Human Resources At Its Best!
By Roberta Cava
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About this ebook
Many small companies struggle along trying to run their Human Resources function without an HR specialist on board. Most companies simply promote oneof their managers to look after that function and expect them to be able to run that department with no training in how to do so. What a mistake! A company's biggest asset is their employees and if they aren't dealt with fairly - the company fails.
It offers detailed, proven strategies for handling the majority of Human Resource functions including:
Hiring the right employee
Employment Interview tips
After the interview
Job descriptions
Performance appraisals
How to keep employees motivated to do a good job
Training and development
Counselling interviews
Discipline problems
Disciplinary interviews
Roberta Cava
Roberta Cava is the author of 30 books. Two of them are international best-sellers. Her Dealing with Difficult People book was published in 1990 (23 publishers in 17 languages). She was born in Canada but now lives on the Gold Coast of Queensland, Australia.
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Human Resources At Its Best! - Roberta Cava
Human Resources at its best!
- How to Manage an HR Department
Roberta Cava
Published by Cava Consulting
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2008 - 2011 by Roberta Cava
Discover other titles by Roberta Cava at Smashwords.com.
This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
ISBN 9780975766 163
If the Human Resource function in a company is second-rate, the performance of the employees working in that company can turn out to be second-rate as well. Human Resources at its Best – How to Manage an HR Department offers detailed, proven strategies for handling the majority of Human Resource areas. Chapters include:
Hiring the right employee
Employment Interview Tips
After the Interview / Job Descriptions
Performance Appraisals
How to keep employees motivated to do a good job
Training and Development
Counselling Interviews
Discipline Problems
Disciplinary Interviews
Human Resources at its Best – How to Manage an HR Department is an absolute must for anyone who works in or manages a Human Resources Department.
Roberta Cava is the owner of Cava Consulting in Australia and has presented her seminars worldwide, including her most popular session: Dealing with Difficult People that has been presented to over 55,000 participants. She is the author of 30 books and will be writing more.
BOOKS BY ROBERTA CAVA
Non-Fiction
Dealing with Difficult People
(22 publishers - in 16 languages)
Dealing with Difficult Situations – at Work and at Home
Dealing with Difficult Spouses and Children
Dealing with Difficult Relatives and In-Laws
Dealing with Domestic Violence and Child Abuse
Dealing with School Bullying
Dealing with Workplace Bullying
What am I going to do with the rest of my life?
Before tying the knot – Questions couples Must ask each other
Before they marry!
How Women can advance in business
Survival Skills for Supervisors and Managers
Human Resources at its Best!
Human Resources Policies and Procedures
Employee Handbooks
Easy Come – Hard to go – The Art of Hiring,
Disciplining and Firing Employees
Time and Stress – Today’s silent killers
Take Command of your Future – Make things Happen
Belly Laughs for All! – Volumes 1 to 4
Wisdom of the World
Fiction
That Something Special
Something Missing
Trilogy: Life Gets Complicated
Life Goes On
Life Gets Better
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My gratitude is extended to the thousands of companies I have helped set up their Human Resources Departments. I learned as much from them as they did from me.
Special thanks go to the participants of my Managing the Human Resources Function
seminars. They too helped me keep abreast of what was happening in the field of Human Resources in their countries.
DEDICATION
Dedicated to the many government departments that have kept me up-to-date relating to Human Resources matters.
HUMAN RESOURCES AT ITS BEST!
How to Manage an HR Department
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 – Hiring the right employee
Shortage of good employees
Part-time employees
Mandate of Employers
Mandate of Supervisors / Managers
Mandate of Employees
What will you offer employees for their
services?
How candidates will apply for vacancies?
Employment Interview Objectives
Hiring the new employee – Steps 1 – 14
Stages of the employment interview
Chapter 2 – Employment Interview Tips
Job Descriptions
Knowing your employees better
Pay Equity
Equal pay for work of equal value
Employment Equity
Standards of Performances
Advantages of setting standards of performance
Anti-Discrimination Act 1991
Resume acknowledgement letter
Unsuitable candidate letter
Evaluating candidates
Preparing for the employment interview
Company application form
Employee interview questions
Testing candidates
Panel vs individual interviews
During the interview
Areas for in-depth probing
Green / red flags
Trouble signs to watch for
What should interviewers guard against?
What can be asked on application forms and interviews?
Questions often asked of women on interviews
Why are applicants rejected?
Transferrable skills
Chapter 3 – After the Interview
Reference Checks
Important questions to ask
Who should you contact?
The Job Offer
Sample job offer
If the candidate accepts position
The first day
Chapter 4 – Other Human Resources Duties
Performance Appraisals
Planning a performance appraisal interview
Why are Performance Appraisals held?
