It’s Not Fair ….

I’ve just returned from a wonderful week’s holiday on the beautiful Isle of Mull in Scotland.  It’s a place which holds special memories for me as I grew up in Glengorm on the island’s remote northern coast.  In fact we stayed in the same house that I lived in as a child – it’s now a holiday let.  We travelled there with two of my grandchildren, five year old Kyle and Charlie who’s nearly three.      Both children loved their short taste of island life.  Charlie is a huge fan of ‘Balamory’, the children’s TV programme, some of which was filmed in Tobermory - the island’s main town.  He thoroughly enjoyed a tour of the town looking out for the places where his favourite characters might just be lurking…

The highlight of Kyle’s holiday came one evening.  Just behind the cottage is a hill and from its summit there’s a magnificent view across the sea towards the distant islands of Rhum, Eigg and Canna.  It’s not big, probably about 20 metres high, but very rocky and there’s no discernible path to the top.  He wanted to climb it, not for the view, but because it looked difficult.  I’d told him how I used to climb up there as a child and he was unable to resist the challenge. 

There was a problem though.  Charlie was too small to take part in this adventure, his little legs just wouldn’t cope with the climb and I didn’t fancy the idea of carrying him.  So, to Charlie’s utter dismay, Kyle and I set off alone to tackle the ‘mountain’.  As we got ready, Charlie, who was being left behind with his grandfather, was distraught.  His sobs and cries of ‘it’s not fair, me go too’ echoed in our ears as we left the house. 

We made it to the top just in time to see a glorious sunset.  Clambering up the rocks, looking for suitable hand and foot-holes was a revelation to Kyle, who lives in a large town near London and had never experienced such an activity before.  He was very proud of his achievement and insisted on being photographed so that he could show off to everyone back home.  By the time we got back to the cottage, it was nearly dark.  Charlie was curled up on the sofa, fast asleep, but still clutching the toy he’d been given as ‘compensation’ for not being able to go with us. 

‘It’s not fair..’.  How many times do we, as HR professionals hear that plea?  Whether it’s someone who didn’t get that promotion or pay rise or holiday request.  Whether a disparity in benefits, working hours or terms and conditions, employees invariably complain to us about whatever it may be and expect us to put things right. 

Often we do but sometimes we simply can’t.  There are many situations where, much as we may want to change things, circumstances outwith our control mean that we have to accept that we can’t solve a problem to everyone’s satisfaction.  Luckily we don’t often have to deal with a toddler’s tantrum, although sometimes it feels that way …. 

To paraphrase the words of Niebuhr - ‘Grant me serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference’.

Sheena McLullich

Has this inspired you to discuss HR?  Leave your comments here.

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What Use is HR?

Welcome to Discuss HR, the HR blog written by Human Resources UK. 

After Kate Griffiths-Lambeth very topical last post, she moves onto another always topical subject, namely the value of HR. (Ed Scrivener)

What Use is HR?

HR has come a long way - as indicated by this antiquated joke:  Eric, a long-serving administrator in the Personnel Department, who shared an office with his boss, was always puzzled by the fact that, whenever his superior was required to sign a letter, he would slide open his desktop drawer, peer inside, smile and nod, before reclosing it, picking up his pen and adding his moniker and title with a flourish onto the document.

Eventually his boss retired and Eric was promoted to Personnel Manager.  As expected, he moved to the big desk.

Curiosity finally getting the better of him, he opened the drawer...  It was empty, other than a piece of paper stuck to the base, on which was written the simple comment “2 Ns and 1 L”.

The days of HR being little more than a paper-pusher, coordinating the documentation for employees and management, with little understanding and certainly no involvement in decision making, have passed in most businesses, not least because cost constraints mean that there is no room to carry non-contributing individuals.  However, not all organisations (and regrettably not all HR professionals) really appreciate what HR really can and should do to help organisations achieve their goals.  A survey, published by KPMG in late 2012, highlights the fact that HR still has a way to go – just 17% of respondents (418 senior executives drawn from both HR and other functions) believed that “HR does a good job of demonstrating its value to the business”. 

