Hints for HR: Keeping and Maximizing the Talent You Have Now ...

The following article is based on a panel presentation at the HR Network Breakfast on September 17, 2010, at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City. The HR Network is sponsored by the Five O?Clock Club and is a vendor-free venue for HR professionals to meet informally, network with one another, and hear discussions of important issues of the day. ?????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

The panelists were Juan Brito, Associate Director, Staffing and Employee Relations at The Rockefeller Foundation and the former Director of Human Resources at the Foundation Center; currently president of PANO, The Personnel Association of Nonprofit Organizations; Geanie Villomann, Senior Vice President & Director, Human Resources for White Mountains Reinsurance Company of America, a property and casualty reinsurance company. Prior to joining White Mountains in early 2009, Geanie served as SVP/Director of Human Resources for North Fork Bank/Capital One Bank;? Wendi Lazar, Partner and co-head of Outten & Golden LLP?s Executives & Professionals Practice Group, which represents employees and executives both incoming and outgoing in the employment process.

The HR Network is a great way for early risers to meet other HR professionals. No vendors are allowed.

Stability and the capacity to formulate long-term plans are vital to every organization.

Holding on?and Holding onto What You?ve Got

One of our coaches reported recently that his job search clients have told him that they have not been hearing the old interview question, ?Where do you see yourself in five years?? Maybe this question fell out of favor some time ago, but the coach and the clients have speculated that, these days, interviewers are skipping this question because they don?t expect new hires to stick around for five years!

Now this is anecdotal evidence, and we?ve not done research to determine if there is a trend here regarding interview questions, but lack of curiosity about five-year plans seems to fit with the spirit of the times: there is so much upheaval and uncertainty in the workplace today, from both the employee and employer perspectives. Who knows where anyone will be five years from now?

The happiness index has been slipping for those Americans who have held onto their jobs.

But surely such an attitude is not good for business, in either the short- or long-term.? Astute human resources professionals, who are responsible for the human capital in their organizations, know that stability and the capacity to formulate long-term plans are vital. The events of the last decade have made any five-year future hard to sketch out in detail: downsizings, mergers, restructurings, hiring and wage freezes, budget cuts, increased workloads. Are we in a recovery or not? Will it end up being a jobless recovery? Are we facing a double-dip recession? When we will see millions of workers get back to work?

As we wait for recovery and normalcy, one of the major challenges for most organizations is maintaining the stability of the current headcount, and making sure that there is no unplanned and unwanted shrinkage. That is, what can we do to keep the people we have now?and keep them happy?

?Overworked and underpaid? may be a clich?, but this probably sums up the morale situation in all too many American workplaces. This only stands to reason, of course, in any organization that has had to let a lot of people go.

?Running a tight ship? and ?keeping things lean? may sound appealing to the CEO and CFO, but nowadays these ideals usually mean that many people are working harder, with fewer rewards than they had in the past.

Fewer Happy Campers; Cross-Generational Workforce

Geanie Villomann, SVP and Director,Human Resources, White Mountains Reinsurance Company of America.

The happiness index?if we can put it in such human terms?has been slipping for those Americans who have held onto their jobs. In a recent Conference Board survey of 5,000 households, it was found that only 45 percent of wage-earners indicated that they were satisfied with their jobs. In 1987, it had been 61 per cent. There have been many factors during the intervening 23 years that have contributed to the decline, but we can hardly discount the negative developments of the last decade.? Another survey conducted by People Metrics found that only 47 percent of employees described themselves as ?engaged? in their work. For not-for-profits?here?s a surprise?the figure was 44 percent.

So, more than half of the employees in these surveys admitted detachment from what they do in their hours in the workplace. Clearly, in such an environment, retention will be a major challenge: many of the unengaged are no doubt dreaming about greener pastures.

And even those who aren?t?they?re willing to put up and endure?perhaps they don?t care all that much about how well the organization is performing. Many HR experts have been diagnosing these morale problems, and there are approaches and solutions?there are tools?that are available to help organizations increase the happiness index of their employees through the lingering months or years of the recession.

Of course, there can be no one-size-fits-all solution: not only do organizations vary greatly, but the demographics of

Juan Brito, Associate Director, Staffing and Employee Relations,The Rockefeller Foundation.

today?s workforce mean that it will be harder to please everyone. As one expert has put it: ?One of the challenges with employee retention is that all employees are not created equal. They have different needs, desires, values, habits and aspirations. In fact, we have four generations in the workforce.?

• Those born between 1922 and 1945?the pre-baby-boomers?are called veterans. Their virtues include hard work, respect for authority and duty, and sacrifice.
• The baby-boomers, born between 1946 and 1964 are basically workaholics. They desire efficiency and quality, and question authority. During their careers they didn?t hear much?or even care that much?about work-life balance. It was all work-work-work.
• The generation Xers were born between 1965 and 1980. They tend to value self-reliance, and work-work-work doesn?t make sense when tasks can be efficiently eliminated. But they do want structure and direction, while remaining a skeptical bunch generally. They look at work and family issues and want balance.
• Those born after 1990, generation Y, tend to possess a what?s-next mentality, which has implications for loyalty to employers; they appreciate multi-tasking, tenacity, the entrepreneurial bent. They are goal-oriented and are committed to the work-life balance.

