Why Your HR Department Probably Sucks

So… following a title like the above, I should probably fully disclose before going any further:  I have worked in HR, and have done a fair bit of consulting work with HR Business Areas.

Unlike the title may imply, I have met a number of smart, hardworking people in HR.  Like any other category of people, there are good, bad and ugly performers in HR.

So why would I suggest that HR probably sucks in your organization?

In many cases, it is because organizations don’t really know what it is that they should be asking HR to do for them, and HR professionals are notoriously poor at “selling” their wares.  Many companies want HR to administer the payroll, and arrange the Christmas party.  They then staff the HR group with people who are capable of doing those tasks, but do not have the experience or training to make a more strategic contribution to the business.

So, what should we look for in our HR department?

  1. “People Persons” are often the last people you should have in HR.  A good HR person knows that her job is to generate returns for shareholders.  The respectful treatment of people is a prerequisite to consistently generating those returns, but many “people persons” forget that some of their people may regularly need a kick in the ass.
  2. Your HR people need to have business training. I’m not suggesting you insist every one of them go out and get an MBA, but they need to have some understanding of the business you are in, and how it works.
  3. You need high potential, high achievers in HR.  I have worked with more than one organization that has used HR as a ghetto for people who could not make it in the operating part of the business.  These organizations have taken the easy way out, and put these poor performers where they perceive they can do the least amount of damage – in HR.  This is the opposite of what should be happening – your highest potential leaders should be cycled through HR.
  4. HR people need have well developed skills in sales and influencing.  The best managed companies know that the management of the Human Resource is NOT the responsibility of HR, but rather of every leader in the organization.  HR’s job is to influence those managers to do it well.  An HR professional, without the ability to influence organizational leaders is about as useful as a chocolate teapot.

Of course, I could go on and on, but I better get back to work before I get caught, and someone wants to send me to work in the HR group.  So now that I’ve offended every person who has ever known anyone in HR, I’d love to hear what you think about the HR group in your organization:  Are they good?  Are they bad?  Are they the highest potential employees?

It has been said that populations get the governments they deserve.  In organizations, we end up with the HR departments we deserve.

What Toyota can learn from OJ and Barack Obama

There hasn’t been a fall from grace like this since the OJ trial.  Ok… maybe this recent Tiger Woods thing, or the fact that people set the expectations for Barack Obama way too high could be close seconds, but the fact that Toyota isn’t absolutely perfect seems to be disturbing a lot of people.

Toyota is a well run company – despite their recent setbacks.  What separates well run organizations from those not so well run is the ability to respond to challenges, not the absence of any troubles.

I have no doubt the marketing people at Toyota are freaking out, but they do have some credibility they can spend on this issue.  What they shouldn’t do, is announce to the world there isn’t really a problem, and carry on with business as usual.  This is the corporate equivalent of OJ going out on his own to look for the “real” killer.

Toyota needs to step-up, acknowledge what went wrong, tell everyone how they intend to fix it, and then get back to completely dominating the global automobile industry.  Too much spin, and they’ll lose even more credibility.

And while we’re talking about supposedly world class companies, can we have a reality check?  I have studied and held up organizations like Southwest Airlines, General Electric, and Disney myself as examples for managers to look to.  In many cases I would stand by this advice.  However, we need to realize that even the best run entities are not going to do everything right all the time.  In fact, it is probably closer to the truth that these companies really only do things right marginally more than every other organization out there.

Don’t get me wrong… much like I find President Obama to be an impressive guy, watching people’s unrealistic expectations of him be constantly deflated, people need to look to the Toyotas of the world in the proper context.  They are not perfect, and they will make mistakes.  They also can’t be all things to all people.

I bought Southwest Airlines stock about 8 years ago, because they were such an impressive company.  So impressive, that I would lose my shirt if I sold those same stocks today.  I also bought Southwest stock before ever flying with them.  I have no doubt they serve their niche well – I’m just clearly not one of their target customers: “What do you mean you won’t assign me a seat?”

Leaders in big organizations and small should watch Toyota very carefully in the coming weeks and months.  They will either come through this stronger than ever, or crash and burn horribly.  Either way it will be instructive.

How do you think this will end?  Will Toyota recover like Tylenol did after the poisonings, or will Mr. Toyota end up driving down an LA freeway with a gun to his head?

The Business Review Meeting

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A business review meeting is a specific type of recurring meeting that is held to discuss individual or team scorecards and progress toward objectives.  During the business review meeting, teams apply problem-solving tools to issues that are impacting their performance.  Team leaders, managers and senior leadership assume coaching roles which emphasize positive feedback and recognition.

