10 Principals of Employee Engagement

Here are 10 principles of employee engagement that David Zinger outlined as part of his Employee Engagement Network, located in Winnipeg Canada. I encourage you to determine your own or to add yours as you  comment on this post.

1. Employee engagement is a human endeavor. Engagement is depersonalized when we refer to employees as human capital or human resources. I manage capital or resources, I work with people!
2. Employee engagement must create results that matter. This means results that are important to the employee, manager, leaders, organization, and customers. There is little point in having engaged employees if they are not contributing and creating significant results. In addition, if the results only matter to the organization and not the employee – or the employee and not the organization – employee engagement will not be sustained over time.
3. Employee engagement is connection. Connection is the key. Authentic employee engagement involves connection to our work, others, our organizations and ourselves. When we disconnect we disengage. Read this short post on employee engagement and connection.
4. Employee engagement is fueled by energy. We must pay close attention to mental, emotional, and spiritual energy at work. In addition we need to enhance organizational energy through meaningful connection and high quality interactions.
5. Employee engagement is more encompassing than motivation. Employee engagement embraces our emotions about work, how hard we work, how much we care about the organization, etc. I think it is a richer and more complex concept than simply using motivation to look at work.
6. Employee engagement is specific. We cannot sustain engagement all the time and everywhere. When we talk about engagement we need to ask: Who is engaged, with what,  for how long, and for what reason?
7. Employee engagement requires purposeful disengagement. We need periods of rest, recovery, and rejuvenation to sustain engagement over the long term. Theoretically we may be able to work 24/7 but practically we work best when periods of full engagement are punctuated with periods of disengagement from specific work or tasks.
8. Employee engagement makes a difference. Employee engagement can improve organizational performance while also contributing to individual performance and satisfaction.
9. Employee engagement is vital in recruitment, retention, and satisfaction. I believe the majority of workers want to be engaged and look for work that will engage them. People will often leave organizations when they feel disengaged. It may even be worse for all if they remain when they are disengaged.
10. Employee engagement is now. Look to the now. Don’t wait for some survey results or diagnosis from a management consultant. Look at the work you are doing right now and determine how you can engage with it more fully. Look at who you are working with and determine how you can help them to be more engaged. In addition, look at what you are engaged with now and make sure the results matter!

I encourage you to leave a comment about the principles you follow for employee engagement activities at my email address wgstevens2@gmail.com 

David Zinger is an employee engagement expert committed to moving employee engagement into authentic and significant workplace engagement with benefits for all

Six Employee Engagement Ideas to Help Re-engage Your Employees After An Economic Crisis

A lot of what you hear today from HR executives and consultants is the issue of employee engagement. Are your employees engaged or does it just seem that way? Do you feel your employees get what the company strategy is and are they helping to really achieve it? 

This is a re-post but I still believe that we are all facing uncertainty within our workforce. I feel as though we are seeing things improve (slowly) but many of our employees are still not sure of their future. If you are looking for a few ideas to re-engage your employees, read the list below to see how you can make a difference.

For your employees, for your leaders as we optimistically look for a more solid recovery from this economic crisis:

1. Increase employee communications

· Bad news is better than no news

· Build trust - be open and forthcoming with information

· Seek feedback from direct reports

· Be innovative – design new methods for employees to communicate with management

· Be a good listener - allow employees to vent and express their concerns

2. Understand and plan for future staffing needs today

· Continuously assess employee workloads

· Downsizing or ‘rightsizing’ causes stress

· Job consolidation causes stress

· Stress impacts quality and productivity

3. Continuously coach employees and managers who have not worked during an economic crisis

· Purpose is to maximize core strengths and minimize weakness

· Teach active listening skills

· Offer group sessions to talk through different economic issues impacting the business

4. Emphasize training & development

· Identify and better utilize the strengths of existing staff

· Focus on developing existing talent through ongoing training

· Assess those who may have skills that may be needed elsewhere in the company

· Shift your highly flexible and cross-trained workforce to other functions as needed

5. Strategically add and/or upgrade your staff

· This activity will strengthen your company when the economic recovery begins

· This kind of thinking enables competitive advantage

· Place an emphasis deploying a more highly skilled workforce

6. Focus on retention efforts to deflect the higher turnover rates expected as the economic recovery takes hold

· As more jobs become available, turnover risks increase

· Focus on your top talent to ensure that they stay with your company as outside opportunities increase

What are your thoughts on this and are you making headway in getting your employees really engaged? 

