Profitability Through Human Capital

10 Tips for Building a Rock Star HR Analytics Team

2012-02-21T06:02:00.010-08:00

The time has come...your CEO and line management need more than just data. They have that, tons of it. They need insight and they need it yesterday.

What do you, Mr./Ms. HR do now?

You can dust off your old statistics books from college OR you can build your own world class HR analytics team. Even if it is a team of one. Here are some of my tips on building a team that will deliver business insights that lead to better decision making for the organization:

1) Is your business really ready for analytics? If your business doesn't have a clearly stated mission, with a clear a strategic plan with goals, what will you be providing insight on?
2) Define what services you want to provide to the business. Is it tracking data, plus reporting, and analytics?
3) What capabilities do you need to provide #2 and what do you currently have in your department. (analytical skills)
4) Make sure you have C-Level support. If you don't you can measure and provide insight but no ACTION will take place.
5) Become best friends with IT, Finance, Customer Service and any other person that you feel will assist you in your journey. You need access to other functional data to really provide valuable insights.
6) Start with low hanging fruit, solve a business problem with data and gain credibility.
7) Tell the data story in a way that everyone gets it. This will probably mean buying technology if you have a large company with a lot of people that need to see the data. The data also needs to be made available to all that need it.
8) What is the process for analytics? How do managers get problems solved? What is the request process? What is the reporting process?
9) Be an analyst and a consultant. You have to share the data but then be prepared to discuss what the implications of the data are and assist with action planning.
10) Be prepared to make hard decisions based on HR related data. The old adage is true, be careful what you measure. Sometimes, we implement programs that don't work. Learning from this insight is key.

I believe the key for any analytics team is the ability to ask the right questions, understand the organization's business, and be crystal clear on what drives success in the organization.

For those of you that measure, what tips do you have to share?

HELP! My Strategy is Stuck

2012-02-15T05:42:00.003-08:00

I just finished a HR Strategy and Metrics Bootcamp in Washington DC. It was a great experience collaborating with smart, energized HR professionals.

One of my favorite discussions of the 2-day workshop focused on strategy and how to "get it cascaded down to ALL employees."

We discussed the companies that clearly understand the importance of all employees understanding their strategies. Companies like the usual suspects...Apple, Zappo's, Nordstrom's Disney, and the Ritz Carlton. But some others were discussed as well, Chick-Fil-A, Weigman's and the Home Depot. As customers of these companies, you can actually FEEL the connection employees have made to their organization.

The discussion then turned to how strategy gets stuck somewhere between leadership's creation of strategy and the line where strategy is executed. It seems that our middle managers are responsible for the strategy bottleneck. I don't think it's intentional in most cases, but they are busy and they need direction and tools.

We spent some time discussing how HR can assist in this process. Here is what we came up with:

1) HR can assist leadership in keeping the strategy message SIMPLE.

2) HR can lead the strategy mapping exercise so that all FUNCTIONS in the organization understand what they need to do to move the strategy forward.

3) HR can assist leadership in getting the strategy message out to employees in meaningful ways, using multi-media to do so. (or they can hire a great employee communications company like Bernard Hodes)

5) HR can make sure that management tools like performance management, compensation and rewards are aligned to the new strategy.

6) HR can make sure that the strategy has specific goals and objectives and those are trickled down to ALL employees with appropriate accountabilities assigned.

7) HR can also make sure that ALL employees have a "line of sight." In other words, they understand how what they do contributes to the success of the organization.

HR has been wanting to be more strategic. Well here is your chance. Strategy fails because of poor execution. Do something about it!!!

HR CAN Have a Crystal Ball When it Comes to Turnover

2012-02-07T10:56:00.000-08:00

You know just when I think I have nothing to write about, I get a great comment by one of my readers that sparks my creative juices.

This week I would like to thank Micky Jay for his/her (not sure) comment on HR and Predictive Analytics a blog post of mine from last year.

He discussed the possibility of being predictive in the area of "who is at risk for leaving our organization?"

Think about this for a moment. If you, as the HR Rockstar, were able to go to your managers and say; "I have been doing some analysis and we have discovered that your top performers Jane, Joe and Tommy are at risk for leaving the organization." And then, you as the HR Rockstar were able to say to your managers, "I believe we need to do XYZ to retain these employees." WOW, how popular would you be? I am thinking that piece of office furniture that is so near and dear to HR hearts would be no longer an issue.

I know your next question...How do I do this? Well, trust me when I say it is easy. I bet you have the data just laying around in a spreadsheet somewhere.

You need to look at engagement data and performance data and determine ranges for high performance an high engagement. You then analyze employee performance scores with employee engagement scores looking at a few things:

1) Who are my highly engaged and high performing?
2) Who are my non-engaged and high performing?
3) Who are my non-engaged and non performing?
4) Who are my non-engaged and high performing?

You then put the data in a 2x2 that looks something like this:

In the last step, you overlay that data with historical turnover data create a predictive model and then BOOM, you can identify who is at risk. Yes, I have over simplified this as there are statistical tests you must perform at each step of the way, but it is nothing that can't be handled in Excel.

So when you get this data and answer the 4 questions above, you can then take the appropriate actions, which are usually something like this:

1) Who are my highly engaged and high performing? (keep these people, pay close attention to them, and make sure they are rewarded and compensated appropriately)

2) Who are my non-engaged and high performing? (most at risk for leaving, find out why they are non-engaged and do something about it)

3) Who are my non-engaged and non performing? (fire them, assuming all the correct performance management stuff has been done)

4) Who are my highly engaged and non-performing? (either coach them into performance or see above)

Come on get out your crystal balls....be a HR Rockstar!

