Figure 6.1 shows the hierarchy of HR processes.
UNDERSTAND STRATEGIC DIRECTIVES AS LAID OUT IN STRATEGIC PLANNING
Understand the Organization’s Philosophy
So far, we have discussed Strategic Directives as laid down in strategic planning (Chapter 3). We have also discussed organizational philosophy toward HR in leadership (Chapter 2). Now, let us understand how cultures are important in HR management.
Understanding Regional Cultures
In addition to the ethnic culture, we are born into a regional culture. Life experiences are largely based on the geographical area where one is raised. A region could be
• A group of states, such as the religion of “The Bible Belt” in the United States (known for its strong Christian beliefs) or southern states of India with their strong religious traditions
• An entire state, like the gambling culture of Nevada or a military culture of Rajputs in India
• Parts of a state, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula versus Detroit for example or Saurashtra versus south Gujarat
• A city, considering the cultures specific to Boston or specific to Ahmedabad in Gujarat
FIGURE 6.1
HR processes.
Because of the transient nature of society, regional cultural traits are picked up originally from our parents and then modified or added to as we move from one region to another.
The most common regional culture is one’s nationality. People share experiences and learn to react in certain ways based on their nation. Overlay that with state or provincial cultures and you begin to see the complexity of this cultural distinction.
MANY DIMENSIONS OF CULTURAL ASSIMILATION
Cultural assimilation:
• An employee’s ability to fit within an organization’s culture is one dimension of cultural assimilation.
• It also means how an employee fits with customers, outside vendors, and other company associates.
• It refers to the geographic aspects of culture as well. In today’s global economy, it takes on a greater meaning.
The ability to “fit” within an organization is recognized as an essential aspect contributing to employee success. It is a major factor in the recruiting process. In fact, the cultural fit can become the deciding factor in whether an executive is chosen for a job over competitors.
The ability to “fit” within an organization has come to be recognized as an essential component contributing to employee success. It is also a major factor in the hiring process.
In fact, in a recent global survey of recruiters conducted by the executive search firm Korn/Ferry International, cultural fit was found to be a deciding factor in whether an executive is chosen for a job over competitors.
DEVELOP HIGH-PERFORMANCE WORK SYSTEMS
a. Value creation-process teams
b. Support process teams
c. Define communication plan
d. Conduct performance management
e. Identify reward systems
f. Define structure and staffing
g. Develop Organizational Capability Assessment (OCA)
Communication Plan
Communication Method |
Frequency |
Owner |
Intranet system |
As required |
IT manager |
Bulletin boards general |
Monthly |
HR manager |
Bulletin boards department |
Monthly |
Functional manager |
MESH system |
Monthly |
ISO140001 leader |
Bulletin boards shop floor metrics |
Monthly |
Production supervisors |
LSS activities |
As required |
LSS coordinator |
Round table meeting |
Monthly |
Staff |
Performance review |
Yearly |
Management |
Midyear performance review |
Yearly |
Management |
Departmental meetings |
Monthly |
Management |
Management meetings |
As required |
HR manager |
Goals and objectives |
Annually |
Staff |
a. Value Creation Process Teams
We have covered this item in Chapter 5 under “Work Councils.”
We have covered this item in Chapter 5 under “Work Councils.”
Communication plan is shown in Table 6.1.
d. Conduct Performance Management
APEX (Achieving Performance Excellence) Process
APEX is the key component of the overall performance management process that is used to support high-performance work for salaried employees. All employees participate in APEX, which includes establishing goals and identifying development needs. Each leader has goals established in APEX that are linked to the company president. The goals are focused on the achievement of the sales performance, profit performance, and OCA. Goals are communicated and cascaded down (Figure 6.2) to the direct reports and functional leaders within the organization at the annual HO Leadership Meeting. Each salaried employee’s goals are linked to the overall goals of the organization through APEX. Once goals are established and cascaded throughout HO, employees are expected to perform against their goals and are rewarded.
FIGURE 6.2
Cascaded goals.
An example of cascaded goals from the president, to the VP of manufacturing, to the engineering/quality manager is shown in Figure 6.2.
1. Goal Setting
Review expectations and priorities with manager.
Set SMART goals.
2. Competencies
Know which competencies apply to your role.
Select functional competencies as applicable.
3. Development Plans
On the basis of development needs, performance coaching plans are initiated.
The performance coaching process consists of six steps:
1. Set the stage
2. Agree on the standard or ideal
3. Agree on the actual performance
4. Determine the cause
5. Take action
6. Follow up
1. Set the Stage
The opening comments of the person who initiated the meeting should clearly state the purpose of the meeting. For example, “I’m concerned that project X is behind schedule. We’re meeting to see if problems exist and, if so, what we can do about them” or “I thought my presentation went well. We’re meeting to discuss what went especially well, what went less well, and how my next presentation can be even better.” If your manager initiated the meeting, you can help set the stage for a productive meeting by practicing the skill of active listening.
