Executives are pressured to be budget-minded while
increasing sales and productivity. “Do
more with less” is the banner many are forced to hold high while walking across
the customer service area or the down the manufacturing line. The pressure of expanding territory, managing
the brand(s), and keeping talent in the building require complicated maneuvering. While begging, pleading and groveling tend to
be our default posture, we can really choose differently and with a better
chance for lasting effect.
A detailed, passionate plan is necessary for a Human
Resources professional to be engaged in the business process. We have to sit down and create an action plan
with both pre- and post-process details.
This may very well be a daily process.
There are moving parts and market fluctuations that cannot be depended
on to remain static. The dynamic nature
of our commerce requires us to be nimble and adaptable. Write and review processes everyday. Grab your coffee (or latte or Oprah Chai Tea
or whatever it is you like today).
Pre-Process:
- Where are the pain points of the company?
- How did it get this way? What has to change?
- What are the expectations for the company as described by the Executive team?
- Who should be handling certain components of the process? When can I sit with them to review?
Post-Process:
- What elements were accomplished? What’s working well?
- Where are there still missing pieces? Who is addressing those needs? How?
- Who is/was unable to handle the responsibilities given? Time for change?
These questions can be drilled down more, but the general
idea is to challenge yourself to answer them.
Sit down ahead of time with the pre-process list of questions and write
down answers. When we answer them in our
heads only, it’s often the case that’s where they’ll stay. Write the answers; from these answers, an
action plan is created. This is not an
exercise in accountability only, but also in planning with purpose.
Our companies are in need of dynamic resources to handle the
mandate of “more with less.” I don’t see
this trend changing anytime soon. The
fear of finances around tax increases, ACA compliance and global military activity
is real and impacts markets.
Listen, for those of you still holding onto hope that you’ll
be allowed to fill that job requisition for additional help in your department…let
it go. Don’t depend on it. It’s been two years. The company is not bringing on another HR
Generalist for you. Be creative, be
industrious, but don’t be stupid. If the
answer is that next quarter might look better and we’ll see then, give it
up. Work with what you have; just work
it stronger and with real expectations. I
have had the opportunity to sit with HR departments who regale me with the
plans they have for an additional person they’ll eventually be allowed to have. In the meantime, though, that list of work
and plans sits dormant waiting for that person.
Why?
Meet with the executive team to determine the fiscal
expectations of the company for the next 6 months. Then take that understanding and create the
process list for pre-, during and post-.
Assign roles, speak to the cultural leadership needed and provide
timelines. Yes, hold people accountable,
including yourself, but do it based upon a clearer understanding of the
expectations of the company’s financial strategy.
Oh yea, for those of you reading this who are saying, “no
one on the executive team shares this with HR,” then figure out how to make
them. Give them the business case for HR’s
involvement. Show them what you know how
to do. Let them see the resources you
have ready to go once you know where you’re going. Of all people, HR seems to know how to do
more with less. We’ve done it for
decades.