Moving from Transactional HR to Strategic HR

2012-01-30T10:29:00.000-08:00

StrategicLand, where we as HR professionals have wanted to be, for at least two decades. Picture this scenario:

You are the VP, Human Resources for a very profitable company that is growing internationally. You realize to do so, that you need to become more strategic than transactional as far as what HR delivers to the business. The problem is this....the leadership of your organization doesn't understand why HR needs to be strategic. Things are going well...the company is in growth mode and making money. So the question is, "Why change if it ain't broke?"

Tell me how you answer this question. In other words how do you make a business case in this scenario. We know, it's the right thing to do and we can point to anecdotal reasons. But, when budgets are tight and CEO's are more risk adverse than ever, what would be your "case" for taking HR to the next level.

I was delivering some training last week and was kidding with my attendees that I could make a fortune writing business cases for HR leaders. It is a skill that most other functions in the business have, but HR has not been used to this practice.

For me, the business case is a must have and it gives clarity to the issue at hand. The business case assists the writer in formulating the problem, the objectives, the proposed solutions, the timelines, and the resources needed in a succinct and logical way. The decision maker can then make a decision based on fact and expected outcomes.

So tell me....Have you used the business case and how would you use it around moving from a transactional HR department to a strategic one as in my scenario above?

If you comment and send me your feedback...I will send you a business case template of your very own!!

Leadership...Where Has it Gone?

2012-01-23T14:42:00.000-08:00

Over the last few months I have been so surprised by recent lapses in judgement and leadership. I have to ask, why is this so rampant? Where has all of our character gone?

My first disappointment as of late was the whole Penn State, Joe Paterno scandal. I mean how does someone know about an incident of child abuse and NOT report it to the law. I don't care what loophole existed for working in a University. You have to put your morals and ethics first especially when it involves children. Joe Paterno died a few days ago, his legacy forever tarnished.

When does a Captain of a large cruise ship get off the boat before his passengers? And then try to convince the world that he (and his second in command) "tripped into the life boat?" How does this happen? Wasn't there training, scenario planning, procedures, and policies in place to draw from, when an accident of this magnitude happens?

How does an entire school system cover up a huge cheating scandal all in the name of bigger bonuses for higher performing schools? Teachers changed standardized test scores in order to have high scores that lead to better bonuses and recognition from the school system. This wasn't just one school or one teacher it was hundreds. The victims in this situation were the Atlanta school children.

In the examples above what strikes me as strange is that it wasn't just one person that had a lapse in judgement but multiple people in the situation did the same thing. How does one person's bad judgement rub off on those around him?

I believe the old adage is true, "a person's character comes out when there is a crisis situation." So, that begs the question for me:

Do leaders have character but it just for some reason lapses in a crisis or did the leaders lack character all along?

So, what is the answer? Is it parenting, education, training or religious beliefs? I don't have any research that states that the lack of character is a generational issue. I have heard anecdotally, that some older people feel character is lacking in our younger generation, but in the examples above they were all baby boomers or older.

I ask myself, what can I do. I guess the best we can do is be an example of what a leader should do no matter your role. You can be a leader in the classroom. You can be a leader as a janitor. Leaders come in all shapes, sizes and colors.

In this election year, we will hear about candidate's character and examples of their leadership. I encourage you to do your own research and figure out how the candidates have acted in a crisis. Look for their true colors when the going gets tough. I want a President that can call on his values, in a crisis, act like a leader and motivate others to do the same.

All of this made me think of Leadership Development in the corporate environment. I think this training should be scenario based with several simulations of crisis situations. I think in most organizations the environment is basically the same day in and day out. Leadership is most needed in extreme circumstances...how do we train to that?

I wonder how different the "big recession" would have been if we had strong ethical leaders in the banking and real-estate industry?

What is HR's Moneyball Metric?

2012-01-16T13:17:00.000-08:00

I finally watched Moneyball this weekend and what a movie that was. Of course, all the way through the movie I am thinking how does this apply to HR and companies in general.

It was so interesting that the team was using anecdotal data to "hire" new players. I loved it when the data geek talked about players potential and hidden nuggets of gold that went unnoticed due to poor batting averages. He pointed out it is not necessarily about batting average, but really about getting on the base. It was a metric in baseball, that no other team was using. Historically, the players with the highest batting averages were making the most salary. Since the Oakland A's had a small budget they had to figure out how to win ball games, within these parameters.

Do we do the same think in HR and/or our organizations? Do we hire for things like, "He went to Auburn." or "She used to work for Bain and Co." Are we overpaying A-players in our organizations just because they have a great batting average?

As soon as the Oakland A's started hiring and measuring against on base percentage there was a huge backlash from the players, the coaches and even the fans. "It's just not how they did things at the A's. They base new talent on gut feel based on many years of scouting experience for the team." So, how did that legacy practice work for them?

Again, is that a similar story to what we do in HR? Do we make hiring decisions based on old policies, practices and measures that are no longer relevant?

What could be a Moneyball metric for HR? For some positions this task is easier than others. For sales, it's a no-brainer...$ of sales. Which metric could we use for new hires? How about existing employees?

Another big lesson for me that was reiterated in Moneyball was the issue of nonperformance. When you have a metric that points straight to performance and winning, it makes the "your fired" conversation so much easier. It becomes literally black and white. "Your number is X and we needed Y." Time to change teams...