Only 45 percent of employees describe themselves as ?engaged? in their work.

Steps to Enhance Retention

Leadership Development: the Better Treatment of Employees

While the task is a daunting one for so many reasons, one authority states: ?Keeping employees motivated, involved,

Wendi Lazar, Partner and Co-head,Outten & Golden LLP?s Executives; Professionals Practice Group, representing employees and executives

committed to the organization and job-satisfied has become a corporate battle cry. An organization?s greatest asset is its people, and maximizing that asset begins with the organization?s leaders.?

Just think about it: how many times have you wanted to leave a job because you didn?t like your boss? If people face this kind of aggravation in the best of times, chances are it will be aggravated in the worst of times, when bosses are under pressure to get more work done with fewer people. As one expert points out, ?Retention and engagement are not really about employees?they are about effective leadership. When employees leave, they don?t leave an organization. They leave their managers.?

In other words, in stressful times, when the headcount has been reduced, managers with poor people/management skills will produce too much drag on an organization?s ability to remain competitive. If employees are muttering, ?I can?t wait to get out of here?where is my greener pasture?? retention becomes even tougher. It may be worth the investment, therefore, to arrange for management training and/or executive coaching for bosses who have not been accustomed to managing in stressful times?or who have reputations for being insensitive, abrasive or abusive. One expert warns, ?If there is a toxic manager, you really can?t ignore the situation. The bad manager will infect the workplace, and it?s only a matter of time before talent starts walking out the door.?

One HR professional, who recalls earlier recessions, says, ?We?ve learned lessons from the past. Train your managers and staff on how to deal with change. Workshops geared to handling change have been invaluable. Recovery will happen sooner if there is education about the realities and difficulties.

Whenever possible, use the resources of your EAP programs to help people let go of the old. We found that we needed to do a better job in anticipating employee reactions and anxieties.?

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Leadership Development: Helping People with Career Advancement ?

Most employees would probably give high rank to financial rewards, but ?show me the money? is not the only way to enhance engagement and productivity. If people see that the roles they are asked to perform mean long-term career gain, that, too, can be an incentive.

Says one expert, ?Don?t overlook non-financial strategies. Organizations can actually separate themselves from the pack by a commitment to developing talent.? One major study of recession responses found that ?leading companies attributed some of their success to spending more money and effort on leadership development. They are confident that they are positioned for the rebound by holding onto leadership development programs during the recession.?

For many employees, working harder because co-workers lost their jobs means taking on burdens and roles that they had not done before. One workplace expert advises: ?Take steps to ensure that people have the training and skills to do their new jobs. A sink-or-swim approach is not very smart. The more employees feel they have control over their jobs and their performance, the more they feel secure, less stressed, less overwhelmed. They?re going to more engaged and less likely to be eyeing a greener pasture somewhere else.?

Communicate Better Than Ever Before

Nothing can be more poisonous to morale than mystery and secrecy. It seems to be in the genetic make-up of corporate leaders to assume that it?s best to keep everyone in the dark. But during a downsizing?and even well after one is over?one expert advises as much transparency as possible:

?Communicate the facts as honestly and compassionately as possible. This will help restore trust that has been lost?if cynicism hasn?t gone off the charts. It is vital for leaders to listen, and use every opportunity for conversation to emphasize the reasons for a cutback or reorganization. It is especially important to describe positive plans and visions for the future. This will allow everyone to move on and create a more effective workplace.?

Companies are positioning themselves for the future by spending money on leadership development.?

One HR authority who has done a lot of work with traumatized organizations, recommends being creative in enhancing communication: ?Most of the success stories in my experience have been based on doing a few things that haven?t been tried before. How about setting up breakfasts between leaders and employees??maybe one-on-one, or with a few or more. Arrange for fireside chats, that is, informal meetings of leaders with high-performers and high-potentials. Hold quarterly town-hall meetings for whole departments or offices. Of course, one of the goals is to reduce mystery and secrecy, but a primary focus has to be letting employees? voices be heard. Also set up virtual suggestion boxes and publish the responses. Employees like to know that they?re being listened to. Create more open lines of communication with the CEO. Treat employees as engaged partners.?

Especially in an environment where there have been salary freezes or smaller raises?and as people have seen their retirement portfolios damaged?employees pay more attention to compensation. No matter how much training and leadership development may be appreciated, remaining whole on money is a primary concern, and transparency here is also a virtue.

Says one benefits expert: ?People were keeping a very watchful eye on benefits and rewards and required contributions. There has been a lot of confusion in the wake of new legislation. So we developed and rolled out an interactive online total rewards statement. Our objective was to encourage employees to be aware of, and think about, everything that impacted their pay and rewards. We wanted them to see the whole package?the value of their benefits, both cash and non-cash rewards. It really did hit the mark with employees. That has been our feedback.?

