,000 employees can save as much as 20% by outsourcing human resources? (Oshima, Kao & Tower, 2005, p. 7). That is not chump change, my friends!

This does actually make a lot of sense to me. Currently, more than 60% of companies outsource at least some part of their HR administration (Oshima, Kao & Tower, 2005, p. 7). Giving these duties to outside parties can save money and free up company human resource staff for the important stuff, like employee engagement and training and development.

I do not feel it is wise to outsource these HR duties, however, as they are integral to corporate strategy. A third party is not available to engage employees and they may not be familiar enough with corporate strategy to take part in training and development. I feel like those are best kept in house.

Oshima et al feel that talent management can be outsourced as well. But agree that certain HR functions that are vital to business strategy should stay in house. Included in this list are HR strategy, executive coaching and organization, problem solving, budget management and HR program design – this would include the design of programs that would be run by a third party, such as benefits, talent management and staffing (Oshima, Kao & Tower, 2005, p. 8). I couldn't see outsourcing these functions either, as it is necessary to work closely with the C-suite to design these functions.

So, while I feel it is wise to outsource certain talent management functions, I feel like the meaty, strategy-driven portions of HR should be kept in-house where they can be developed to best suit the corporate strategy and thus, better benefit the business.

References:

Galagan, P. (2007). Trend watch. T+D. 61(2). 1.

Oshima, M., Kao, T., & Tower, J. (2005). Achieving post-outsourcing success. Human 

         Resources Planning. 28(2), 7-11.

MHRM 6110: Talent Management

Leadership Development

Who do think makes a leader? Is leadership development a function of human resources? That's what we're discussing this week in my Talent Management class!

I think developing a leader is actually a function of multiple departments. Human Resources can teach about conflict management and other basic leadership skills, but I think true leadership is learned daily at work in the trenches.

Take the hospital I work at for example. We have a great HR department! But what does HR staff know about proper IV insertion or how best to comfort a scared child in the Emergency Department? These are skills that charge nurses are teaching new RNs every day in our hospital. Each semester they get scores of new graduates coming to their floors to help the sick and they turn them into not just competent nurses, but future leaders who will one day pass the same skills onto other new grads.

That's one of the things I like about my current boss, too. She is always showing me how to do things or explaining why she does something in a certain manner. Because she knows I want to grow in this organization and she wants to help me be a better leader in my own field. That's how I feel you develop a good leader - by taking the skills imparted by human resources and combining practical experience so your new leader knows what to expect in his or her field.

MHRM 6110 - Recruiting Talent

Recruiting Talent

This has been a crazy week with my Junior League project starting up and The Ribbon Walk for Cancer happening. I’ve been trying to fit in homework when I can. Classes are still going well, I think. My most recent one – Talent Management – is very interesting to me. It deals a lot with the HR topics that prompted me to start the degree in the first place, namely how does a company keep the good employees they have?

This week we are discussing recruiting talent – do employee referrals work, how do we recruit particular kinds of workers, interesting stuff!

Employee Referrals

First, I do believe employee referrals work and can be an excellent recruiting source. Who better understands the skills required in a position than those that are currently performing those duties? Perhaps your staff has worked with someone at another organization that would be a perfect fit for your company. If the business were mine, I’d absolutely want to hear about it!

I have seen unsuccessful referral programs, however, where people recommend others just to get the reward, so I feel there must be some stipulations in place regarding how long the candidate stays in the organization…things like that.

I would definitely refer people I know for jobs at the hospital I work for. Well, in most departments, anyway. The only things that would keep me from referring someone were if I thought they were a good worker, but somewhat unreliable or if there were management problems, or employee satisfaction in the department or unit. I would never recommend a person apply for a job if I thought they would be miserable once they got there.

Job Seekers

There are three categories of applicants for any particular job: new entrants to the workforce, the unemployed and those who are currently employed elsewhere. Each of these three categories behaves a little differently and therefore must be recruited slightly differently, in my opinion.