Posted by Lisa Wojtkowiak, SPHR

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Identify Your Managerial Style - Who Are You?

Since there have been numerous articles on retention of employees every HR executive should be asking 2 very important and mission critical questions as a strategic partner with your CEO: (1)what kind of manager am I?, and (2) what kind of managers do I have in my organization? (this includes your CEO too). As we all know, the biggest untapped opportunity within your organization is how managers and you as a manager shape the way people work together to deliver results. So, what kind of manager are you?a micro-manager (you know what this is), an arms length manager (macro-manager), a cloistered manager,  a secret manager (never tell the staff anything even the need to know stuff), a good people manager, a task master, an on and on. Well, I extend the challenge to each of you to look inside yourself and ask those 2 very important questions. Then you should reflect to see if your style is getting the best results from each individual, department, group, and business. If the answer is yes then you win the lottery and you have tapped the greatest opportunity in business by unleashing the energy, creativity, and knowledge of your workforce. If the answer is no then you really need to reassess how you manage, as well as your managers so you get the best results, return on your investment, employees that are engaged, and limit your turnover.


You should ask yourself these two questions every year because as we all know we change and when upper level management changes, so do we and how we operate. 


Your comments and opinions on this post are welcome to wgstevens2@gmail.com

You As A Manager

How many times have you asked yourself how am I as a manager? I can tell you that I asked that question to myself at least once a week for 30 years in business. I am sure you are like me, you want to constantly improve as a person and as a manager so that the people that work for you respect you and not fear you. I also asked my subordinates how I was as a manager once a month in our staff meeting to make sure that we were(1) on the same page in tasks and timetables,(2) that we were moving in the same direction on projects and people issues,(3) we were aware of each others issues so we did not bump into each other or do double work. 


I always made sure that I was a boss first and friend second. I really do not have to go into the details of how you do that or discuss why you may think it should be reversed. And with that here are the challenges you may face :

• co-worker issues
• motivating team members
• performance reviews
• providing enough resources for workers to succeed
• career pathing where your co-workers feel they are moving in a positive direction at a speed they are comfortable with based on their skills
• no being a good listener
• providing positive or negative feedback
• following through on promises 

I think you have to let your co-workers be in the forefront and let them shine and be recognized for their work. Stretch their comfort zone so they grow and feel comfortable in that growth mode. Complement them in public and any negative feedback in private. Does this all sound familiar, what do you think or add to this blog post? 

Happy 4th of July America

Why Do Employees Hate Change?

Suppose your supervisor offered you a 50% increase in pay, and 2 weeks of additional vacation just because she thought you were a great employee.  Would you accept the changes?  How likely are you to dig in your heels and refuse them because you don’t like change?

For many years, William Gould and I as well attributed organizational resistance to change to the fact that people simply hate change.  I no longer think that is true.  It’s not that employees hate change, but rather we don’t like the personal aspects of change that will adversely impact us, and our jobs.  The most basic question we often ask ourselves upon hearing of change is, “What is the worst possible way this will affect me?”  When there are losses (either real or perceived) associated with change, we are more likely to resist. 

Why do you think employees resist organizational change?

Credit by: William Gould of HRSoot.com 

What Do Experts Say About Human Resources Changing Role?