If you haven't seen the movie, I encourage you to rent it...I hear the book is excellent as well!

What are your Moneyball metrics you are using to make sure you get the best and keep the best talent?

Is the HR Generalist Dead?

2012-01-09T16:08:00.000-08:00

Today I had a very interesting conversation with a few HR consultant friends of mine. We were discussing the status of the external HR Consultant who is a generalist versus a consultant that specializes in particular area of HR.

The consensus was that the generalist in the consulting world is dead. Maybe that is a strong statement, maybe not dead....but on life support.

The reasons had to do with an over supply of consultants that are generalists and the need for organizations to hire subject matter experts that are deep in their knowledge on a certain subject, like compensation for example.

I did raise the question about clients wanting a "one stop shop" approach for HR services. My thought was that HR Executives want to buy from one or two preferred vendors for efficiency and cost reasons.

What are your thoughts on the "one stop shop" theory?

So, then I starting thinking about the internal HR Generalist. What is their status? Dead, alive or on life support?

From my experience, I have seen a mixed bag of HR organizational models. I see larger organizations using specialists at the corporate office and HR generalist in the field. I have also seen the reverse, generalist at corporate and specialist in regions lending support to managers. Of course, these models are dependent on industry, size and organizational strategy.

For smaller companies, I definitely see more generalist then specialist as they have to wear multiple hats.

What are your thoughts on the internal generalists? Do we need to get out our black dresses and suits?

Employee Survey Data, Check..Now What?

2012-01-03T05:50:00.000-08:00

Many companies conduct annual employee surveys. The data comes in and is reported on and then we wait for the next year for the next results. The results come in for year 2 and they are exactly the same or in some cases scores have gone down.

This begs the question, what can you do with employee survey data?

Here are some best practices we have used with our clients over the years:

1) As soon as possible communicate high level survey results back to employees. If you have decided on actions that will be taken as a result of the survey scores, then give your employees an overview of those actions. If not, let your employees know more communication will follow when those decisions are made.

2) Make sure you understand which questions (categories) impact employee satisfaction. If your survey has 30+ questions, you need to know which ones impact satisfaction and which ones do not. A regression will get to this information and will prioritize where you need to spend your time and resources.

3) Sometimes, follow up is required to understand what is needed to make scores change. For example, if you score low on internal communications, you need to get to the "why" and the "how to improve." This data is hard to get to in a survey format so follow up is required.

4) Action planning is a must. Period. If you don't spend time by department on how you are going to move scores or sustain good scores, then you surveyed your employees for nothing. Make sure managers are debriefed on their own scores and action plan on them as well.

5) Make sure managers are held accountable for their scores. What measured gets done. If survey scores are not tied to manager's performance it is highly unlikely that anything will change.

6) Use the data. Employee satisfaction data is a very important data set. It can be analyzed with other data to uncover valuable insight. For example, correlating employee satisfaction data with performance scores and turnover can tell you if you are at risk for losing your highly engaged and high performers. Wouldn't that be nice to know?

Bottom line, don't just survey your employees and do nothing with the data. It is a valuable data set especially if acted upon.

What are your best practices when it comes to survey data?

2011, It's a Wrap: 10 Ways to Tell if HR is #Winning

2011-12-29T05:19:00.000-08:00

Well it's that time of year again, when we bloggers look into our crystal balls and predict what's going to happen next year. Check out this link for Laurie Ruettimann's predictions here. I always read her's.

I want to take a slightly different slant for my predictions this year...I would like to think about how we will know when HR as a profession has "made it?" We have been talking about improvements to this function for years...and years.

And years. So...

How will we know that HR is #winning? (had to use the lame hashtag). Here are just a few of my thoughts on the subject:

1) When HR and CEO's are working towards the same objectives.

2) When HR knows exactly how much value it adds to the organization

3) When the organization is #winning

4) When retention is high, performance is increasing and innovation is expected

5) When data and analytics are no longer scary and avoided but embraced and acted upon

6) HR has left its legacy of personnel and firmly branded itself as a department that is integral to success for the organization

7) The organizational brand and employment brand are linked and working for consumers and candidates

8) Business discussions are the norm for HR Execs not just headcount and turnover discussions

9) HR Execs are seen as "likely" candidates for CEO or COO positions.

10) HR professionals have diverse backgrounds including finance, accounting, customer service, marketing and statistics. Not just technical HR stuff.

I don't know how long this list will take...I see some HR departments that are darn close...so it may be 2012 for those organizations.

How can you tell if HR is #winning?

You Might Be A Strategic HR Professional If...

2011-12-19T06:13:00.000-08:00

I have been posting a lot this year around my opinion that the strategic HR pendulum is swinging in the right direction. I have labeled HR as being a Rock Star for over a year now and I still feel the momentum. So in true, "You might be a Redneck if..," form, I have a similar list for strategic HR professionals:

You Might Be A Strategic HR Professional If...

1) You are on your CEO's speed dial

2) You understand your companies P&L and the balance sheet

3) You have spoken to your company's customers

4) You understand how much ONE dollar invested in people will produce in profit

5) You NEVER mention that table, ever!

6) Your staff did not all start in HR, some are from the business and some are analyst

7) You attend M&A meetings with your CEO in the very early stages

8) You aspire to be another C...COO, CEO, CAO, CFO

9) Your main objective is making sure talented people are producing at their highest level, delighting your customers every single day.

10) You develop leaders at all levels of the organization

Ok, that was my 10, help me add to this list to keep it going...