There is no doubt that over the past six years there has been a preoccupation with costs and as a consequence HR has had to become “more efficient” – this is not the same as “more effective”.  The world of work has and is undergoing significant change, including:

• globalisation,
• flexible working,
• the ability to relocate administrative, low margin tasks to less expensive locations,
• automation through technology,
• increased requirement for meaningful information and metrics,
• increased self-service (often to provide the above),
• real-time data and analytics on tap for managers about their team and broader business issues,
• off-shoring and outsourcing of shared services, payroll, recruitment, legal advice and remuneration and tax specialist advice, etc

The above are now seen as normal, cost-effective approaches to business.  They also risk making HR appear redundant, as many of the traditional services provided by HR are no longer needed to be performed in that way, they can be provided in a different and more cost-effective manner.  But, all coins have two sides.  Aren’t we lucky, all this change and innovation has given us the space to free ourselves from the routine tasks so we can add value?

 

Successful businesses are dependent on talented people to execute the strategy.  Strategy is useless without people.  They need to be supported, developed, trained and equipped to be successful and that is where HR should be seen to be operating.  HR’s value is the:

• understanding,
• attracting,
• retaining,
• monitoring,
• supporting,
• inspiring and
• growing of talent

in a dynamic way that keeps abreast of change and puts the best skills in the most appropriate locations, to ensure growth and sustainability.  HR must enable the execution of strategy through building and enhancing organisational capability – to do so we must have in-depth understanding of the organisation’s strategy, what the business and its employees are and could be capable of and be able to introduce effective approaches to bridge the gap.  We must be innovative, agile and responsive – much like the organisations in which we work. Most importantly, we must be seen to be so – so that people have confidence in us and our recommendations.

So of course HR has a purpose.

However, we are very poor at looking after our own needs.  To be capable of being effective, as opposed to just efficient, HR itself needs to be supported, developed and inspired and grow its own capabilities - commercial understanding, business process redesign, organisational design, job design, strategic workforce planning – these are all things we need to apply to our own function as well as to the businesses we support.  We need to take action, not just have thoughts to be kept in the top drawer.

Read about Kate and our other authors here

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Discuss HR is the HR blog written by members of Human Resources UK, the 10,000 member strong LinkedIn group dedicated to the HR professionals in the UK.  Discuss HR is published twice weekly and looks to take an insightful, informative and sometimes irreverent view on the world of HR – all with the purpose of generating a discussion.

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If you would like to be a guest writer for Discuss HR, you can find more information here.  Our next guest writer week is the week commencing 26^th August.

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The web is mightier than the sword

Welcome to Discuss HR, the HR blog written by Human Resources UK. 

Jane Malone returns today from the beach to look at why we need to be exercise restrain when publishing communication across the internet and social media. (Ed Scrivener)

The web is mightier than the sword

As news of the suspected terror attack in South East London began to hit our TV screens and online news pages last week, what struck me was how quickly the horror of the unfolding events was reported; communicated in real time, through the use of smart phones, twitter, YouTube and other communications media. 

My thoughts turned to the family, friends and colleagues of the deceased and the insensitivity of the reporting of often graphic images and descriptions of the attack whilst details of the attack, including the identity of the soldier were yet to be confirmed.

Such events serve to demonstrate how the media, righty or wrongly, no longer has full control over when and how news is communicated, or even what news is broadcast.  Whilst it may be argued that the evolution of communications media has enabled a greater freedom of communication on the part of the general public and a shift in the balance of power away from the media, it does raise questions as to the appropriate use of communication technology in the reporting of news and events.

The web is in many ways mightier than the sword, in that once information is in the public domain it cannot easily be removed or taken back.  Whilst we should embrace a world where we have instant access to a wealth of online information, albeit some of which needs to be taken at face value, care needs to be taken as to what information is communicated, how and to whom.

Translated into the workplace, both employers and employees alike need to take care of their online presence and reputation; earlier this month it was reported how the father of William Avery Wright learnt that his son had been killed when the 13-year-old’s boarding school published the news of his death on its website before he was able to reach the hospital.  Whilst this is highly regrettable, it is thankfully a rare, but nonetheless high profile error.   It does demonstrate however how organisations need to fully consider the impact on stakeholders before communicating important information.