The experts have looked at HR over the past 10 years or so very critically. They have criticized HR for not focusing on the reason they all really have jobs, PEOPLE. They have also looked at HR to be a leader in moving the mundane issues they deal with to outsourced providers such as benefits administration, HRIS, hiring, service awards, and programs like that. They have also viewed HR as a slow moving profession in the area of strategic human capital investment, business acumen and strategic planning. 


I agree with them in all these areas as well as defining the following areas:

• Outsourcing of human resources, as a profession, will go into the billion dollars range to service providers like BeneFlex and IBM
• HR people will need to collaborate with line managers in identifying potential leaders as they focus on the human capital aspect for which they have been criticized. Emotional intelligence and diversity management will continue to gain importance especially in the C-Suite area.
• Hr will have to find the right HR response to rapidly developing/changing industries as globalization continues to drive business direction.
• Hr will need to be faster, smarter, and more efficient in internal consulting services holds the key to success in many industries
• Human resource competencies play crucial role in organizational success and the hiring CEO needs to look beyond his/her current thinking on the value and contribution HR will make to the organization.
• HR cannot rest on its laurels, they have to continue to build win after win to show their real ROI to the organization, and 
• HR needs to know the business inside and out to add that value. 

So if HR does not move fast to change in our ever changing business environment, there will be no HR in the future. You can take that to the bank for an old HR pro. 

Susan Spencer on Essentials for Women in Business

A Wharton interview with Susan Spencer on women and essentials in business. This is a must see.  

Is HR About People Anymore?

Our profession continues to have more in-depth business responsibilies associated with the board room that detract us from our core area of responsibility, people. Our human capital sometimes gets lost in that matrix because we have a harder time balancing the board room and the work areas. What we all have to remember is "people are our business". The true HR professional has to strike that delicate balance between business and people all the while remembering who our customers are, "the people". Our board room is where the people are too.

Turning a Wide Eye

So you’ve monitored your brand for a while, you understand how to draw and apply conclusions you’ve drawn from the data you’ve gathered but you sense that there’s something missing. One thought crosses your mind – what are others doing in this space, or lets take it one step further – what exactly are your competitors doing in this space? You might be driven by curiosity or you might be driven by the annual benchmarking report, whichever it might be you’ll quickly find a lot of value in monitoring the wider industry conversations including your competition.

Making use of social data to understand your competition is important for several reasons and may at the most basic level help you benchmark a brand’s marketing, communications and general perception against that of others in a similar space. In addition to this, the data can provide insight into competitor activity online, the way in which other products are marketed in social media, online service innovations and how they speak to or with their own customers within social networks. All of this is invaluable information that you can slice and dice and think of incorporating or avoiding in your own business.

Before diving into a competitor analysis you will need to consider the right competitors to measure. You may intuitively think of your closest competitors which is a useful start, however, you should also look into third party data sources to gain a complete view on what companies, products and services compete in your market, at similar price points, or perhaps have just launched. You should also consider non-branded competitors: in banking, for example, brands compete against other uses of money – investments, pension products and so on. Remember that extra data points really add value to any and all of this analysis, though: revenue figures, advertising spend, awareness of discrete marketing campaigns, etcetera, complete the picture – correlations and causations should underlie the data returned from social systems.

Doing an industry wide assessment of the space you operate in can also help uncover up and coming competitors, ones that you may not have identified in a traditional competitor analysis. Based on this you can make predictions about what is likely to develop in the market place. Be sure to take a step back however and consider where your client is in a wider context; why does brand X have a particularly strong presence in your market? Is it due to obvious factors like a high traditional marketing spend or a strong set of social presences? Can you replicate their success? Perhaps no one in your market is particularly successful in social channels; in this case there’s a first mover advantage waiting there for you to take! You’ll be surprised at the opportunities you might uncover when you move beyond monitoring just your brand. Chances are you’ll uncover information that you didn’t actually know you were looking for but will go a long way towards giving you a competitive edge.