New entrants to the workforce come on the job full of enthusiasm, but they don’t always know what is expected of them or how to perform in a given task. School partnerships and social media are a good way to recruit these employees.

Those that are currently unemployed and actively seeking employment are eager to please and ready to work. I would recommend recruiting these employees through posting on job boards like Monster.com and also by going through employment agencies.

It can be trickier hiring those that are currently employed elsewhere. They may be experiencing job dissatisfaction, which may make them wary about jumping into another bad situation. Also, they are most likely financially solvent and can afford to be a little more choosy when selecting a place of employment. To hire from this category, I would also use job boards, but I would also use employee referrals and possibly headhunters for hard to fill positions.

A Prime Example

One company that I think does a fine job of recruiting talent is Apple, Inc. Apple has a reputation as hiring the most innovative and creative staff around. They hire the best so they can remain the best. Talk about hiring talent to maintain high performance! In addition to their reputation, which, believe me, is a recruitment strategy unto itself, they also uploaded a fabulous video onto their website.

The Apple recruitment video gives a exclusive 4-minute peek at what it is like to work at Apple Headquarters. It is inspiring and revealing and has me wishing I had majored in Engineering so I could work for them. I think videos are a great way to recruit employees, as it does provide a look into the work environment. That can make people feel welcome and inspire them to apply (Gurman).

Apple also spends a lot of effort on recruiting applicants away from competitors. Former CEO, Steve Jobs, himself has even been known to get involved in the recruitment process (Sullivan). Recruiting top talent away from their competitors is very smart for Apple. It ensures that they not only remain strong with highly skilled employees, but it weakens their competitors by leaving them with the employees who are less then stellar.

But Apple’s main recruitment strategy is simply their brand image. They are known as being the best. They are known for hiring the best. Who wouldn’t want to work for the best?

Maybe I should’ve gone after that engineering degree after all…

References

Gurman, M. (2012). Apple corporate recruiting video tours you through Apple HQ, tells interesting stories. As retrieved from: http://9to5mac.com/2012/07/10/apple-corporate-recruiting-video-tours-you-through-apple-hq-tells-interesting-stories/

Sullivan, J. (2011). Talent Management Lessons From Apple… A Case Study of the World’s Most Valuable Firm. As retrieved from: http://www.ere.net/2011/09/26/talent-management-lessons-from-apple…-a-case-study-of-the-worlds-most-valuable-firm-part-3-of-4/

MHRM 6100 + Week 8

My last week of my first class in the Human Resources Management program.... I vow not to make this my last blog post though! I've wanted to do this for a while; I've GOT to keep going!

For the last time we are to talk about Tuckman's model of team development  and where our class fits in the model.

If I'm 100% honest, I don't think we've moved a tick since week 6! Everyone is still very agreeable with one another. Every post begins with "I agree with you!" Though it can be followed by some challenging questions, which I like. Still, I find we are holding strong in between Storming and Norming. Storming is the stage where team members start to disagree in order to get their ideas across.  In the norming stage, team members may disagree but they are able to get past these disagreements and work together (Chaneski, 2009, 34).

I think the use of technology has definitely supported the class throughout the course. I love the way the Blackboard makes it so easy to share a link to illustrate a point and last week's use of PowerPoint presentations made each person's thoughts incredibly clear and easy to understand.

A project charter is like the definition of the project - what is trying to be accomplished, who is taking part, what are their roles, etc. Knowing what is expected of us, as clearly stated in the syllabus will definitely help us stay a team and move forward through the degree plan together. If the class stays together through future courses, I think we will eventually completely break through the Storming and Norming stages and be comfortable in the Performing stage of Tuckman's model, where we function as a cohesive unit.

References

Chaneski, Wayne S. (2009, August). The stages teams go through. Modern Machine Shop. 82(3), 34-36.