The purpose of a business review meeting is to:
  • Reinforce the accountability and action plans of each team or individual
  • Share ideas and learn about interrelationships in the business
  • Celebrate success
  • Identify and remove barriers

Roles of leaders in the business review meeting process:

  • Articulating the organization’s vision
  • Involving people in deciding how to achieve the organization’s vision
  • Supporting employee efforts to realize vision by providing coaching, feedback, and role modeling
  • Recognizing and rewarding success

The business review meeting process:

Business review meetings are scheduled on a regular basis (monthly or quarterly) and include a presentation of key performance measures (individual and/or team).  Baselines (historical performance), current data and projected trends are presented for each goal or critical success factor.  Key successes are shared with the group as well as required interventions and actions to overcome barriers.  Working together, the team develops action plans to improve performance – steps to reach objectives are identified; individuals are assigned responsibility for each step; target completion dates are established for each step and expected results are communicated.

Why have a business review meeting?

  • Opportunity to assess the current performance status of each team or individual
  • Opportunity to highlight and recognize good performance
  • Opportunity to gain input from peers and management on ideas, scorecards and action plans for the next time period
  • Opportunity for leaders to focus the team on critical issues, goals and objectives
  • Opportunity to make decisions as a team
  • Opportunity to give and receive feedback

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The Business Review Meeting topic bundle includes:

  • Business Review Meeting Cheat Sheet (pdf)
  • Business Review Meeting Booklet (pdf) containing:
    • In-Depth Topic Overview
    • How to Make a Successful Presentation at a Business Review Meeting
    • How to Lead the Business Review Meeting Process
    • Recommended Resources – where to find out even more about business review meetings
  • Business Review Meeting Podcast (mp3)
  • Business Review Meeting Podcast Slides (Powerpoint)

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RACI – Creating a Responsibility Chart

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What is a RACI Responsibility Chart?

RACI is an acronym for the four major headings in a responsibility chart:

  • Responsible – this position does the work to ensure that the action is completed
  • Accountable – this position is ultimately responsible for ensuring completion of a function, activity or decision, but may delegate responsibility to another. Only one position should be accountable for every action or decision
  • Consulted – This position is involved prior to a decision or action taking place
  • Informed – This position is told of an outcome of an activity or decision afterwards

RACI Responsibility Charting Guidelines

  • Focus on the position, not on the individual currently occupying the position
  • Ensure the level of detail is appropriate to the positions on the RACI Responsibility Chart. Organizations should have cascading RACIs from the senior team down to the individual contributor level
  • The RACI Responsibility Chart should be revisited and tested regularly as business conditions change
  • The first RACI Responsibility Chart will be an iterative process, and may not 100% accurate at first. Further refinement is encouraged
  • Place accountability (A) and responsibility (R) at the lowest feasible level
  • There can be only one accountability (A) per activity
  • Minimize the number of Consults (C) and Informs (I)
  • Avoid listing mundane activities like ‘attend meetings’

Horizontal & Vertical Analysis of a RACI Responsibility Chart

Once the RACI responsibility chart has been populated, it is important to review and analyze the work to ensure that the tasks, decisions and functions will be properly executed. View the chart horizontally to ensure that each action or decision is properly supported. View the chart vertically to ensure that workload is properly distributed amongst a team or work group.

Using a RACI Responsibility Chart to enhance or validate job descriptions

After a RACI has been conducted with a group, it is wise to cross-check the data on the RACI responsibility chart with what is written in the job description. In some cases, items from the job description should be noted on the RACI. responsibility chart. Most often Accountabilities and Responsibilities from the RACI responsibility chart are used to update job descriptions.

Using a RACI Responsibility Chart to enhance KPIs or Scorecards

A good use of the output of a RACI responsibility chart is to note what KPIs, data and other management information is required for an incumbent to successfully execute his or her accountabilities and responsibilities. In many cases the RACI responsibility chart can provide a solid guide as to what should be on a scorecard for the positions featured in the RACI chart.