The detrimental effect that information communicated online can potentially have upon your career was seen recently when the young police and crime commissioner Paris Brown was force to resign just days after taking up post after tweets she had posted up to 3 years earlier,  which could be considered to be racist and anti-gay, came to light.  This case opened debate as to whether an individual’s online presence should be verified as part of the recruitment process.  Whilst there may be some roles or organisations where this may be appropriate others should perhaps take a more common sense approach and we should all give more detailed consideration to the information we share online as both employers and employees.

Read about Jane and our other authors here

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Discuss HR is the HR blog written by members of Human Resources UK, the 10,000 member strong LinkedIn group dedicated to the HR professionals in the UK.  Discuss HR is published twice weekly and looks to take an insightful, informative and sometimes irreverent view on the world of HR – all with the purpose of generating a discussion.

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If you would like to be a guest writer for Discuss HR, you can find more information here.  Our next guest writer week is the week commencing 26^th August.

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Always on ….

Welcome to Discuss HR, the HR blog written by Human Resources UK. 

Following on from her last post our original HRD Sheena McLullich writes about a topic many of us will be able to relate to. (Ed Scrivener)

Always on ….

When I went on holiday last year, I did something really radical.  I left my blackberry at home.  I also left my glasses in the car and had to make an undignified dash after check-in from the terminal back to the long-stay car park at Gatwick airport, but that’s another story…  The blackberry was both deliberate and planned. 

A couple of confessions here – firstly, I have two blackberries.  One personal and one for work.  I took my personal one with me as I knew I would need it to check-in for the second leg of the flights.  Secondly, I am not addicted to my smartphone(s) unlike almost half of users, according to a recent Post Office survey.  Some of my fellow Discuss HR writers may disagree with me on that point as, when we met up for lunch the other week, I did check my phone a few times.  I was the contact point for anyone who was running late or couldn’t find the restaurant – right?  But then there was that fascinating message about a car hi-jacking outside one of our offices and I was waiting for news of a legal settlement …

I resisted getting a mobile phone for some time after they first became popular (and portable!).  At that time, my job involved travelling throughout Scotland visiting our other offices and various client sites, often being away from home overnight.  Eventually I figured it would be easier for the kids to have one single phone number they could contact me on rather than working their way down the list of possible numbers that I’d left for them.   It made life easier for me as well.  I didn’t need to make sure that I had a stack of change to make a nightly call home or deduct major ‘sundry’ amounts from my hotel bills prior to submitting expenses claims. 

Sometimes there were problems.  I was working in New York at the same time as we were buying a house back in England.  The solicitors called me one morning to say that they were ready to exchange contracts.  It was 9:00 am in England – 4:00 am in New York when my mobile burst into life!  The strains of my ‘Scotland the Brave’ ringtone probably disturbed quite a few residents in that particular hotel that night.  I did explain to the lawyers where I was and they did apologise – and then they phoned me back half an hour later to say that they’d exchanged.  I was, of course, delighted …

So, did I miss having my phone with me on holiday last year?  Well, yes actually.  There was a problem with an expense claim and I ended up having to call our Finance Director from the top of a mountain in Corsica – the only place I could get a signal.  I didn’t have his number in my personal mobile so I had to make several calls to our various offices before I was able to track him down.  However, it was the assorted reactions of people that I related this tale to that I found most interesting.  Many were surprised, some incredulous, that I could even consider not taking my blackberry with me – despite the fact I was on holiday.  I’d left other members of the HR team in charge during my absence, they were fully briefed on any relevant issues and they had my personal number in case of any insurmountable problems. 

So why do some people find it difficult, or even impossible, to do the same?  Is it fear of missing out (apparently ‘FEMO’ is a recognised social malaise in these days of 24/7 connectivity) or a mis-placed sense that our employers can’t (or shouldn’t be able to) survive without us for a few days?  One Director I worked with phoned the office several times a day from his Indian Ocean ‘hideaway’ – until his girlfriend chucked the offending mobile to the bottom of the swimming pool.  If you don’t find that anecdote at all funny, perhaps you too need to check your ability to switch off – or are you ‘always on’?

Read about Sheena and our other authors here

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Discuss HR is the HR blog written by members of Human Resources UK, the 10,000 member strong LinkedIn group dedicated to the HR professionals in the UK.  Discuss HR is published twice weekly and looks to take an insightful, informative and sometimes irreverent view on the world of HR – all with the purpose of generating a discussion.