You Might Be A Strategic HR Professional If...

HR You're A Rockstar!

2011-12-12T07:22:00.000-08:00

We are almost finished with 2011 and what a year this has been. I am so ready for 2012, looking forward to a fresh start and new opportunities.

As I look back on 2011, it has been an interesting year. I have seen my HR profession really step up to the economic challenges that we have all been facing for the last 3 years. I hate that it took a recession to wake some HR professionals up...but hey...whatever it takes.

I have seen some real HR Rockstars this year, so let me recap the reasons for my renewed enthusiasm for my peeps:

1) Our company conducted 3 HR Strategy and Metrics Bootcamps this year. At each one I saw HR professionals from small, medium and large companies discuss their company's strategy like nobody's business. It was amazing to hear, HR professionals talk about competitive advantage, strategic objectives and business outcomes. Music to my ears!

2) I attended the Halogen Software's users conference this Fall. I had the opportunity to discuss performance management with attendees. I heard things like, "We have linked our competencies to our organizational strategy" and "We pay for performance and we mean it" Yeah....finally. I also heard attendees talk about the ROI of purchasing a system like Halogen. WOW, ROI and HR professionals...there is a God!

3) I also have the honor of teaching HR professionals and I have NEVER had the calibre of student I have had this past year and I have been teaching for 10+ years. Students are asking great questions, discussing how to be better HR professionals, and really being great business people first and great HR people second. I love that.

4) Our HR clients seem to be more intertwined with their business. Whether that means, HR is leading strategic execution or participating with strategy creation, I see a change. 4-5 years ago when I asked about "strategy" you would have thought I asked for the cure to the common cold. Today, HR professionals can discuss, link and align with corporate strategy. #winning!

5) HR professionals are getting serious about metrics. Even though momentum has been stalled for awhile, I see forward momentum in this area. I believe it has been driven by CEO's needing data for decision making. It's been a slow ride, but I do see progress. We still have a ways to go as now metrics are yesterday and analytics are today.

As you can see, I no longer feel we should discuss, "Why We NEED HR?" I now believe HR is a strategic weapon for our organizations. Companies are winning with their talent, their competitive advantage. HR is in charge of managing that talent and making sure strategic objectives are obtained. Now, that we have realized our mission....there is no stopping HR Rockstars!

The State of HR Measurement

2011-12-05T12:46:00.000-08:00

I am honored to be asked to join the HRExaminer Editorial Advisory Board. My first article for them was posted last week. I wanted to share this article with my blog readers.

Click here, to read article.

Tell me your thoughts on HR Measurement and where you think we are as a profession.

Execution TRUMPS Strategy: 5 Ways to Engage Your Employees

2011-11-28T13:04:00.000-08:00

The one thing that has stood out in my mind this year is strategic execution. We have had several clients this past year struggle in the area of strategic execution. Why do most strategies fail? EXECUTION!

The story goes something like this:

Client: "Our strategy isn't working"

ICC: "Really, why do you say that?"

Client: "We are not reaching our goals and no one knows what our mission statement is"

ICC: "How did you communicate the new strategy to your employees?"

Client: "We emailed them our strategic plan via email. It was 27 pages long"

ICC: "I am shocked, it isn't working"

If I don't know anything else, I do know this: Strategic Execution takes Engaged Employees

Employees want to engage for these reasons:

1) They want to be a part of something bigger than themselves

2) They want to feel a sense of belonging

3) They want to go on a meaningful journey and want to know that their contributions make a significant impact.

Those three reasons really speak to being engaged to an organizational strategy...if the strategy is communicated properly. Strategy is definitely big and is a journey.

Don't get me wrong the "what" part of the strategy is not a consensus process. Strategic development does need to come from the top down. It's the "how" part (strategic execution) that needs employee engagement.

Here are some ways to engage employees around strategy:

1) Create a shared meaning, tell a compelling story. Discuss why the strategy is changing and what the before and after will look like and WHY it's important to the success of the organization. Leaders must engage their managers and managers must engage their front line workers.

2) Cultivate aligned behaviors. Make sure the culture is CREATED based on behaviors that drive desired performance.

3) No more silos. Strategy is hard to execute in a vacuum. Make sure all functions, departments are on board and working together.

4) Align goals and objectives making sure all understand how they contribute to the overall organizational goals.

5) Give status reports with mentions, shout outs, atta-boys and girls to keep the momentum going. Recognition is king to keep employees motivated and moving in the right direction.

What are your strategic execution war stories, what has worked? What have you learned?

Moving from HR Data to Organizational Insight

2011-11-14T08:03:00.000-08:00

Over the last few months, I have been presenting and discussing the topic of HR analytics.

I feel that as a profession, HR is stuck. I think we have "got" the measurement part down pat. We can measure turnover, we can measure cost per hire, and time to fill.

But it's not really about these activity based measures anymore. It's about what you actually DO with the data.

You have to use the data in context with other data in order to really get to impact. For example, using customer satisfaction data and performance data to understand who is delivering the best experience to your customers and further determining how to sustain that experience over time...that's impact.

I have been giving some thought to why we are stuck at the Phase 2 on the above analytics roadmap. Why can't we make it faster to phase 5, where HR provides the business with BUSINESS INSIGHT that has significant IMPACT to the business.

Here are some of my initial thoughts:

1) It's the data excuse-Stop the madness. HR has more data than most departments. The issue is the condition of the data in most cases. Also, we have data in so many systems it is difficult to bring it all together. NOT IMPOSSIBLE just difficult.