Efficiency Isn?t Such a Bad Idea After All

Efficiency experts have been the butt of jokes and ridicule over the years?maybe because they prompted unwelcome change, maybe because they were perceived more as meddlers than experts. But when people are overworked and underpaid, inefficiencies become obvious and painful, and ?Isn?t there a better way to do this?? becomes an obvious question. Says one HR expert, ?How can we ask employees to do more with less when some things we?re doing don?t have to be done? Cut down on the annoying and useless stuff that may be on their to-do lists. Take a look at your business procedures and streamline them.?

There are examples to use as guides, this expert says: ?After one downsizing that I was involved with, we established bi-weekly meetings with managers and employees to look at all of our core business processes. We got rid of non-essentials and time-wasters. We eliminated unproductive meetings, redundant steps or reports that no one ever bothered to read or use. Find ways to eliminate anything that is no longer important to the business. Be sure that employees are involved. This makes for greater engagement because people can see that they?re part of something bigger than just their jobs. It helps them to focus on progress and the future, and creates trust in a culture where people are more inclined to take ownership of their responsibilities and problems.?

Engaging and Caring on Several Fronts

We?re all familiar with the exit interview?and more about that later?but one seasoned HR officer urges more use of the stay interview. It?s good to find out why people have accepted an offer elsewhere?what made the other pasture greener??but it?s better to discover what will make people want to stay. Indeed, are you monitoring satisfaction or fulfillment? The stay interview is a meeting between employee and boss (or HR), the goal of which is get a conversation going: what is the employee most interested in, and what are his/her key challenges? What are the person?s key motivators? Does he/she have a career vision for the future, and what does it look like?

?You?re trying to find out what will make them stay with the organization,? this HR expert points out, ?and this should be done periodically.?

Managers with poor people- and management-skills create a drag on an organization.

Using this approach, talent can be used to the best advantage. At one organization, a receptionist resisted the efforts of four bosses in twenty years to promote her. Why? Because being the receptionist was her calling.

?She loved the role,? the HR officer reported, ?It was her passion. She arrived at her desk an hour early, gathered her thoughts, reviewed company information on the website, and was ready to be the front-line customer service rep. She took great pride in what she did.? The four bosses could have benefited from listening to what motivated and satisfied her.

One stay interview happened accidentally when an HR officer needed to find out why one of the mail room clerks was showing up late for work. ?I?m sorry,? he said, ?but I get to bed so late.? ?And why is that?? ?Because I?m going to night school?I?m studying to be an accountant.? After a pause, the HR officer said, ?I know there?s going to be a clerical spot available in our accounting department soon?would you be interested?? Of course, the answer was Yes, and the mail room clerk was eventually promoted to an accounting role.

To reduce the workload, see which tasks can be done better or eliminated.

It is important to make the best use of employees. ?Try not to get confused,? warns one HR expert, ?about the difference between high-performers and high-potentials. Sometimes they?re the same, but high performers are the people who can get the job done today, while high potentials are the people who can get you through the future?they can be part of the vision that will keep you moving forward. And be on the alert for managers who may want to hoard high-potential employees. They don?t want to lose them, and will be reluctant to pass them on for bigger and better opportunities.?

Improving the Exit Process????????? ???

The way you fire people can have an impact on your ability to hire people. Word gets around, and corporate reputations can be damaged by undignified firings. But the internal damage can be just as real. Your true colors will be on full display when the survivors see how people are treated on their way out. ?If you need to terminate people,? says one expert on best firing practices, ?Play it straight. I have seen the most awful mistakes made when it comes to terminating employees. Bosses have made up things that didn?t really happen to justify a termination. If you emphasize failure when you?re letting someone go, you?re going to get an incredibly angry person, and that angry person is going to find a lawyer. If you don?t want to make the mess worse, be nice to the departing employee?s attorney.?

And what about the famous exit interview? Much of the time these will be conducted on a polite and civil level: the departing employee is unlikely to unload all of his or her grievances. While exit interviews are probably a good idea, more time and effort should be devoted to conducting stay interviews with the talented employees who remain. ?The exit interview,? says one expert, ?is not much more helpful than closing the barn door after the horses have run off.?

Contact Information for Panelists

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Wendi Lazar, Partner, Outten & Golden LLP (representing employees and executives)

3 Park Avenue, 29th Floor New York, NY 10016 Tel: (212)-245-1000 Fax: (646)-509-2078

www.outtengolden.com wsl@outtengolden.com

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Juan Brito, President, PANO and Assoc. Dir. Staff. & Emp. Relations The Rockefeller Foundation

420 Fifth Avenue, 22nd Floor New York, NY 10018 212-852-8271

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Geanie Villomann, SPHR VP & Director, Human Resources White Mountains Re. Services, LLC

One Liberty Plaza, 19th Floor New York, NY 10006 212-312-2545

Source: http://fiveoclockclub.com/2013/05/hints-for-hr-keeping-and-maximizing-the-talent-you-have-now/

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