Tips for Active Listening
• Maintain eye contact and calm body language.
• Don’t interrupt.
• Don’t just listen to the words; listen to the feelings and meaning.
• Test your understanding by paraphrasing or summarizing what you heard before you respond.
• Ask questions to clarify or confirm your understanding.
• Acknowledge his or her feelings. Use statements such as “You seem frustrated about the delays.”
• State your own feelings. Feelings and emotions need to be dealt with before dealing with the content of the discussion.
• Active listening by you and your manager will result in a more open, comfortable, productive meeting. It’s important to create this climate during the first step of the process.
2. Agree on the Standard or Ideal
A frequent cause of performance issues is a difference in expectations. When a manager says “Get back to me as soon as possible,” he or she may be thinking before the end of the day, and you may be thinking before the end of the week. When an issue exists because of different standards, simply clarifying the standard may be all that is required to eliminate the issue. When the purpose of performance coaching is not to correct an issue but to improve a process or review lessons learned after completing a project, you still must define the standard, the expected results, or the ideal. For example, before discussing ways to improve a presentation, first discuss “What would an ideal presentation look like?” By agreeing on the standard or ideal, you have a framework for discussing actual performance. To help you agree on a standard, you may want to refer to your criteria for setting goals and expectations in your performance and development plans.
3. Agree on the Actual Performance
When the purpose of performance coaching is to solve an issue, four useful questions to ask are as follows:
1. What is the issue?
2. Where is the issue?
3. When does the issue happen?
4. How big is the issue?
It is also useful to define what the issue is not. For example, if project X is behind schedule but project Y is not, then the cause must be something unique to project X. When the purpose of performance coaching is not to discuss an issue but rather to “discuss what we learned from this experience,” don’t answer the “what, where, when” questions. Instead, use the characteristics of ideal performance to direct your analysis or simply consider the following:
• “What went best?”
• “What went least well?”
• “What were the strengths and weaknesses?”
In any event, always discuss “What happened?”—the actual performance—before discussing ways to improve performance.
4. Determine the Cause
The most effective and efficient actions to eliminate an issue are those that address its cause. Comparing what the issue is and is not usually prompts specific questions that lead to the cause. For example, why project X but not project Y? When the purpose of performance coaching is to debrief or to learn from a recently completed assignment, comparing what went best with what went least well often leads to insights and specific improvement ideas.
5. Take Action
The purpose of performance coaching is to take action to improve performance. The temptation is to jump straight to the “take action” step. This rarely works. By first discussing the standard, the actual performance, and the cause, you are better prepared to take effective actions. A productive way to identify possible solutions is to brainstorm with your manager. Simply generate a large number of possible actions. Don’t argue. Don’t agree or disagree. Don’t evaluate the ideas. Frequently ask, “What’s another idea?” After generating a large number of ideas (6 to 20, depending on the situation), test each idea against the cause and against other criteria you agree to use to evaluate the ideas.
Once you agree on the actions, create a specific plan for implementing each one. Put in writing “who will do what by when.”
6. Follow Up
Agree on ways to measure improvement. Then, schedule a time to meet with your manager to review progress so you can modify the plan if it is not working or to celebrate success if it is.
1. Tracking and Monitor Progress
• Keep notes
• Inform manager of progress and challenges
2. Midyear Progress Check
• Submit progress
• Discuss progress with manager
• Continue tracking and monitor progress
Figure 6.3 shows Performance Evaluation Workflow.
• Performance evaluation
• Self-evaluation
• Manager evaluation
• Functional manager
• Second-level approval
FIGURE 6.3
Performance Evaluation Workflow.
e. Identify Reward, Recognition, and Incentive Systems
The process includes compensation strategies, recognition programs, and incentives. It is targeted toward reinforcing a high-performance, customer, and business focus through the deployment of merit increases, executive incentive compensation, sales incentive compensation, stock options, the Star Points program, and various localized compensation strategies and recognition plans. The merit increase process is championed by the president and the HR director to ensure alignment between the performance ratings and the merit pay increase. This analysis is conducted for all salaried employees. Executive and sales incentive payments are directly tied to successful achievement of business goals. An annual calibration meeting for all employees participating in executive incentive compensation is conducted by the HR director and championed by the president.
Stock options are used to retain and motivate employees at certain levels with additional options offered to individuals who perform at exemplary levels during the year.