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If you would like to be a guest writer for Discuss HR, you can find more information here.  Our next guest writer week is the week commencing 29^th April.

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Valentine's Day for Business

Welcome to Discuss HR, the HR blog written by Human Resources UK. 

Today’s Discuss HR has a distinctly romantic feel and Una Doyle looks at how you can create deeper connections. (Ed Scrivener)

Valentine's Day for Business

Whether or not you are a romantic, this is a great opportunity to remind yourself to 'spread the love' in your business. Valentine's Day is all about making new and/or deeper connections. How could you do this in your workplace? Look to demonstrate your commitment, value and appreciation.

You might want to start with romancing yourself. When was the last time that you sat down and wrote down your accomplishments in the last year or few years? Large or small, get them all down and congratulate yourself for what you have achieved. Treat yourself with a special meal, a trip away or even a nice soak in the bath with a good book. It will be hard to make others feel special, if you don't feel special yourself.

Make sure you are really clear about the value you offer to your team and customers. Think about ways you could increase the amount of time you get to spend working in your strengths to increase your value to the business - and have more fun.

If you are working in a team then make sure to thank each and every team member for their contribution. Write them a note of what you value most in them and their work. Not only will it give them a warm fuzzy, they'll likely do more of whatever you wrote and improve their performance. Just use a plain card or one with a picture on it though, rather than an actual Valentine's card - you don't want your staff to think you have romantic attachments!

If you are a HR consultant/self-employed, do the same with your suppliers as they are your team. What do they do that enables you to focus on your strengths and have a stronger and more sustainable business?

When it comes to customers, what could you do to make them feel special too? Make sure it's not just a special offer but something free that's genuinely of value. It doesn't have to be a product or something that costs you. It could simply be a list of useful resources or an e-guide on a hot topic.

Highlight your top customers and send them a Valentine's card explaining what you appreciate about them as a customer - perhaps how they are great to deal with, or even what they do for their customers that you think is wonderful. This applies just the same to internal customers.

With everybody, make sure to consider their personality type and how they may prefer to receive this appreciation. Some would love for you to talk with them face-to-face or on the phone, others would prefer to see what you say in writing and could be embarrassed if in person.

In order to thank others, you'll first need to truly consider their strengths and weaknesses and how these show up in performance. What difference is each individual really making to business performance? How do they make your life, your team's or your customers' lives that bit easier?

This clarity on who delivers what kind of value and communication around it can deepen your connection with those that you work with because it builds trust.

This trust is vital In order to stand out in your marketplace. A sustainable career and business depends upon effective collaboration over the long term, whether a solopreneur or multinational corporate.

The special bonus is that you get to feel good by making others feel good. Go on - make their day!

Read about Una and our other authors here

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Discuss HR is the HR blog written by members of Human Resources UK, the 10,000 member strong LinkedIn group dedicated to the HR professionals in the UK.  Discuss HR is published twice weekly and looks to take an insightful, informative and sometimes irreverent view on the world of HR – all with the purpose of generating a discussion.

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If you would like to be a guest writer for Discuss HR, you can find more information here.  Our next guest writer week is the week commencing 29^th April.

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Altitude Marketing Seeks Marketing & Communication Manager

Please share this job posting with any candidates you think may fit the position - 

Altitude is seeking a public relations professional with at least 5 years of experience.

But wait. Keep reading. There’s a lot more to it than that.

The digital age has flipped the PR game on its ear. Email, blogs, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest – the Internet has revolutionized the tools that lead to successful PR efforts. And while “traditional” outlets continue to play important roles, it’s a whole new PR ballgame out there.

Now look at it from the big picture view – what we call the View from 30,000 Feet. As an integrated marketing agency, Altitude ensures that all of our clients’ marketing efforts work together in lockstep – website, email, PR, advertising, direct mail, videos, events, trade shows and social media in careful coordination.

What will you be doing day-to-day?

• Managing media relations for select clients in a variety of B2B industries, including financial services, insurance, life sciences and information technology
• Managing media relations for select B2C clients
• Supervising the Communications Coordinator, Event Planning Coordinator and PR Specialists
• Writing and distributing regular client marketing communications, including press releases, website news items, enewsletter articles, blog posts and more, often repurposing existing content
• Managing production and distribution of email marketing campaigns
• Managing and executing social media campaigns in conjunction with our Digital Marketing Manager
• Submitting award nominations and industry publication articles for clients

More information can be found here. 

