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11 Strategies to (Dramatically) Improve Your Workplace in 2011
Make your human resources strategies address the post-recession challenges.
The following eleven suggestions from the Society for Human Resource Management cover critical workplace issues such as lifting pay freezes, restoring 401(k) matches incrementally, investing in top managers and critical jobs, rebuilding trust and boosting morale, and more.
- Look at succession planning and talent acquisition.
Although unemployment stubbornly hovers around 10 percent (better in some areas), employees - especially high-potential employees - are growing impatient. Yearning for higher salaries, better benefits and greater challenges, many are thinking about moving on and up. They're firing out resumes, calling headhunters and listening to hiring pitches. These actions were not in the cards a few months back when employers and talent hunkered down.
Expect a feeding frenzy for talent, says Hal Johnson, chairman, Global HR Practice, at Korn/Ferry International in New York City. Competitors will be on the prowl, wanting to raid your best and brightest. Chief executive officers and board members will be looking for assurances that you have a succession plan to effectively identify and develop talent.
"The number one concern is the pipeline and succession; most CEOs and boards are disappointed with the status of their succession plans. Some don't have full-fledged plans in operation; others have them, but they lack rigor," Johnson says. He recommends being two people deep in the top eight positions.
Think about whether you'll have the talent to thrive when the economy turns. If not, move quickly - like J. Kim Scholes, the vice president of human resources at Network Communications Inc. in Atlanta did. She initiated an in-depth review of managers at all levels that looks at their past performance, their performance in their current positions and their potential performance in roles with more responsibility. In addition to identifying high-potential talent, the review will allow HR professionals to advertise who the high-potential employees are and to develop, support and invest in them.
Keep a lookout for outside talent that can energize and fill gaps in your pipeline. Headhunters are an obvious resource, but there are also advantages to involving the management team in identifying prospects. For example, executives at Thermo Fisher Scientific, (a leading provider of life sciences tools, software and services), keep a list of potential external recruits. "We keep track of where they are and regularly consider annually what positions they might fill," says Elizabeth Bolgiano, senior vice president of human resources at the 35,400-employee company based in Waltham, Mass.
The other 10 suggestions are as follows. For the full text, please click here for the PDF version.
- Lift pay freezes and restore 401(k) matches incrementally.
- Invest in top managers and critical jobs.
- Prepare for legal minefields.
- Resolve to be an effective "consigliere."
- Enhance transparency in support of ethics.
- Rebuild trust and boost morale.
- Look for innovative approaches.
- Find a mix of non monetary rewards.
- Focus on core business.
- Learn from the past, but question assumptions.
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