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The RACI Responsibility Charting topic bundle includes:

  • RACI Responsibility Charting Cheat Sheet (pdf)
  • RACI Responsibility Charting Booklet (pdf) containing:
    • In-Depth Topic Overview
    • RACI Horizontal and Vertical Analysis Check-Sheet
    • RACI Job Description Template
    • Recommended Resources – where to find out even more about RACI Responsibility Charting
  • RACI Responsibility Charting Example from the Oil and Gas Industry (Excel)
  • RACI Responsibility Charting Presentation – use this if you want to roll it out in your organization (Powerpoint)
  • Easy-print versions of the Wily Manager Tools contained in the RACI Responsibility Charting Booklet (pdf)
  • RACI Responsibility Charting Podcast (mp3)
  • RACI Responsibility Charting Podcast slides (Powerpoint)

The RACI [topic bundle] is excellent!  I recently took on a new position and found that a key issue plaguing my boss was in working with one of our business units. In listening to the issue I pointed out that roles and responsibilities seemed to be the underlying issue. I had just read your RACI [material] and was able to lay out how we can work with them in a more effective way by taking the lead and following the RACI model.  He agreed and liked the idea of using the model to address the issues and establish a new process flow with the unit. – Vivian Myers, NY

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RACI Responsibility Charting

What is RACI? Learn how to create a responsibility chart (matrix) using RACI…and how to use it once you’re done.

Listen to the ‘RACI Responsibility Charting’ podcast:

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RACI Responsibility Charting Podcast Slides

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Book Review: ‘How the Mighty Fall’, by Jim Collins

How the Mighty Fall

Why we like this book:

Jim Collins always writes his books based on quality research as opposed to the cheerleading that we see in many management books. He also has a very conversational tone, which makes it very easy to read and retain his key ideas. How the Mighty Fall is not a book about the Global Financial Collapse, although its timing was almost perfect, and the lessons to be learned from the book and the research certainly may have helped some of the organizations. Probably those who need to read this book most are those that are running companies (or departments within companies) that are doing particularly well. As Collins points out, organizations that convince themselves they are doing very well often self-delude themselves into ignoring blind spots that become all too evident after the fact.

We think this is an easy, informative read, and worth the time to do so. What about you – what do you think?

Jed & Bob

How to Build a Communication Plan

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You should never hesitate to initiate a communication plan even if you are a lower-level manager.  Think about it – if your organization is undergoing a significant change but has not communicated it well, you can still create a communication plan for your direct reports so that they have a better idea of what is going on.

The techniques of effective communication are not difficult, but require discipline to execute.  A written communication plan will assist in establishing and maintaining the required discipline.  In some cases, a communications plan can be written on one sheet of paper.  In other circumstances, the plan may be significantly longer.

This topic bundle is intended to assist managers when they have a specific event or decision to communicate.  Ongoing communication between organizations and employees is better covered in the Communicating for Results Cheat Sheet (coming soon).

Elements of a Good Communication Plan:

  1. Guiding Principles – What are the parameters under which this communication will take place?
  2. Context – What events or conditions staged the necessity for this communication?  What definitions and terms of reference are there?
  3. Purpose or Objectives – What is the communication intended to achieve?
  4. Risk Analysis – What could go wrong with this communication?  What happens if you don’t do it?
  5. Stakeholders Analysis – Who are all concerned parties, and what is the importance of each of them?
  6. Targeting – How will you most effectively reach each stakeholder?
  7. Media – What is the most effective method of communication for each stakeholder?
  8. Budget – What budgetary and other resources will be required to effectively roll out the message?
  9. Assessment – How will you know if the communicationsplan has been successful?

Tips to build an effective communication plan:

  • Consider an effective communication campaign to be very similar to a marketing initiative.
  • Use electronic media such as email and website.  These are usually inexpensive, and can be highly effective
  • Always target your audience properly, and remember that the same message can be communicated differently to different target groups
  • Only ask people for their opinions or feedback if you are prepared to consider their input
  • Prepare an ‘elevator speech’ for what you are communicating.  Be prepared to condense your message into small, easy to understand segments
  • When soliciting feedback or two-way communication, ensure there is media available to support this.  It is not enough to say, “We’d like to hear from you”; there must be infrastructure in place to gather opinions
  • Be very clear on exactly what action, or change in behaviors the communication is intended to address

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The How to Build a Communication Plan topic bundle includes:

  • How to Build a Communication Plan Cheat Sheet (pdf)
  • How to Build a Communication Plan Booklet (pdf) containing:
    • In-Depth Topic Overview
    • When to Create a Communication Plan
    • 9 Critical Elements of a Communication Plan
    • Communication Plan Template
    • Example of a Communication Plan for an Organizational Change
    • Media Decision Worksheet
    • Recommended Resources – where to find out even more about How to Build a Communication Plan
  • Easy-print versions of the tools contained in the How to Build a Communication Plan Booklet (pdf)
  • How to Build a Communication Plan Podcast (mp3)
  • How to Build a Communication Plan Podcast Slides (Powerpoint)
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