How to provide the right climate
Levels of Performance
How often are Performance Appraisals completed?
Who should conduct Performance Appraisal interviews?
What information should be on an employee’s personnel file?
Chapter 5 – How to keep employees motivated
What motivates most employees?
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
De-motivating factors
Common ways we see anger expressed at work
The Right of appeal
Chapter 6 – Training and Development
Qualities of a good trainer
Teaching adults
Characteristics of adult learners
Differences in adult/child learners
Learning process
How to ‘lock in’ training
One-on-one training
Determining training needs
Testing abilities of employees
Dimensions tested
Manpower planning
Training needs of supervisors
Learning a new skill
Training of others
Retention of information
Training vs. development
Career development
Training procedure
Tangible/intangible behaviour
Setting objectives
Sample objectives
Identifying costs of training
Methods of instruction
Methods I use
Preparing for a seminar/workshop
Group vs. individual activities
Technical vs. life skills
Theoretical vs. practical training
Bridging
Timing of training segments
Use of training aids
Re-enforcement of training
How to keep participants motivated
Instructor’s apparel
Presentation skills
Training Agreements
Chapter 7 – Counselling Interviews
Why managers hate disciplining their staff
Firing probationary employees
Disciplining former peers
Differences between counselling and disciplinary interviews
Interview objectives
Interview pointers
Where should interviews be held?
Counselling Interviews – when they are warranted
Difficult counselling interviews
Planning a counselling interview
Conducting a counselling interview
Documentation
Follow-up
Questioning employees
Maintaining improved performance
When no improvement is clear
Chapter 8 – Discipline Problems
Absenteeism
Absenteeism policies
Overlong lunch hour
Coffee break abuses
Smoke Break Abuses
Personality conflicts
Buck-passing employees
Bottleneck employees
Aggressive attitude
Ethnic problems
Personal telephone calls
Mistake-ridden employees
When to interfere in personal employee problems
Employee daydreaming
Disorganised or messy work area
Supply theft
Alcoholic employee
Sexual harassment
What is sexual harassment
Where does sexual harassment happen?
Who is liable for discrimination and sexual harassment?
How does sexual harassment affect others?
Model sexual harassment policy
Workplace bullying
Who are the targets of bullying?
How to deal with workplace bullying
Model bullying, harassment and violence policy
Chapter 9 – Disciplinary Interviews
Preparing yourself psychologically
The disciplinary procedure
Disciplinary interviews
Conducting disciplinary interviews
Documentation
Types of disciplinary action
Termination/dismissal/firing
How to investigate an incident
Exit interviews
Model exit interviews
Purpose of exit interviews
Conclusion
Bibliography
INTRODUCTION
My seminar Managing the Human Resources Function
and ultimately this book evolved because I kept seeing the poor job most companies were doing in managing their Human Resources Departments. Most simply promoted one of their managers to look after that function and expected them to be able to run that department with no training in how to do so. What a mistake! A company’s biggest asset is their employees and if they aren’t dealt with fairly – the company can’t function to its full capacity.
Human Resources includes the following
areas:
Ensure that all employment laws are enforced
Writing Human Resources Policies and Procedures
Preparing Employee Handbooks
Hiring the right employees to fill positions in the company
Checking references before employee is hired
Writing Job Descriptions
Classifying Positions
Wage and Salary Surveys
Manpower Planning
Performance Appraisals
Managing employee’s confidential Personnel Files
Finding ways to keep employees motivated to do a good job
Employee relations to deal with employee problems
Liaising with management, union and employees
Determining training needs
Training and development of staff
Manage training agreements
Career development
Conducting counselling interviews
Conducting Disciplinary interviews
Writing written warnings
When necessary, firing / terminating employees
Laying off or making positions redundant when required
Dealing with personality conflicts between supervisors, unions and employees
Many companies do not have proper job descriptions. They expect a simple paragraph to describe what their employees do to complete their tasks. Then they have the audacity to conduct performance appraisals when neither the supervisors nor the employee have nothing in writing about what they are evaluating. Many performance appraisals evaluate subjective, rather than objective issues. No wonder there’s chaos in some companies.
Other HR Managers have had no formal training in how to counsel employees, yet they are responsible for the Employee Relations function of their company. They are the ones that should be mediating during disputes between staff and management. They are the liaison between unions and management.
If they don’t take enough time when hiring employees, they’ll be setting themselves up for a period of misery. If they don’t know how to find and/or provide the necessary training employees need to do their jobs effectively – the tasks won’t be completed properly. If they ask discriminatory questions on the interview and they don’t hire the candidate – that candidate can charge the company with discrimination. And if the employee’s behaviour or productivity becomes a problem – do they have the knowledge to discipline and/or fire that employee. In many cases they don’t so companies end up in court being charged with wrongful dismissal.