2) It's the talent excuse-I don't have analytical people on my team. See last week's post on how to accomplish this one from two very smart HR professionals from Wells Fargo.

3) It's the "I don't have time excuse"-Find time before someone else takes over your data and does it for you. Enough said...

4) It's the "I can't get the data I need from other departments" excuse-Make a clear business case or state a compelling question that you need to solve that has impact on the business. State this at a high level meeting to get buy in and interest.

5) It's the "it's not important" excuse. keep thinking this while HR tasks are being outsourced and HR is suddenly being staffed with non-HR professionals who get analytics. Nay, it's not important.

I believe HR has the chops and smarts to get this done. Start small with one business problem that needs to be solved like:

1) How can I get my production workers to be more productive and get orders fulfilled on time when absenteeism is at an all time high and morale is at an all time low?

2) How do I increase our market share in a new market, where our competition has a strong hold and we have had problems recruiting talent that we need to make this happen?

3) How do I increase customer satisfaction in our call center, it has been dropping for two quarters straight?

Each one of these issues can be looked at with metrics and then analytics. It just takes asking the right questions, getting the right data and telling a great impactful story!

Why are you stuck? or...How have you moved past being stuck?

Human Capital Metrics Conference: It's about Value

2011-11-07T09:36:00.000-08:00

The Human Capital Metrics Conference was awesome this year. Check out my recap of Day 1, here.

Day 2, did not disappoint either. Michael Echols with Bellevue University began his keynote with a very profound point for me and for all HR professionals.

See my tweet below:

"The opportunity is to create FUTURE value from current human capital investments."

Boy, do I believe that. That one statement gives HR measurement a whole new perspective. It's not so much about what has already happened, it's more about WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN. Don't our CEO's want to invest in whatever will give him/her the most return? We are in "predictive" land now.....say goodbye to HR tracking metrics...it's over. (Thank goodness).

The second highlight for me on day 2, came from two very smart women from Wells Fargo. Natalie Tarnopolsky and Kathy Doan delivered a great presentation on "Building a TRUE HR Analytics Team." It was not only a good presentation but entertaining as well. Yes, they made analytics entertaining.

Natalie and Kathy outlined their 9 step process used at Wells Fargo:

1) Assess your analytical capabilities. Where are you today (reporting) and where would you like to be (optimization)?

2) Assess your foundation. Conduct a gap analysis of your foundational building blocks. (foundational data, vision, key questions, truths i.e. cost and value per FTE)

3) Strengthen partnerships. Identify stakeholders, build relationships, determine goals and share, build credibility and communicate loudly!

4) Have a clear plan and ensure sponsorship. Review HR organizational structure, accountability, and create business case.

5) Select the right technology. Decisions on build or buy with right people involved in process.

6) Support self sufficiency. You must control demand or increase manager self sufficiency in the reporting area.

7) Secure the right analytics team based on the following key skills: business acumen, people influence, communication effectiveness, data manipulation, financial acumen, analytic rigor, and critical thinking.

8) Outline the analytical process. Clearly plan and communicate what the key question is, the assumptions and approach that will be used to answer the questions and the potential value that can be derived.

9) Conduct analysis and share the results. Spend time in prepping the data and previewing the findings.

I like their process as I believe it will work for large and small companies alike. It was one of the most popular topics on the twitter feed for #tcbhcm.

I look forward to next year, as I see HR professionals and the C-Suite embracing HR Analytics more and more every day. It's very exciting to see this topic finally get its fair share of attention.

I believe analytics are no longer a nice to have.....they are a must have for competitive advantage, no matter your industry.

What are your thoughts? Are HR Analytics a fad or here to stay?

Human Capital Metrics Conference: Recap Day 1

2011-11-03T08:47:00.000-07:00

I was honored to be asked to serve as the official blogger for The Conference Boards's Human Capital Metrics Conference, today and tomorrow in NYC. HR Metrics are definitely a passion of mine...so I am thrilled to be here especially hanging out with Dr Jac Fitz Enz.

To see more specific insights go to twitter and search on: #tcbhcm....interesting observations, check them out!

Last year, I was also serving in the same capacity. Below are observations I have noticed as differences in 2011 vs. 2010:

1) There are definitely more people here. Small talk contributes this increase to a slightly better economic situation and an increased interest and focus on HR metrics and analytics.

2) The conversations are not about tracking measures, or even dashboards and scorecards...it's about making BETTER BUSINESS decisions. I love this as it puts context around HR and their role in the organization. Michael Gregoire, CEO Taleo said it best:

"Business Strategy and HR Strategy should be ONE!"

3) Last year, I didn't even hear the word social media and its impact on talent management. Today, I have seen how smart companies like Juniper are leveraging technology to manage talent, leading to engagement, leading to desired business outcomes. AWESOME!

4) Lots of talk around HR metric standards. The over arching opinion is that they are coming...from industry experts. My question around this topic is, why hasn't SHRM taken a lead on metric standards? I know they have finally developed a standard around cost per hire. YEAH, but guess what? We have moved on from that metric...#toolittletoolate

The audience was polled and 54% were involved in HR Metrics but only about 1/2 as many involved in predictive analytics. I mention this because HR must get to "predictive" in order to assist CEO's in making better decisions. Mike Echols of Bellevue University said it best....

"HR needs to be better competitors for organizational investment capital"

If that is to be the case, as the money is certainly there on US balance sheets for the taking, then HR needs to make a business case. That business needs data most of the time and what the predicted outcomes will be so that CEO's can make informed decisions on resources.