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HR, stop selling & start listening

Welcome to this week’s Discuss HR, the HR blog written by and for members of Human Resources UK.

I would just like to start off with a huge thank you to you all for supporting our networking events.  The London event sold out earlier this week and I am expecting the Bristol one to follow soon, so I hope you all do some great networking there!  I should hopefully be announcing the Birmingham and Manchester events by the end of the week too.  You can find more information about the events here http://goo.gl/jQuv7

One of the popular events is held in Newcastle and that is largely due to the drive of Antoinette Oglethorpe to build an active group.  So we know Antoinette is a great networker, but she also turns out to be a great blogger too! Today she is our latest guest blogger and she looks at why HR need to listen to their organisation’s needs rather than making presumptions. (Ed Scrivener)

HR, stop selling & start listening

The finance team just wouldn't listen!

As a profession, HR spends a fair time agonising over how to raise our profile as a strategic partner and add value to the business.

The accepted wisdom is that we need to “sell the benefit” of HR.  But I am inclined to disagree.  I believe that mindset is what gets in the way and makes it difficult.

You see the terminology of “selling the benefit” comes straight out of product sales training.  It smacks of a scenario where the challenge is to persuade managers to buy whatever it is that HR wants to give them by pointing out all the benefits HR thinks they will get as a result.

The difficulty with this is that HR is looking at the challenge of introducing an idea only from their perspective.  As professionals they know the “right” answer regarding people in the business and they see their job as persuading managers to do what is right.

I came across this situation the other day when speaking with a client.  The central Learning & Development team have developed an online Career Development Portal for employees.  It’s a good portal and the intention is a positive one in terms of retaining and developing employees.  They are now increasingly frustrated by what they make out to be the lack of buy-in from managers who need to have career conversations with employees to realise the benefit of the portal.

The difficulty here is that managers will only buy into something if they see it is going to solve a problem or meet a need or wish that they have.  And if they trust the solution they are buying in to is in line with their priorities and interests.

If HR is to be a true strategic partner they need to stop designing processes and initiatives that need “selling” to the business.  Instead they need to start listening to what the business needs and designing the services that will address those needs efficiently and effectively.

One way of doing that is to use your critics as designers.  This is an approach that I’ve learnt and adapted from Mike Harris, founding CEO of telephone bank Firstdirect and Internet bank Egg. 

I'm all ears!!

In his book, Find Your Lightbulb, Mike Harris describes how First Direct brought the critics out in full force.  Even his own mother joined the masses of banking experts and strategy consultants in telling him what a bad idea it was.  “That’s never going to work” she said.  “You are wasting your time with that telephone banking nonsense.  People hate using the telephone – they get passed from pillar to post, having to repeat the same story over and over again”

Her reaction inspired him to produce several statements of intent such as “We will answer the phone within three rings”.  These became the fundamental principles for Firstdirect and were at the heart of the exceptional service and customer loyalty for which it became famous.

I encourage you to take a similar approach to designing your HR initiatives by following these three steps:

1. Write down all the reasons you think managers will give for why an HR idea or initiative won’t work for your organisation
2. Get as many reasons “why not” in as much detail as possible
3. Now go through the list using your judgement and intuition.  Pick the most valid and important insights and turn them into “statements of intent” that address the objections.

For example, taking my client’s example above, a frequent objection is that career conversations can take too much time.  So the statement of intent could be “provide a framework of 3 questions that can enable a career conversation in 10-15 minutes” or “no career conversation will take longer than 30 minutes”.

We know that HR has real value to add.  By looking through the eyes of our managers and designing services that meet their needs, they will start to see it to.  They won’t need selling.

About the Author

Antoinette Oglethorpe is a Leadership Development & Career Management Consultant.  She provides coaching, training and facilitation services to help organisations develop their leaders and to help leaders develop their careers, drive change and achieve business growth.

Email |LinkedIn |Twitter |Website

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Discuss HR is the blog for Human Resources UK, the leading LinkedIn group for those involved with HR in the UK.  Next week’s Discuss HR will be written by employment law expert Annabel Kaye.