The contents of this book are not to be construed as being professional advice. Readers must always check their Federal and State laws to ensure that they are acting according to their laws. Any decision made by the reader as a result of reading this book, is the sole responsibility of the reader.
BacktoTop
CHAPTER ONE
HIRING THE RIGHT EMPLOYEES
When hiring employees, problems can occur if:
The right questions aren’t asked on the interview;
The interviewers aren’t knowledgeable enough to hire competent personnel; and
References aren’t checked properly.
Companies may end up with a bad employee who, instead of helping their company with production, cause more work in the long run. Have you hired someone and found that:
a) They lied on the interview about how long they worked for a company?
b) They told you they had more experience than they actually had?
c) They didn’t fit in with the existing staff?
d) Their work ethic left much to be desired?
e) They weren’t able to handle the duties of the position after considerable in-house or professional training?
f) Their supervisor was on a different wave-length than the new employee and found it difficult to get him/her to do things the way s/he wanted them done?
g) The company required a self-starter and the employee required very detailed instructions to complete any job?
h) The person was hired to work on the front lines dealing directly with clients but you’ve found that they don’t have the people-skills required for them to do a good job?
i) The person whinges and complains about everything which eventually rubs off on their co-workers and causes low morale in their department?
j) Your company has installed a new computer system, but the new employee is unwilling or unable to pick up the new technology?
k) The person looked very presentable on the interview, but their day-to-day appearance leaves much to be desired even after several requests from his/her supervisor?
l) The person procrastinates or is a perfectionist so that project deadlines aren’t met?
m) The employee is a know-it-all, doesn’t follow directions, does things his/her own way and bucks the system?
I’m sure you’ve run into the above kinds of employees in your daily work situation. Proper interviewing, screening and reference checking of the above employees would have eliminated most of those problems.
Unfortunately it seems the more lazy and crafty the employee, the harder they seem to get rid of. So doing things right at the onset before they’re hired, is crucial. Does this take a lot of training? No, it doesn’t but it will certainly help to know how to get the information you require to choose the best candidate for the position. Some interviewers felt as if they were being interviewed by the candidate rather than the other way around, but didn’t know how to get the interview back on track.
Shortage of Good Employees
In addition to the pending shortage of workers, many jobs will require skills that available workers simply don’t have. In tomorrow’s high-tech workplaces, simple entry-level jobs will be almost nonexistent. The inroads of microprocessors, electronic components and the ability to read and understand technical manuals will keep many from doing what used to be simple tasks.
Where immigrant workers in the past could be shown how to use a machine and do their job, they’re now required to read instructions, gauges, printouts and graphs so require a good command of English
Unfortunately, many applicants for clerical positions aren’t able to pass even simple reading and math tests. While the calibre of applicants for entry-level positions is declining, the level of skills required for the same jobs is rising, creating an employee vacuum that companies are scrambling to fill. In the past, many employers saved their training dollars for their supervisory or management staff, but they’re finding it necessary to spend almost as much getting their entry-level people up to the standards they require for them to do a good job.
Other firms find that those in entry-level positions are bored, and give poor performance. To eliminate this, they’ve initiated job rotation to keep the employees interested. Training is the answer to many of the foregoing problems. Companies will be forced to spend more money to fill the gap between job requirements and the employee’s skills and abilities. Many corporations will pay more attention to human resources because of this.
Part-time Employees
Companies have been hiring clerical, drafting and other people by the hour for decades. With an increasing shortage of qualified people, companies will take advantage of others they may not have considered for part-time help in the past. Although rates may be comparable to full-time salaries, the company won't have to pay bonuses, benefits or payroll taxes.
Those who know how to use word-processors, but don't wish to work in an office setting, could have the option of working out of their homes. Their companies will provide a computer and the employee will contact the office once or twice a week, take home the work, and deliver the finished product the next time they visit the office. The use of FAX machines and e-mail even make that unnecessary.
Temporary executives can be hired on a contract basis to fill recurring as well as one-time employment needs. For example, during a company merger, a temporary executive versed in these matters, will be hired to oversee the changeover. Another company could hire a computer expert to look after the installation of a highly sophisticated computer and in the training of staff required to run it.
A company may decide to cut their in-house training staff down to one person who determines training needs. After doing so s/he will hire outside trainers to fill identified needs or send employees to courses provided by learning institutes.
A part-time executive might be hired to work along with first-time entrepreneurs to help them during their critical start-up stage. Small businesses will hire a human resources expert on a part-time basis to help them with hiring initial staff,