I think this need for talent management investment must be HR's driver to get on the analytics train.

I always like to know what is next...what's the next topic after we leave tomorrow. Dr. Jac said he is thinking about, "How to build and analytic culture." OMG....2 of my fave topics all in one. Please can I come back?

Ok, so here are some other thoughts regarding today's sessions:

1) I think there is a need to use other Talent Management examples besides training. I believe you can look at examples for rewards/recognition, engagement, performance management, etc and show how companies have linked those to bottom line results as well.

2) I think one big example of aligning strategy to HR strategy and then analyzing MULTIPLE HR investments against desired outcomes would be great. Even better, how to choose between competing HR initiatives. If you have identified through strategic mapping that you may need a training program or a rewards/recognition change, how do you use data to pick the one that has the "most bang for the buck" (discussed by attendees at my lunch table as a suggestion)

3) Dr Jac had a great slide demonstrating linkage between employee investments, operational outcomes, customer outcomes and finally financial results. This really drives home the need for HR strategy and business strategy being one. This idea supports it's not about alignment really but about integrating HR's strategy into the business strategy.

4) Talent management data is not business intelligence by itself. It's just another siloed data set that needs context. It needs to be analyzed with its other data friends...customer, operational and financial data.

Bottom line...a company's competitive advantage is not about services/widgets...it’s the people. Don't you need to know how that investment is performing for you? Don't you need to know how to increase that asset's performance?

The only way to answer those questions is through analytics.

HR Metrics: Q&A The Conference Board

2011-11-02T04:40:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, I will be attending the HR Metrics Conference hosted by The Conference Board in NYC.

Dr. Jac Fitz Enz, the "Father of HR Metrics" will be in the house.

I can't wait...I met him last year and yes, I am a groupie. For those that know me, HR Metrics are a passion of mine. Call me, geeky, I don't care.

I thought this opportunity would be a great time for my readers to get their pressing HR Metrics questions answered.

So let's have them....what do you want to know about HR Metrics....

Follow #TCBHCM on Twitter for real time insights from the conference.

Creating a Culture of Recognition

2011-10-31T04:58:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of attending Globoforce's workshop on Building a Culture of Recognition last week. The workshop itself was conducted by Derek Irvine and was very well done. Derek set expectations for the "desired behaviors" for attendees upfront and then used recognition throughout the workshop to encourage attendees to participate. They definitely practice what they preach.

The premise for building a culture of recognition is that recognition leads to a more engaged employee and that engagement leads to better customer service and an increase in profits and revenues.

Another interesting tenet of their philosophy is that more employees need recognition not just the usual top 10%. Globoforce believes that in order to truly MOVE engagement scores you need to recognize those employees that are in the middle of the bell curve. Those employees that are your steady workers, the ones that show up everyday and do consistent work. We need those employees to keep our organizations moving. Often this group of employees is overlooked in most rewards and recognition programs as most are focused on the top performers.

In most organizations the middle of the bell curve represent consistent, average performers and that can be on average 60-70% of the workforce.

The question then becomes: if you want to move engagement scores higher, do you focus on your top 10%, who are highly engaged anyway, or do you move to the 60-70% group that can use recognition? Think about this question for a moment...it really makes sense.

That is a premise that we at Intellectual Capital Consulting believe in as well.

Derek outlined a framework for building a culture of recognition:

1) Tempo begins at the top. Leaders have to give and receive recognition.

2) Must be tied to strategic goals and objectives. Metrics must also be created.

3) Involve program participants and invite their input.

4) Call all managers to training. Enough said!

5) Establish key indicators of success early and measure often

6) Touch as many people as possible as often as possible.

7) Promote program or it will perish.

8) Match recognition with achievement

9) Ensure a recognition moment. Making sure the employee receives a personal message either public or private with the reward.

10) Right currency and reward of choice. Make sure reward is meaningful to the receiver.

I will be reading Derek and Eric's book, "Winning With a Culture of Recognition." Stay tuned for a review when I finish.

What are your thoughts on recognition? Best practices?

HR Themes from 3 Conferences

2011-10-24T04:56:00.000-07:00

The conference season is in full swing and I had the opportunity to attend three wonderful conferences last week.

1) SHRM-Atlanta's HR Conference

2) The Performance Institute's Performance Conference

3) The University of Alabama's HR Management Conference

It is so interesting to participate and listen for themes to emerge. As I wrote notes for each one of the workshops/keynotes I attended, I began to see familiar topics. Here are the common themes from all three conferences:

1) Alignment-seemed to be the most popular theme. Whether it is alignment of organizational goals to the departmental level or aligning HR activities around organizational goals, the topic was mentioned at each conference. My personal opinion is that HR has a huge opportunity in the alignment area. As execution is the reason strategy fails...HR can exercise its strategic muscles in this area. "Execution trumps strategy every time," Rich Berens, Root Learning at the Performance Conference.

2) Engagement-is no longer a nice to have. Engagement is now a must have for a company's competitive advantage. Speakers at all three discussed engagement in the following ways:

1) Employees must be engaged with their work

2) Employees must be engaged with their manager

3) Employees must be engaged with an organization's strategy

4) Employees must be engaged with their team

Tracking and acting on engagement data is key so that those things that drive engagement can be identified and sustained.