The Star program is one avenue for rewarding employees for outstanding achievement.
f. Define Structure and Staffing and Develop OCA
Skills needed by potential employees are identified by the job design process, the strategic plan, and OCA.
Human capital plans are developed in the OCA, on the basis of the needs identified in the strategic plan. This includes planning for skills needed for key strategic business plans on a global basis. There are numerous examples of this in the OCA, such as
• Hiring a sales leader for South Africa to accelerate turnaround.
• Determining the sales and marketing structure in Asia and developing a staffing plan (speed the growth in Asia).
• Continuing to execute global engineering footprint with emphasis on recruiting electromechanical process control experienced engineers, software engineers, and electronics engineers for new product development.
• First preference is given to existing staff that have necessary qualifications, recorded achievements, and experience. This promotes retention of valued employees.
• HR management establishes process for organizational capability review
• HR educates senior management on the process and timeline
• Each facility and function performs assessment of leadership capability with ties to strategic plan
• HR manager leads discussion of organizational capability at staff meeting
• HR manager rolls up plant and functional reviews
• HR manager and VP/GM analysis of senior management to identify organizational strengths and development needs is completed
• Formal presentations conducted with senior VP and CEO to review action and succession plans. Gaps identified
• Action plans prepared to address gaps
• Final presentations conducted with senior VP and CEO to review action and succession plans
• Action plans reviewed and processes improved
An example of an OCA survey of the engineering manager by the HR manager is shown in Table 6.2.
• Conduct training
• Assure motivation
The approach to education, training, and development is driven by requirements in the strategic planning, OCA, and the performance management process. Other inputs include government and regulatory requirements, company requirements (including components of Business System Excellence), customer requirements, local goals, the safety policy, and analysis of individual development plans in APEX or OCA. Each location’s HR manager is responsible for analyzing training needs, developing the local training plan, monitoring the training plan, and evaluating the effectiveness of the training. Once the strategic plan’s key business initiatives are established, then gaps in education and training necessary to meet objectives are identified and included in the OCA process.
OCA Survey by the HR Manager
Note: Empty cells are filled up in a similar manner after due diligence and performance evaluation.
The Global Quality Management System: Improvement through Systems Thinking and Lean Transformation: Cultural Enablers and Enterprise Alignment referred here extensively deal with motivation. However, it is crucial to guard against “alienation.” Sense of estrangement felt by employees is reflected in their lack of warmth toward the organization and in believing that their job/work is not meaningful to other aspects of their lives. Alienation is caused commonly by factors such as a lack of involvement in even basic decision making, lack of human contact, little hope for betterment, and a feeling of powerlessness.
• Manage work environment
• Assure employee involvement
The key factors that affect employee well-being and satisfaction are primarily identified in the company philosophy and its work practices.
Feedback is provided by
• The Employee Engagement Survey process
• The communication plan process
• Exit interviews
The Employee Engagement Survey process is carried by teams called “Friends of the company.”
These teams maintain right communication and promote employee involvement through a round table meeting.
The shop floor level representatives meet once a month over a sponsored lunch and discuss the following aspects relating to their involvement in company’s activities:
1. Security
2. Respect and equality
3. Favoritism
4. Support at work
5. Development skills
6. Motivation, program ideas
7. Information and tools
8. Manufacturing process
9. Most important clients
10. Boards Quality Operating System (QOS)
11. Organizational communication plans
12. Job training
13. Teamwork
14. Recognition programs
15. Job satisfaction
The discussion ends by assessing the level of involvement by rating the activities on a 1–5 scale.
A typical result may look like the example below:
Safety |
4.78 |
Supervisors |
4.35 |
Processes |
4.33 |
Communication |
4.42 |
Teamwork |
4.67 |
Recognition |
4.33 |
Job satisfaction |
4.78 |
As can be seen, the lowest three ratings are for process improvement, supervisor contribution, and recognition. Observations for improvement are made and the actions taken are reported by the management at the next round table employee meeting.
In times of rapid and complex global changes, there is a need to foster a more creative organization. But the main obstacle is usually the structure of the organization. The traditional command-and-control model, based on a chain of command with orders being passed down the chain and managers reporting back up the chain, is not suitable for most organizations. This structure creates intransigence (lack of understanding and an uncompromising attitude). New ideas coming from lower levels in this hierarchy are seen as having lower value, largely because those ideas are not understood at high levels or were not developed there. The authoritative attitude strangles new ideas as they rise through the chain of command. Organizations have recognized this problem and have attempted to overcome it through various approaches, such as engagement, empowerment, and motivation, but the problem persists. Attempts to integrate creativity into business strategy will fail unless structure is addressed with strategic HR planning as covered in this chapter.