By Olivia Landolt Marketing and Community Manager

Writing With Skill

I Tweeted "If you can't articulate the business case, don't expect the funding" on Twitter today as a reminder to all HR executives. Truer words have never been said, especially by Jason Averbook who initially Tweeted this. HR executives and middle HR managers focus so much on effective verbal communication that they easily forget the real fundamentals of effective written communication. Today's way of communicating through VM, social media outlets and text messaging have hindered our overall communication skills. And the bets are on that as the next generation to sit in your seats will be less skilled than you. Think about that!!!  


There was an article in the Business section of the Atlanta Journal Constitution this past Sunday, June 5th, talking about the failure of individuals today to really be effective writers. And if you cannot write effectively with significant skill then you will not make it to the top levels of the HR pyramid. The article sites the following things to consider when you sit down to write a memo, policy statement, presentation to the board, letter, email, etc: 

• think about your audience and the appropriate format (email, letter, handbook revision).
• Proofread your work carefully - which I do not because I rely on Spell Check - not a good thing.
• Be clear -don't rely on technical jargon or acronyms.
• Be concise - it is important that you write a 1 page executive report as well as other short reports.
• Stay professional - no need to expound on this bullet point.
• Be comfortable with revisions - as someone to review your work before you publish it.
• Cite references where appropriate.

Remember, it is not the readers job to determine what you are trying to say, it's your job to make it clear.  

partially paraphrased from the AJC by Joyce E.A. Russell

The HR Turnaround Specialist or Maintenance Specialist?

Many HR professionals look at themselves as maintenance people but there are a choice few that see themselves as turnaround specialists. Keeping everything status quo is what most HR professionals would do when going into a new company. Those choice few see this as a great opportunity to really excel when they are faced with broken down systems, dysfunctional teams, poor management, benefits that have not been looked at for years, unfunded pensions, decreasing revenues, and poor to market products. Think of yourself as a turnaround artist when you go into a new company. Look at this new job as an opportunity to start with a clean slate and begin making your mark.  Here is what you should do think about, do, change, or move when you get settled into your new role:

• review the benefit contracts and dissect the costs against claims and historical experience. Call in a trusted actuary to review the details of the contract, funding, and measure against local or regional increases;
• assess the talent flow-in and recruiting process and streamline as needed or replace particular broken areas and make sure you have a solid applicant tracking system. Also make sure social media recruiting is in the mix;
• assess the talent within the organization with particular emphasis on senior and middle management groups. Make sure the right people are in the right spots. Don't be afraid to bring in new people and in some cases people you know and trust;
• make sure that the senior team are all on the same page with the CEO;
• Make a quick determination on the HR staff's talent and what value they bring to the business;
• Streamline with the VP of Product Management the go to market process and the internal development process of new products both hardware and software. You ask why should you do this, well because you are a business partner and should be involved in as aspects of the business;
• determine if IT is a help to the organization or hindrance, and if the latter, make the appropriate changes;
• meet with the CFO and get a handle on the budgets and talk through the issues you need to address from a financial prospective;
• Make sure you have all the appropriate systems in place to add value to the organization; and
• finally but not last of course, survey the organization to see where HR has missed opportunity and what their prospective is and adjust as necessary;
• conduct brainsteering sessions with senior management. 

I hope this helps those who move into new company roles. Send me an email to expand on these issues at wgstevens2@gmail.com.

Organizing Innovation — Making the Invisible Visible

Some of you may remember the connect the dot painting color books kids used to have; there was no color on the page, just a series of dots that when connected by a wet paint brush revealed a picture defined by different colors. When I was five I thought it was magical, yet someone had thought through the underlying design that allowed a new picture to emerge.

How do leaders and managers organize innovation? While some might say innovation is not to be over-engineered (or it could stifle creativity), there is clear need for a process that connects the elements that contribute to innovative breakthroughs and their implementation. Elements desirable in company cultures today include collaboration, recognition, diversity, and empowerment (google searches on these terms bring up 33 million to 184 million results) — but how are all those incorporated into a process that develops innovation by design?