3) Focus-such a simple word, but yet so hard to do. Speakers discussed the recent economic challenges forcing companies to get focused on what is truly important. Instead of rolling out 10-12 objectives, speakers discussed the necessity to simplify and focus on the top 3-5 strategic objectives. By focusing on a smaller number, it really makes an organization pay attention to what matters most. Whether it is an individual's goals or an organization's goals a smaller more manageable number keeps everyone's eye on the desired target...organizational success as defined by the strategic plan.

The next time you attend a conference, sit back and listen...listen to common themes across presentations.

For those of you that attended conferences over the last few months, what themes did you hear? Do tell...

HR You're A Rockstar

2011-10-17T18:26:00.001-07:00

This week I am attending/presenting at three conferences, SHRM-Atlanta, The Performance Institute and The University of Alabama's HR Management conference.

I am always excited to attend these conferences as I meet great people and learn a ton of new things.

Today, at SHRM-Atlanta's conference the energy was high and so was the knowledge sharing. If you want to check out the twitter stream, follow hashtag #shrmatl11. With record attendance with over 1100 HR professionals and resource partners, the day was off to a great start. Kat Cole, President of Cinnabon gave the opening keynote. She is fantastic, and at 33, what a dynamo. Kat talked about an organizational learnng building competence, confidence and connections to the business.

I guess what impressed me most today were the great conversations that I was able to participate in. They inspire me and validate for me that the work that I do is truly important. Here are some snippets from my conversations today:

1) The economy is still a hot topic especially around Atlanta. Most individuals I spoke with whether employed or not, whether a practitioner or a vendor, seemed to be surprisingly upbeat. Even with the news media and politicians talking about a double-dip recession, I certainly didn't feel that opinion coming from today's attendees.

2) Engagement and training are still important even with tight budgets. Smart companies are paying attention to engagement because they know this economic situation will pass. And when it does, employees will have choices. Smart companies are still investing in training to increase the skills and knowledge of their employees. Leaders know that making investments now will pay off in productivity and retention increases later.

3) HR peeps are Rockstars! I had so many conversations about business issues. Not just people issues but issues involving market share, mergers and acquisitions, capacity planning, customer retention, product development and many others. I was so excited to hear my fellow HR comrades having a business discussion without mentioning the words "policy", "procedure" or hear it comes...."seat at the table."

I can't wait to see what the rest of the week brings....

A big shout out to my blogger and twitter friends...@jheineck @havrilla @mattcharney @mikehaberman @mgrindell @teelajackson @incblot @debdooken @jennyinthesouth @JenniferAMartz.

The How-To's of Deliberate Culture Creation

2011-10-10T06:37:00.000-07:00

Last week I wrote about culture, specifically discussing if it is created or does it just happen by chance. Most responses I received via comments and twitter stated that culture is created.

So my question to you last week was:

What is the formula for creating a culture that is a competitive advantage for your company?

I wanted to share with you the responses I received and then add my two cents:

1) The values of an organization must be articulated to employees (how business owners want to conduct business)

2) Those values must be cascaded into everyday processes, policies, procedures, relationships, etc.

3) Human performance has to be aligned with the values as a way of doing business.

(thanks to Debbie King of Evolution Management for 1-3)

4) Hire people that are aligned with the organizational values

5) Review values regularly with all employees by CEO (even review at the beginning of team meetings)

6) Employees should be empowered in the decision making process to determine how decisions align with organizational values.

7) Communication and leadership are key in the process. Leadership must demonstrate behaviors that are expected in the organization.

(Thanks to Melany Gallant with Halogen Software for 4-7)

8) Values that truly connect with people's higher aspirations (to improve, to serve, to create a better tomorrow) are easier to build culture on as employees can get behind these. Companies that have a more profit mind set might find it more difficult to build culture around.

(Matt contributed #8, no last name or company)

Ok.. here is my two-cents:

I agree with everything mentioned above. Culture must be grounded in values that drive behaviors. Employees need to understand those values and behaviors and the consequences of not behaving according to values. Managers have to make decisions based on those values and hold others accountable for the same.

Culture is a very delicate thing. It takes constant reinforcement and deliberate "care." But, the rewards are many. Just look at those who get it and do it right....the return is huge.

Who wouldn't want to work for Zappo's? The Ritz-Carlton?

Why do customers love the Zappo's and the Ritz experience? You can buy shoes and get a room anywhere...it's the employees delivering a world-class customer experience grounded in a culture that values the same.

Cathy's Vents for the Week

2011-10-04T06:43:00.000-07:00

I need a place to vent and what a better place than my blog. Sometimes you just need to get a few things off your chest.

1) I do not like this cold weather in HotLanta! More summer please.

2) Please, please quit asking me for free consulting. We are still in a dismal economy and I still have a kid in college.

3) Mediation is a place where you go to argue with rules

4) My dogs need a haircut

5) I don't watch Dancing with the Stars and I probably never will. So quit asking me, "Did you see Chaz Bono last night?"

And sometimes you need to be reminded of your blessings....

1) Our business has survived 14 years :)

2) My son is in college and he seems to like it :)

3) I get a new beginning at 47 years old :)

4) My dogs love me :)

5) We live in a country where you can be yourself...whomever that is :)

Ok, I feel much better!

Culture: Nature or Nurture

2011-10-03T07:03:00.001-07:00

It's funny how topics come up in discussion in several venues over a short period of time. As you have read in a past blog post, I was at the Halogen's user's conference a couple of weeks ago, where I was on a blogger's panel. We discussed the topic of culture and how you can leverage culture to your benefit as a company in the recruiting and retention areas.

