Integrity Counts

Many of us have been brought up on the role of integrity in our profession. Certainly in human resources integrity is everything along with confidentiality, honesty, and knowledge sharing. So what does integrity really mean to you?

As I see it, it is our foundation and how our reputations are built along with the other things I mentioned above. Employees all interpret integrity differently based on what the circumstances are. So as HR practitioners, we need to make sure that we strive for clarity in our decisions, honesty in how we communicate those decisions, keeping those things that are important from a liability prospective and personal effrontery's confidential, and making sure that the knowledge that is gained from a particular circumstance is shared among the organization. This will surely build or maintain your level of integrity.

So on with a short story. I felt in one of my past working lives that my manager had integrity but recently I was informed that this person made a decision that really sunk all the ballast this person had by eliminating a position so this person could fill it. You have to know that the person whose position was eliminated was an outstanding individual, had a high level of all the elements above and was a real good & hard worker. So what do you think people now think of this person who made a position for himself/herself. Well I can tell you "no integrity there folks".

Have you a story in your working lives like this, if so I would like to hear from you at wgstevens2@gmail.com .

Moving to Flexible Work Weeks & Hours

There has been some recent discussion on US businesses looking at changing the current work week of 5X8 and considering 4X10 as well as flex time. Having been at the forefront of 4X10 work week (rolling that is) in the late "70's" this is one real consideration businesses should truly consider. It was ground breaking then not just because of the gas prices & traffic, but to speed up construction time on large projects.

Forward thinking HR leaders should be knocking down the doors of their CEOs and putting together demographic location information on their workforce, productivity assessments to move current businesses to a 4X10 work week and new flex time recommendations. This will have an effect on your workforce in three major areas:

1. retention, they will see that your company is thinking about them and the commutation hassles as well as the costs;
2. strengthens the relationship between manager and employee in flex time arrangements;
3. a recruitment tool especially in areas like Atlanta where traffic is a nightmare.

Now, this is not to say that 4X10 fits all businesses or departments within a business but is saying that if you want to be ahead of the curve and not get hit by the wave, you should be thinking seriously about changing your work week and having more flexible arrangements. Now for those in California and other states where overtime is defined in excess of 8 hours in a day this really becomes a financial exercise as well as a productivity exercise.

You in the real world dealing with recruitment, small annual increases, labor shortages (in some areas), as well as the cost of commuting, food, electric, and other staples, put your progressive hat on and start moving towards your CEO's office. You need to lead and think progressively.

Your thoughts on this very important subject are welcome.lease send your thoughts & comments to wgstevens2@gmail.com .

Soft vs Hard Copy Employee Handbooks

I was having dinner last night with an old personal work friend, her spouse, and one of the major players (president) in a firm where my friend currently works and the topic of handbooks came up. Well, you can imagine that in my mind I thought there is only one way to go and that is electronic but I was caught off guard to find out that there are still some that feel paper is the way to go. Needless to say, it was a hot topic that not only incorporated the need for a paper version of a handbook but also who is responsible for informing employees of changes in policies. From a hard copy prospective, surely it is the company that needs to inform employees with updated versions of page, partial or complete changes. On the soft side, my feeling that the company is responsible for tell employees that there are changes to X,Y,Z and you can find them on the employee intranet. But to make sure that people read it you need an electronic footprint when employees go to the intranet to access the handbook. This is your insurance policy that allows you to track who does and who does not keep up to date on policy changes. Yes, soft copy is cost effective, real time, and gets to everyone, fast and easy. Hard copy well some may get, it some will throw it away, some will file it and never look at it. Which to you is more efficient.

The dinner was great, the dinner companions inspiring and the discussions provocative, insightful, and in some cases contentious. But in the end given the markets some may need hard copy and some soft but the real way to go in today's world is electronic.

As usual, your comments are welcome at wgstevens2@gmail.com and I would like your own personal insights.

What is HR's Role in M&A?

Mergers and acquisitions in today's world is a very complex issue. If you look at history, 50% of all acquisitions fail within the first 2 years. Why?, because there is a failure to fully assess the target company to determine if it:

1. fits into the organization, and how it fits, stand alone, integrated, or subsidiary;
2. the proper due diligence is not done;
3. culturally does the target company fit into the organization;
4. is there a clear integration plan, fully defined, time lined, and stuck to;
5. has all the employees been fully examined and determined to be part of the new company.

These and many other questions are not fully answered in the pre-due diligence process. So the question can be asked, what is human resources role in all this? Well talking from experience, if HR is not on the front end of the process the chances of the acquisition to succeed becomes less viable. So, for all of you in HR, you need to be on the front end of the process to assess these very elementary questions and steps.

In the due diligence, a seasoned HR professional should view all the information in the data room the same way that a financial person views the data. There are hidden elements in the balance sheet, costs hidden behind non-related elements and most of all, the employee population needs to been clearly sifted out and analysed.

Having done more than 50+ acquisitions in my 20+ years in HR I can attest that if you do not take a lead role in the entire process, the chances of the integration of the acquired business will go astray. Each of you need to think hard and discuss with your CEO, COO, CFO the role you have in M&A and if it is not a lead role then you need to be there, just like being at the table with the other senior executives.

Over the years I have developed a complete set of guidelines, items to analyse, plan techniques, and above all a financial approach to due diligence. There are some companies out there that really know what they are doing and have a methodical approach to M&A. The two that immediately come to mind are GE and Cisco.

So, what are your thoughts on this very important topic and please feel free to comment or email me at wgstevens2@gmail.com

A comment from a viewer:

I love the blog. I find it refreshing and informative. It gives us HR professionals an injection of knowledge, we probably already know or are aware of, but do not take the time to refine.I very much enjoyed reading the information and plan on continuing to read.