Price Waterhouse Coopers' report "Demystifying Innovation" connects the dots on business strategy and implementing innovation. To grow markets more than 2% a year radical innovation is required; PWC found that 43% of CEOs in pharmaceuticals, entertainment and media industries feel their greatest growth will come from new products and services. Nearly 40% of CEOs in PWC's study said they expect innovation to be co-developed, through collaboration with outside partners, customers and talent.

The intensive focus on new products and services requiresworkforce planners to identify strategic roles around those new products and services and critical competencies from talent who contribute to innovation. A process to develop innovation and critical thinking to drive a business strategy forward are organizational competencies every company needs. 

Creating conditions where talent can be close to the customer identifies pain points and changing demands. When innovation is a cultural value, it is driven by leadership ethics and recognition of talent who contribute to new thinking. 

Tapping people's creative process engages talent; a can-do culture of open-mindedness and questioning creates a reputation for being innovative and an employer of choice. Philosophers Socrates, Euripides and Descartes said, "question everything" and even comedian George Carlin reminded us we have forgotten to question. Asking "why?" and "why not?" can be the genesis for innovation. As leaders we can ensure those questions get answered.

Author: Joy Kosta

Human Capital Institute Blog, Friday 6/3/11

In the Midst of Change, What Needs to Stay the Same

Everywhere we hear re-occurring descriptions about how the workplace has changed to keep up with continuously changing business conditions and business strategy. Examples include throwing out job descriptions and the old org charts, and rapid deployment onto multi-disciplinary teams who learn through real-time collaboration about how to solve emerging challenges and problems. 

A new report from Booz Allen Hamilton and the Center for Creative Leadership, "Leading for Employee Motivation, Implications for Leaders in Turbulent Times," discusses changes in how people see their roles at work, from being "mission-focused" (aligned with the mission and strategy) or alternatively, "career focused" (staying for developmental opportunities that will be good for one's career) and a third group of people who stay feeling they are "out of options." Clearly the latter group are those people who quit but still show up most days, and they will follow a process even when it is deemed to be ineffective. People who are mission and career focused often identify systems and processes that inhibit their effectiveness, and quickly move on to color outside the lines. This is a challenge for scalable operations. As leaders, how often do we collect feedback on the effectiveness of systems and processes?

The leadership competencies that may not have changed, even in turbulent times, can be a good thing: "…sharing information, providing help, encouraging collaborative behavior among team members, and having the ability to inspire commitment to values or to a mission," according to the BAH CCL researchers, who go on to say,"a common thread among these competencies that are critical to leader effectiveness is the emphasis on the interpersonal nature of leadership that enables leaders to adapt their styles to the employees' different orientations. Leaders who bring charisma, humane and team orientation, and participative approaches that enable them to adapt to the employees' different orientations will be better able to motivate and retain employees."

Noel Tichy says that leaders whose calendars commit to investing 20% of their time with people are more effective. Scheduling time to talk with people helps both leaders and followers learn what they might not have guessed, adapt the conversation to be mission-focused or career–focused, and revisit processes and systems that need to be refreshed or revised. When we don't do that, an "air sandwich" develops between the strategy and those who implement it.

BLOG: Author: Joy Kosta

A Word to Those Looking - FUTURE VIEW

In the past 2 years I have had many friends lose jobs through reductions in force, forced retirements, and other methods of exiting those in the older age brackets. This has made way for more workers who have a longer corporate life span in a job and also freed up fixed expenses to invest in other areas. 


I have said this over and over even in the best of business climates that you always have to look forward and think that today could be your last day at your work. Why would I think that way well here are a couple of reasons you should really think about:

• it keeps you focused on the future, not the past; 
• you are never comfortable in your job, which makes you anxious;
• you continue to keep up with the times that way .

In a recent presentation to a WIND community group I heard people talking about the past; I was going to retire there and look what happened to me;  I didn't keep up with my network;  I missed a great opportunity; and lastly technology passed me by. All valid and all sad because of comfort. 