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The 7 C’s of Great Internal Communication

Welcome to this week’s Discuss HR, the HR blog written for and by members of Human Resources UK.

Firstly, a bit of group business.  Look out for the announcement tomorrow when I will release details of the forthcoming networking events.  As always they’re free to attend; just for those involved in HR; and are sales free environments.

I promised last week not to make any mention to the Olympics, but I’m afraid I have been completely swept up by how amazing it has been.  The performances of the athletes has been nothing short of outstanding.  One of the performances that impressed me most was that of Etienne Stott and Tim Baillie who won GB’s first ever gold medal in the Slalom Canoeing.  I was so amazed out how they both knew exactly what the other needed to do to traverse the rapids and it was clear their communication skills are exemplary.  Which takes me very nicely into this week’s post written by regular writer Una Doyle who looks at what makes good communication. (Ed Scrivener)

The 7 C’s of Great Internal Communication

(I always seem to misunderstand... Ed)

Before I share these Cs with you I need to get something off my chest.

Just because you communicate every day doesn’t mean that you are automatically great at it…

Ouch! I know it hurts, yet I won’t apologise for that statement because I see time and time again how people believe that because they email, hold conversations, attend and run meetings every day that they are somehow an expert communicator. That’s like me thinking that because I drive to work everyday I could race in Formula 1 tomorrow!

Though these seven points can apply to all communication, in this article I want to pay attention to how HR and management can improve the quality of their internal communication, particularly in this time of constant change.

The fact is that poor internal communication leads to misunderstandings, wasted time and effort, ineffective change and even disengaged staff and cynicism. According to research by author Russell-Oliver Brooklands all this could be costing your organisation hundreds of thousands every year (free ebook with financial audit of your internal communication: http://www.internalcommunicationmodel.com/ebooks.htm).

1. Communication vs Communications

That extra ‘s’ at the end can be the difference between thinking of communication as a discipline and thinking of it as a bunch of materials. The former is about looking to use communication to support achieving your organisational objectives, the latter is “I need a leaflet for this project”.

Communication is often an after-thought. For instance change programmes often bring in a communication professional late in the process after the damage has already been done. Give the importance of communication some consideration from the very beginning.

2. Clarity

Whether you are communicating in writing or in person keep sentences reasonably short with one point per sentence and one theme per paragraph or slide.

Look at the structure of what you wish to communicate. Is it in the right order? Are all the points necessary? What questions might be asked when somebody reads or hears this?

Another tip from Brooklands is to drop the ‘we’ and ‘our’ as much as possible. His research has shown that because people don’t necessarily know who the ‘we’ or ‘our’ refers to they subconsciously switch off.

For instance when you say ‘our’ does that mean ‘our team’, ‘our department’, ‘our organisation’ or even ‘our industry’? Be specific about which ‘who’ you are actually referring to.

3. Credibility

Where the credibility lies can vary from organisation to organisation and team to team. In many cases it will be the senior management team, in some, the local line managers may have more impact with staff if there is a lot of cynicism and mistrust of the top team.

In a world of over-communication, don’t underestimate the importance of endorsement in making a message stand out. After all, that’s why celebrities and sports stars are paid millions to endorse products in advertising.

4. Consistency

The positive impact of people from different departments sitting down to lunch and discovering they’ve been told the same thing by different people in the organisation is immense! Look to create situations where this happens all the time and you will be amazed at the results.

Be a part of the grapevine rather than it being an underground swell of alternative messages. This means that you really need buy in from middle management to communicating these messages.

Sometimes this is more challenging if they don’t buy in to the content of the message. At Intel they have a motto ‘disagree then commit’ that allows staff to air their views for discussion, however once a decision is made everybody commits to seeing it through.

This does require that the key messages of every programme and initiative are thought through and the relevant ones go through every communication like in a stick of Blackpool rock.

5. Congruence

This is the C that is often the most challenging because it involves people and their character. Help leaders and managers to move from “Do as I say not as I do” behaviours to doing what they say.

Why should employees behave the way they are asked when they see others not doing so? Alignment between the organisation’s values, the integrity and behaviour of senior staff and communication is vital for it to have a positive impact.

