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Winning the respect, trust and confidence of line managers and making a differenceAsk many line managers what they think of HR managers and you will get a variety of views from the positive to the most damning.Examples are:- “Excellent. Very professional.”- “Very responsive, supportive and helpful”- “Great if I can ever get hold of them”- “Talk their own language. Not really in touch with the needs of the business. A bit flakey”- “You mean the dead hand of HR!”As the issue of effective HR management has grown in importance over the years so has the need for HR managers to be both responsive and proactive in meeting the needs of their developing organisations.Clearly it’s important that an organisation’s employees are paid on time, they are able to access the benefits they are entitled to and can receive straightforward help and advice from HR when needed.This operational piece of the HR management responsibility needs to be reliable and responsive in every respect. Getting the basics right is all important.So is partnering with line managers in recruitment activities, performance management processes, training and personal development provision. These are all very necessary, core elements of the HR function’s role. Organisation’s have every right to expect that HR managers will be proficient in these areas.But what about gaining the respect, trust and confidence of line managers, over and above these basics? How can HR managers really add value? Here are eight tips.- VisionHR managers need to clearly understand the organisation’s vision and challenge the CEO if it is not clear. They need to create an aligned vision for HR to support the corporate vision.They need to draft a vision, share it with selected line managers, check it, refine it and communicate it both to the HR team and line managers. They need to be clear on HR’s vision for future success, and clear on how it is aligned to the organisation’s overall vision.- ObjectivesHR managers must be clear on their organisation’s objectives. They need to put clear, measurable objectives and milestones to the HR vision. They need to make their objectives concrete, tangible and deliverable with time frames attached.They need to announce them and ‘stick’ to them. They need to communicate their success in achieving them. They need to be seen as “business like”.- StrategyHR managers need to understand their organisation’s strategy. They need to be clear on their HR strategy to deliver their objectives. How will HR be positioned within the organisation as a whole? How will it work alongside the business to deliver the strategy of the business? How will it marry the day to day needs of the business with the longer term development needs?How will it operate with closer external specialists and suppliers? What short, medium and long term plans does it have to really add value to the business?What changes will need to be made to deliver the strategy?HR managers need to answer these questions, share their strategy and plans with the business and their standing will automatically be enhanced!- ResourcesHR is in the business of attracting, acquiring and developing the RIGHT people. HR managers will need to assess the quality of the organisation’s existing people and compare their current capabilities to the capabilities required by the organisation in the future. That’s why they need to understand the organisation’s vision, objectives and strategy so well.They need to compare the current competency framework to a desired competency framework, say three years from now. What will be different in the requirement of the organisation’s people? How will this impact the type of people the organisation will need, where in the business, and when?HR managers need to create a strategic HR development plan to deliver the right people resources to the organisation to meet both its current and future needs. The use of performance management, personal development and capability management systems will help them to do this accurately. They must get transparency of the organisation’s human resources to plan effectively.- StructureHR managers need to structure the HR function in the most appropriate way.They should centralise those activities which are core to the whole business. This will include policy development, recruitment, compensation and benefits, performance management, personal development and disciplinary processes. Many of these are governed by legislation and need to be corporate wide, although there may have to be regional or county variations.HR business managers should be allocated to lines of business to work closely alongside line managers to create and deliver specific interventions to meet their ongoing needs. These people need to be seen as true business partners adding specialist knowledge and skills to line managers. In a sense they are internal consultants clearly understanding the business as well as best practice in HR management and development in the market place.- SystemsHR managers should employ “fit for purpose” systems for both HR management and HR development. This does not mean the most sophisticated, costly and “heavy weight” systems. They should choose systems that can be easily integrated with one another, are customisable and require little management time.Systems need to be user friendly as the trend is for managers to use them to ‘self-serve’ more and more these days.Systems should work together holistically enabling the organisation to obtain transparency of its entire human resource, to enable it to adopt the best people acquisition, retention and development process.- Knowledge and SkillsHR managers need to ensure that they and their team members really understand the business they work for, including its:- Market-place- Customers- Products/ services- Routes to market- Competition- Major commercial challenges- Threats, e.g. legal constraints- Vision, strategy and objectives- Plans for the future – short, medium and long term- Culture and values- Leadership and management style beliefsMany HR managers fall down because they lack essential knowledge of the business and fail to use the language and terminologies which clearly show that they understand the core business and how it works.They should avoid “HR speak” which really turns off line managers. This may be helpful shorthand to HR professionals but it is an anathema for line managers and their staff. HR managers should focus on the objective, tangible, concrete, business related issues not just the softer, behavioural and more subjective issues.They should gain respect for their knowledge of HR issues as well as the tangible issues faced by the business. After all, human resources are just one element of tackling these issues. When handling people related problems HR managers should go back to the vision, objectives and strategy of the business before embarking on solutions.HR managers should expand their knowledge to include strategic thinking, change management, business planning and organisation development. Oh and finally HR managers and their teams need to become very IT savvy! They are usually not!- Leadership and ManagementThe HR manager’s role is to challenge where necessary the behaviours exhibited by managers, who clearly do not ‘walk the talk’. They are to a large extent guardians of the culture and values and need to be seen to be adopting this role.HR managers should ‘educate’ senior line managers on modern management thinking, helping them to move away from a command and control approach to a more collaborative, consensual working style which truly engages and motivates employees at all levels to give of their best.The job of today’s managers is to recognise and release talent at all levels not to overlook it or squash it. Performance management systems, personal development programs and reward systems all need to focus on the behaviors and competence required of managers to imbed the corporate values and culture into the organisation. It is the job of the HR manager to ensure that this happens.So how well have you developed your skills in these eight areas of expertise as an HR manager? Check out how well you are currently doing by using the list below. Tick the box on the left of the statements only if it is TRUE of you.Start each statement with the words “I..Top of FormHave a vision, clearly communicated and accepted, for the role of the HR which is aligned to the corporate vision.Have short term (up to one year), medium term (two to three years) and longer term (over three years) objectives for the HR function.Have a thought through written strategy and plan to deliver my objectives.Am able to assess accurately the organisation’s current HR needs and its future needs, aligning its corporate development plan to strategic HR reviews.Have a structure for my HR team which enables it to play a centralised and decentralised role in the business, catering for its daily operational needs, and its future development needs.Have in place HR management and development systems that are fit for purpose, reliable and user friendly.Am investing in my own and my team’s knowledge and skills in specific areas of HR and wider business related areas.Challenge the behaviours of managers at all levels of the organisation to live out the corporate values, and my performance management and reward systems reinforce the need to walk the talk.Am seen as a respected, knowledgeable professional in whom people can put their trust because they have confidence in me.Continually invest in my own and my team’s personal growth and development.Total Score:
Bottom of FormHow did you score?8-10 – Excellent to very good. You have a few gaps to fill.5 to 8 – Very good to fair. You have quite a few gaps to fill.0 to 5 – Not so good. If you believe in the points made in this article you have some way to go!You could say that these are the basics. Getting them right will in itself enhance the HR manager’s standing and reputation. However there are also issues to consider.These include:- Being emotionally intelligent- Being ‘politically’ savvy- Exercising critical judgement- Influencing without authority- Being a catalyst for change- Having personal credibility- Being culturally aware- Conflict resolution skills- Team building skills- Managing upwards and managing peersPlus a host of other soft skills!