I also had the privilege to teach the PHR/SPHR preparation class and the question about measuring culture arose in a discussion.

Lastly, I was presenting to a group last week on how to create a "High Performing Organization" and of course culture came up in that discussion.

I guess the most common theme was the idea of culture creation. More specifically, "Are cultures created or do they just happen?

In each venue we discussed companies that had a very strong well known culture. The following companies were mentioned:

1) Nordstrom

2) Publix

3) Ritz Carlton

4) Chick Fil A

5) Zappo's

6) Home Depot

7) Quick Trip

8) Apple

Some on the list were the usual suspects, but some were surprises (Quick Trip and Chick Fil A). So I had someone ask, "Did they create their culture on purpose?"

Such a simple question, but huge on impact.

My answer is a resounding YES. You have to be deliberate in creating your culture OR you get one that is created for you. In my experience the latter is not a positive culture or one that is aligned with the organization's mission and values.

So of course the next question is, "How do you go about creating a culture that is positive and one that can be a competitive advantage to your organization like the one's mentioned above?"

I have some ideas, and have had some interesting discussions on the topic, but why don't you all help me out here....

What is the formula for creating a culture that is a competitive advantage for your company?

You can give me your thoughts and I will compile them in a blog post for next week.....I love it, I have just given my readers some homework! :)

Data Based Decision Making: HR You're Up

2011-09-27T06:05:00.000-07:00

I have noticed a by-product of the recession is the way C-Level executives make decisions. The decisions can be about investments, people, markets, pricing, marketing, well just about anything. I believe the reasons for this shift is that the C-Suite is a lot more risk adverse than pre-recession. Gone are the days where decisions are made by "gut-feel" and "by the seat of the pants."

Boards of Director's and consumers have demanded more and more fiscal responsibility and ethical behavior.

What does this shift mean to HR?

1) HR must be able to make a business case for people related investments. Just as marketing outlines it's expected ROI for marketing related spends, HR must do the same thing. For example, if HR proposes organizational wide training, what is the expected return in terms of sales, productivity and performance.

2) HR needs to get its HR data house in order. Historically in HR we have stored data in many disparate systems. I see this issue is changing with talent management systems that integrate many HR functions in one platform. Data also needs to be standardized across platforms so that analysis can be performed. One more issue with the data..it needs to be clean. Data integrity and data entry standards must be addressed.

3) HR must perform analytics on its own data. I know I beat this drum loudly and I know I have a bias to action in this arena. However, we HAVE to provide insight to our C-Suite when it comes to people related data and information. In most service related companies the people spend can be 50-80% of budget. So, understanding how that spend is performing is crucial information our C-Suite needs and wants.

4) HR must make decisions based on data too. HR has been guilty over the last few decades of using gut feel to make HR related decisions. I "feel" like we need a wellness program instead of "if we implement a wellness program it will save $500K in insurance expense per year and only cost us $250k to create."

So, what are you hearing and observing regarding data and decisions? Is your leadership team asking for more or less data? What are you doing about it?

Image source: http://www.funderstanding.com/v2/gurus/decision-making-and-right-brain-left-brain/

Day 1: Halogen Conference Recap

2011-09-19T11:03:00.000-07:00

Halogen's User's Conference kicked off last night at the Atlanta Hyatt. With over 300 attendees, the conference was off to a great start.

This morning we heard opening remarks from Paul Loucks, CEO of Halogen. He spoke of his customer focus. Paul was just not saying "nice to hear words." He was actually giving examples of their customer intimacy strategy citing examples of user advisory boards, customer account managers and actually giving customers their product development person's name. It was refreshing. This strategy has certainly paid off as Halogen has been growing at 40% per year.

Paul also discussed Big Picture Talent Management. The idea is that by linking your typically siloed HR functions like compensation, recruiting, onboarding, succession planning, to your organizational strategy you will have the platform to build a world-class workforce. Halogen gets linkage and their software is built in a way that allows their company to leverage talent in a world-class way.

I had the honor of presenting the keynote this morning. My topic was "HR's 5 Most Important Roles in Talent Management." The roles we discussed were:

1) Strategic Role-Be a strategic planner and an executer

2) Performance Manager Role-Pay for performance and mean it

3) Goal Cascader Role-Make sure all employees know what is expected and how they will be measured.

4) Talent Manager-Hire the best, Succession planning is a must to be competitive. Talent mobility allows organizations to be flexible and competitive.

5) Metrics Guru-Tracking measures like cost per hire and days to fill are no longer enough. It's all about being predictive using analytics.

I had the pleasure of attending a Session conducted by Sean Conrad and one of Halogen's customers, Scott Chase, Human Capital Manager at INTRAA. Their session was on goal alignment. My big take-away there was that not only do you cascade goals down from the organizational level to the departmental level but you also need to cascade goals up from employees to managers. The reason for this is so that employees are ENGAGED with their own goals. Makes perfect sense!

To round out the day, I participated on a bloggers panel that included:

1) Kris Dunn from the HR Capitalist

2) Chris Havrilla from Recruiting Chicks

3) Mike Haberman from HR Observations

With Kris as our ring leader discussing "Tools to Attract and Retain Your All-Star Talent Pool." The panel discussed interesting ways to attract and retain talent in a medium sized business environment. Company culture was also discussed as an attraction and retention tool.

"Culture has to be created deliberately or one will be created for you."

I wonder who said that very wise statement....

If you are interested in reading all the tweets, check out the back channel at #HSUC11.