6. Call to action

This often-missing C can have a big impact on the outcome of your communication. Before you begin to put something together decide on what you want people to do as a result of it. So often with internal communication people will say that they ‘just want staff to know’. Great internal communication will be much more specific.

Some examples of specific outcomes could be:

• To apply a new health and safety procedure
• To use a new process
• To increase buy in to the organisation’s values
• To understand a new structure so they know who to work with on different things

7. Comment and feedback

Communication is not a one-way street. It is essential that staff get the opportunity to safely ask questions and provide feedback. Some great ways of facilitating two-way conversations are one-to-one meetings, team briefings, director Q&A sessions, staff forums, suggestion schemes and surveys.

It is imperative to report back to staff on feedback received from them, ideally by demonstrating how the organisation is acting on it or at least explaining why no action is being taken.

To open up further dialogue, I’d like to ask you, "In what ways could you apply these points to improve your communication results?" Please share your ideas, I would love to hear from you.

About the author

Una Doyle is an accredited Talent Dynamics Performance Consultant and an award-winning speaker, coach and consultant. Una has worked with organisations such as Argos, Asda, Yorkshire Forward, Kodak and local authorities from a one-to-one basis, to groups as large as 2,000.   She is passionate about helping to create intrapreneur teams; getting the right people, in the right place, doing the right things with ownership and commercial acumen. Una has learned how to apply many of the world’s top-thinkers’ ideas in a way that is simple, profound, gets massive bottom-line results and a more empowered, motivated and engaged workforce.

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Discuss HR is the blog for Human Resources UK, the leading LinkedIn group for those involved with HR in the UK.  Next week’s Discuss HR will be written by experienced HR Director Sheena McLullich. 

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Are exit interviews really worth it?

Welcome to this week’s Discuss HR, the HR blog written for and by members of Human Resources UK.

Following on from yesterday we all know each other a little bit better now!  Based upon the comments I’ve received so far it seems everyone had a very good time.  We have one more event this month in Newcastle on 31^st (see their specific subgroup for more details).

It sounds rather obvious, but one of the key traits to networking is listening.  This is also a key trait in today’s topic – exit interviews.  I am very pleased to welcome our latest guest writer, seasoned blogger and HR Consultant Sharon Clews.  In the article Sharon very eloquently argues with herself about the pros and cons of exit interviews.  We would really love to know your thoughts and which argument you agree with.  (Ed Scrivener)

Are exit interviews really worth it?

I have been called the Exit Interview Queen. I was a staunch advocate for the use of them at every organisation I worked in. I formulated all the questions, made sure my team knew they had to complete them and of course, was the first person to schedule one when anyone resigned. But I find myself wondering now, are they really worth it?

What happens to the information you glean from a potentially disgruntled employee? Alternatively, is there anything you could possibly gain from an employee who loves the company and doesn’t see the need for change? Will you take that information and pass it on to the departments who really need it? Are you going to confront the Manager of Marketing and tell her that all her staff hates her and that they see her as a hindrance to the business? (If you do, hopefully it’s in more professional terms!). Will she take the advice?

How much of what you learn is constructive? If you do have feedback to give, in the case of the Marketing Manager for example, are your team skilled and disciplined enough to make that feedback effective and to deliver that message with the care it needs. What does it mean for the culture of your organisation?

With stakeholder management foremost in your mind, how will you determine what is best for the business?

The argument for.

At the end of any period of time in a job, there is nothing more satisfying than being asked why you are leaving. Whether that reason is based on dissatisfaction or euphoria, sometimes it is just delicious to get that opinion off your chest.

To be listened to and heard may well seem an opportunity you can’t afford to miss. Of course if you have been working for an organisation that values your input, hopefully nothing you say will be news to them – they would have heard it all before in your performance review, monthly one-on-ones, in weekly team meetings and in your regular ideas sessions.

As an employee, always take the opportunity to have an exit interview. Deliver what you need to say with professionalism and grace, and always with the best interests of the business at heart – regardless of what has personally happened to you. You will always be remembered for your poise in a difficult situation and that augurs well when references are being handed out.