My feeling is this for those who are looking for work, and this is what I have told them in interviews over the years: 

• always keep energized, look to the future and see where you fit;
• keep up with the times (technology) and always read as much as you can on the latest and greatest, then test out technology at your closest electronics store or download test versions of new software;
• look young and think young, never think you are too old or out of an opportunity because the company seems young;
• always enhance your current skill sets, take night courses, read, read, and read
• dress for today and tomorrow, not yesterday;
• keep in shape, always question your appearance, because most of your friends won't;
• be contemporary.

I have heard it all too many times before, they did not choose me because of my age, and an article in the AJC reminded me today how important this is!!! They did not choose you because either you did not have the skills or your presentation was stuck in the past. You don't want to be the brides maid or best man you want to be the bride or groom. Think that way. 

LinkedIn IPO Now To Raise $274M

San Francisco Business Times

Date: Monday, May 9, 2011, 7:15am PDT



Linkedin has been a great social business and professional site for many years. Having been one of the first 100 people to sign up way back when I am sure that you have heard the news on its' impending IPO. Here is the latest.


LinkedIn Corp. on Monday said it now plans to sell 7.84 million shares in its initial public offering at between $32 and $35 each.

The IPO could raise proceeds of up to $274 million.

Mountain View-based LinkedIn is offering 4.8 million shares, while selling stockholders are offering 3 million shares.

The company expects to receive net proceeds of approximately $146.6 million from the shares it is offering in the IPO.

LinkedIn in January filed for an IPO to issue up to $175 million of public stock.

The company's website, which launched in 2003, now boasts more than 100 million members in more than 200 countries.

Read more: LinkedIn IPO now to raise $274M | San Francisco Business Times 

SuccessFactors Buys Enterprise Learning Management Software Plateau For $290M

April 26, 2011 from Venture Loop

On the heels of buying enterprise learning startup Jambok,the company has acquired another learning management software developer-Plateau Systems. SuccessFactors will pay $145 million in cash plus $145 million in stock for Plateau, for a total of $290 million.

Plateau Systems’ Learning Management Systems is generally usually used by Human Resources departments for the management and delivery of learning and training across organizations. Plateau Systems’s Talent Management Suite includes applications for learning management, performance management, career and succession planning and compensation management.

Plateau currently brings more than 350 customers to SuccessFactors, including General Electric, the U.S. Air Force and Capital One. Based on initial estimates, the combined companies will have more than 15 million users. After the deal closes, Plateau’s SaaS based LMS will be integrated directly into SuccessFactors’ BizX suite.

The acquisition price is fairly high for SuccessFactors, whose largest acquisition to date has been social enterprise software company CubeTree for $50 million. But clearly, SuccessFactors sees tremendous potential in aligning its business with human capital management.

Plateau Systems is a provider of Talent Management Systems that provides SaaS solutions that allow organizations to develop, analyze and manage organizational talent, one of the key factors that affect workforce productivity and operating performance. Plateau is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia with offices across the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific.

Plateau Systems was founded in 1996 by Paul Sparta, Chairman and CEO, and Brad Cooper, Senior Vice President, Product Strategy – both of whom still serve as Plateau executives. Plateau Systems developed one of the industry’s first Learning Management Systems (LMS), systems usually used by Human Resources departments for the management and delivery of learning and training across organizations. Plateau’s customers include major global organizations and government agencies. In early 2000, Plateau Systems delivered an integrated J2EE-based talent management platform, which allowed organizations to link learning and training with employee performance to measure whether employee goals were aligned with corporate objectives. In 2007, Plateau acquired Nuvosoft, a provider of Web-based compensation management software and integrated Nuvosoft’s functionality into its talent management platform.

Leena Rao

Tasking Out of Control

I am sure a lot of HR practicioners have had the issue of having too much on their plate at one time. I know over the years I had. What a sinking feeling wanting to excel at each task and wondering how you would balance them. Most HR VP's would task out specific elements of a task or the whole task to a subordinate. That is the practical thing to do. But, what about the things that that person has on his or her plate? Did you think of that? 


