Jeff Floyd on Management

Clearly, the HRM systems of an organization must complement the other departments/systems in the organization. Picture a wagon with a rope on each corner. Now picture four kids pulling on those ropes in four different directions. The wagon may move, but it will move slowly and most likely in the direction of the biggest kid. If all the kids were pulling in roughly the same direction, the wagon move a lot faster and with less effort expended.  Similarly, each department of a well designed and functional organization contributes to the success of the overall organization in complementary manner.

Rummler et al. (1995) describes a systems approach to organizational design. The leadership team determines the structure that provides a mechanism for the company to take in raw material and transform it into business value. Part of this process determines the “services” allocated to the human resource department.

Another point from Rummler et al (1995) is the performance monitoring. A key component of systematic organizational design is metrics or the measures to determine its performance or success. The combination of systematic design and performance measures is the primary reason that Rummler’s work influenced this discussion posting. Monitoring the metrics and the controls allow the leadership team to gauge past performance and possibly predict future performance.

Key goals in the design of the human resource department include:

• Establish key systems and metrics to manage employee benefits.
• Establish, deploy, and manage key policies covering sexual harassment, workplace safety, termination, etc.
• Establish internal relationships with each hiring manager to document job descriptions for every job function in the company.
• Establish external relationships with key recruiters and industry professionals to identify star performers in the local area and industry.
• Establish a talent management system that locates, attracts, and retains key talent. (Gregorie 2006) The system includes tuition reimbursement, compensation, and incentive pay, etc.
• Establish linkage between talent management and business model. (Bowen et al. 1991)
• Exit interviewing and lessons learned
• Maintain Ethics Standards

The human resource department is not an island in the company; it along with the other departments must function in unison working toward the same company goals. The human resource department has a contribution to keep talent in the company. However, the marketing, engineering, accounting, legal, and other departments must all play a part in attracting and keeping talent.

References

Bowen, D., Ledford, G., & Nathan, B. (1991, November). Hiring for the organization, not the job. Academy of Management Executive, 5(4), 35–51.

Gregoire, M. (2006). Consistently acquiring and retaining top talent. Workforce Management, 85(19), s6

Rummler, G. Brache, A. (1995) Improving performance: how to manage the white space on the organization chart. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Inc.

While driving home from work tonight, I heard Clark Howard tell a story about a Mutual fund investment manager. This manager would visit a company before he invested money in the company. He would make an appointment to talk with the CEO, COO or CFO then travel to the company to talk with them. When he arrived at the reception area he would ask to use the bathroom. If the bathroom was filthy, he would return to reception and say that he had to reschedule then not invest in that company. His reason was that if the management cared so little about the employees to not even give them a clean bathroom then “he knew all he needed to know” about that company.

Apparently another criteria he used was assigned parking spaces for the executives. His thought there was that the executes were advertising loud and clear that they were better than the rank and file.

What do you thing of the investment mangers logic? I love simple and elegant solutions. This one qualifies. It is effective, It is simple to implement and understand, Best of all I think it works.