From the organisation’s perspective, one of the strongest arguments for conducting exit interviews concerns the retention of knowledge. Clearly it might be too late to ask the departing employee to handover all they know, on their last day. This is an opportunity if there are no processes in place, to (preferably) finalise their handover process or at least get as much information as you can out of the employees head before they leave. It’s a very dangerous situation indeed when someone working for the organisation decides to leave after 32 years and nobody knows how to do their job. In times of downturn and recession, this is a real concern for business.

A vast majority of employees, having made their decision to leave, may be more forthcoming with their opinions on what needs fixing. Although this information must be tempered, it could give specific insight into process improvement, management, culture and environment and even how external dealings are made with customers or suppliers.

If you aregoing to carry out an exit interview, perhaps do it as the employee resigns, not as they are walking out the door. Many of these interviews are the last thing an employee has to do before they walk away from your organisation. You may catch them in a better frame of mind as they resign. Attitudes towards work can change rapidly if having to work out notice is not their preferred choice.

The argument against.

Does your organisation have a performance management framework? Do supervisors and managers have conversations with their staff once (or hopefully more!) per year? If so, what other information do you think you will glean from an exit interview. People leave their jobs for a variety of reasons, on financial grounds, career advancement, relocation or disputes with managers or values within organisations. I am an outspoken extrovert and yet, the last exit interview I gave, the very last thing I wanted to do was tell the truth. Why? Because I knew that nothing I said would be heeded. No feedback I gave was any more relevant on the last day than it was on the first. Our values differed greatly.

Of course there are other kinds of feedback people can provide. A staff member leaving could share information on process improvement, networking opportunities, new ideas. I then ask myself, why was this person not listened to during the time they worked there?

If your managers and supervisors are true leaders, then they are meeting regularly with their people to engage them with the business strategy and find ways of working that will continually challenge the business. They are having discussions with their people about their goals, ambitions and commitment to the business. If this is happening and your performance management system works, then there is always ample opportunity for your team to contribute to ideas for the business, continuous improvement projects and even direct feedback on how they are being managed

If you do wish to continue with exit interviews then here are some basic guidelines that could help:

• Have someone other than a direct report, up or down, do the interviewing and not just the HR Manager. Some of the most honest and informative exit interviews I have seen have been done by trusted peers.
• Make sure the questions are relevant. Try and elicit the real response for why someone is leaving. Ask about the main reason and then ask if there are other reasons.
• Do something with the data. Whatever responses you get from the interview, it is the HR Department’s job to give the feedback, investigate any claims, encourage process improvement and even alter policy if and when appropriate.
• Do the interview face to face. Perhaps even off-site. Someone face to face is better than a phone call or online survey. Hire a consultant if necessary.
• Ensure the interview is relevant. Different techniques and styles need to be used depending upon the reason the person has for leaving.

Whatever you decide, ensure you do it thoroughly and respectfully for both the departing employee and the organisation. Get to the real issue of why you are doing the interview and follow up with any suggestions the employee makes. Either remedy issues immediately that can be fixed, or highlight others as projects to focus on. If you do the interviews, make sure that what you take away from them sticks!

Exit interviews are seen to be an evolved state of a strategically aligned HR Department. They leave the employee feeling cared about and listened to. These are powerful emotions when thinking about future talent attraction and retention. The information you get from an exit interview can be a real insight into what the business needs if you value your people and their opinions.

I am genuinely very torn on this subject. I welcome all comments to help me get off the fence on this one.

About the author

Sharon returned to London in 2008 and started her own consultancy business, taking a change in direction from Human Resources Management to Social Media business strategy consulting. Sharon now works with a select group of clients in both arenas, HR and Social Media; helping them in areas of management, change consulting and communications.

Sharon’s career experience includes a recent project within the Financial Services Industry and time within the higher education sector as the Manager of Operations and Human Resources for the University of Queensland Press and the University of South Australia. Her roles oversaw strategic change management and business transformation initiatives.  She also has broad experience elsewhere in public and private sectors working within the areas of sales and marketing, client relationship management and project management.

Sharon holds a Post Graduate HR Development degree from the Queensland University of Technology and is currently studying French, philosophy and guitar.

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Discuss HR is the blog for Human Resources UK, the leading LinkedIn group for those involved with HR in the UK.  Next week’s Discuss HR will be published on Thursday 17^th May and will be written by Leadership Coach Dorothy Nesbit.

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