Well, I know that people have a tendency to task out projects and the like and then manage them from afar. The micro managers of course manage the projects and really hinder the subordinates ability to manage and complete the task feeling like he or she really did contribute. I call that managing out of control and it is a problem when you have a micro manager managing a task that you have been assigned to complete. So what do you do? 


Here are a couple of ideas and they helped me over the years:

1. make sure you understand the task and ask questions immediately if you don't
2. tell the manager that you have everything under control
3. provide the micro manager with a daily or semi-weekly update(s) so he/she understands you are on track to complete the task on time (and in some cases when budgets are in play, under or on budget)
4. ask for assistance immediately if you are stuck on an issue or hindered by the supply side of the project be it a vendor or another manager that is throwing up roadblocks
5. volunteer to be the best practice person in your department for your project or element of the project

Many managers have the tendency to stay on top of a project that hinders completion or complicates the  project, it is the subordinates responsibility to help the manager understand that it is in good hands. 

What has been your experience in being the lead person on a project and experiencing "tasking out of control"?

Learning vs Training

I had lunch with a good friend today who is a consultant focused on leadership and development. We had a great conversation about business, the dynamics of organizations, what they want vs what is finally delivered,  development systems, mentoring, and competencies. At one point when he was talking about training he corrected himself and said learning instead. Well, that was a great time for me to chime in and mention a person I hired in 1994 to be the Director of Training & Development. In the interview process he corrected me by saying don't call it training, call it "learning". That has stuck with me since that time. My luncheon partner also agreed that the correct term in learning not training and that there is a negative connotation to the term. 

Well, I agree 100% and I hope you do as well. 

HR Outsourcing

One of the major issues facing HR organizations today is how much should a company outsource. Many large firms have outsourced their HR departments to save money and to expedite services. Deloitte recently prepared a study on trends in the industry and what decisions drive outsourcing.

Here are some issues that are driving these changes. Things are changing on the supplier side:
•Continued provider consolidation
•New providers are entering the marketplace
•More provider-to-provider relationships are being formed
•Providers are scaling back their solutions to focus on what they do well
•Continued addition of value-added and judgment-based services (i.e., workforce analytics, global mobility, and employee relations)
•Increased use of off-shore, lift, and shift-based services
•Integration services that cross-process areas, such as reporting are becoming more prevalent
•More flexibility in number of services/processes included as part of an HRO deal
•Increased use of platform-based solutions (Software as a Service or others)
•More comprehensive, integrated product suites
•Ability for buyers to negotiate more exit rights into the contracts
•Contracts are including higher fees ―at risk‖ and higher liability limits
•Greater emphasis on continuous improvement built into the contract
•Flexibility on establishing more meaningful Service Level Agreements up front

Have you looked at your organization to determine what should or should not be outsourced from HR.?

Common Sense Management

I had a great discussion with a person that I mentored 30 years ago and who is now a SVP of HR. I guess I was a good mentor in his early HR career. Our discussion was centered around common sense and how managers at times do not exercise common sense in managing their people or projects. Why is that? Well, I guess the stress of producing and balancing work causes some of it but I think there is a deeper issue. Intelligence in knowing what is right and linking that with doing what is right. 


My friend and I cited many example of how managers we have known, who were good mind you, went off and did some of the stupidest things, made bad decisions and then we had to go in and clean up the mess and solve the issues those decisions made. 


We also agreed that if it were not for some of these managers who blew it our companies would not need our resources. Well not to that extreme but close to it. I would like to identify a couple of key factors that drive the best managers at times to make bad decisions:

• home & family issues and/or personal factors; 
• pressure from upper management to produce and not a lot of time to think out the issue;
• employees pushing the manager to extremes;
• and not having the emotional intelligence to deal with decisions.

Those are just a few of my thoughts. I would like to hear what you think are some factors that drive good managers to stray.