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Archive for Employee Development

Increasing Retention Through Cross Training

In my last article I talked about some of the strategies you, as a business leader, can implement to “recession proof” your organization.

This time I’d like to share another strategy – cross training – that can help you get through the bad times, and also has myriad benefits – for both the organization and employees – during the good times.

Benefits to the organization:

Increased organizational agility – i.e., the ability to quickly fill a skill gap when an employee leaves. Replacing an employee can cost nearly one and a half times the employee’s salary, including recruiting, hiring, and training costs, plus the cost of lost productivity. Having someone cross-trained and already up to speed to fill the role – even temporarily – can reduce or even avoid those costs.

Greater “big picture” business operations knowledge among employees. When employees have the opportunity to broaden their company knowledge beyond their specific role it gives them a better appreciation of others’ contributions and increased understanding of the various interdependencies in the workflow. It can also spark ideas for improvements and increase interest in growing with the organization.

Increased engagement and potentially reduced turnover. Often, employees who are dissatisfied with their job immediately look elsewhere without considering a lateral or upward move within the organization. By giving them a “taste” of internal opportunities, they see a future for themselves within the organization and are less likely to jump ship.

Bigger pool of employees who can be promoted from within. Hiring from the outside takes time. Having a pool of cross-trained employees who come fully equipped with company and process knowledge can avoid the lag time while a newbie gets up to speed and prevent the loss of existing talent.

Preparation for future talent needs. If you anticipate that a particular function in your business may be phased out, cross training employees who will be affected by that is a great way to get them ready for the change and keep them on board.

Benefits to employees:

New skills and opportunities. Employee surveys indicate that key dissatisfiers for employees are lack of opportunity and lack of development. Cross training can address both of these concerns by giving employees new skills and exposing them to opportunities within the organization.

A chance to demonstrate their value beyond their current role. If the cross training includes working with a different leader or different team, the employee has the opportunity to show their skills and qualities in what may be a future opportunity.

Increased motivation and reduced burnout. They say a change is as good as a vacation. Learning something new and developing new skills or using skills that were underutilized in their current role can spark increased motivation prevent burnout.

A couple of additional benefits for both the organization and employees is that you, or the employee, may discover hidden talents that have been dormant while performing their existing role, and learning about each others’ jobs can create a more cohesive team.

If you need help in setting up a cross training plan, please reach out to me at michelle@connecttohr.com.

Now is the Time to Revamp Your Performance Management Strategy

This is the time of year when many organizations conduct what is often referred to as the “dreaded annual performance review.” For many years, leaders and HR professionals have been talking about revamping the traditional process that only 28% of organizations say “positively impacts business indicators.” (according to a Brandon Hall report)

The COVID-19 pandemic has reignited the need to transform the process. And the trend is pointing toward a more simple, agile, timely and inclusive approach to performance management.

So how do we make the process more valuable to the employee and to the business?

Keep it simple. It’s been a challenging year for everyone. Health concerns. Uncertainty in the economy. Adapting to a new way of working. Juggling pressures at home and at work. The goals set prior to the pandemic may no longer apply. Forget the ranking and rating and lengthy narratives. Have a conversation. What’s going well? What’s not working? What’s needed in terms of additional support, additional training, additional effort?

According to the Brandon Hall report, the top performance management priorities for managers in 2021 are the quality of manager check-ins with employees to provide feedback and coaching and the frequency of those manager check-ins.

Make it timely. Waiting until the annual performance review date to manage performance is a disservice to employees and to the company. Make performance management an ongoing activity. Especially now when so many are working from home, it’s even more important to schedule regular 1:1 meetings to discuss challenges and opportunities. Take a holistic, empathetic approach, recognizing that the current crisis may be impacting performance.

Consider making performance reviews and compensation reviews separate. It may be tempting this year to forgo performance reviews because you are not in a position to adjust compensation. But here’s the thing. Employees want and need to know how they are doing. On a regular basis. And they are more likely to look forward to and engage in those discussions if they are not distracted by thinking about their potential raise. Of course, if you make this change, be sure to communicate it in advance to employees.

Performance management should be a process, not just an annual event. COVID-19 has shown us that businesses and leaders need to be agile, and able to quickly adapt as circumstances change. Transitioning to a performance management process that is simple, timely and consistent is a step in that direction.

Tune in next time when I’ll give some specific examples of simple performance management tools and share why it’s so important to create development plans as part of the process.

Building HR Competence and Confidence

Managing the many aspects of the HR function can be challenging at the best of times. But when you are also trying to run the business, it can be especially frustrating. It can seem impossible to keep up with new employment laws and dealing with hiring and terminating employees.

Such was the case with a client of mine, who ran her own food services company. Like most entrepreneurs, she was highly skilled at her core business, but was learning about the HR function “on the job.” Her company was growing at a rapid pace and she wanted to be sure that her people processes were efficient and compliant with federal, state and local employment laws.

She called Connect to HR.

Over the course of several months I took a step-by-step approach to walk her through the various aspects of HR and what is most important in each area. I broke it down into simple, easy-to-understand steps: here is the issue, here are some scenarios, here are the rules.

We used actual situations within her business to help build her confidence and knowledge in how to handle them going forward. Because she was not in a position to hire a fulltime HR person yet, I felt it was important for her to have a backup with HR knowledge to help her. I worked with her Operations Manager to ensure that he also understood the local, state and federal ordinances related to employees and provided them both with links to credible resources.

As the result of our work together, the business owner and Operations Manager both have increased confidence in their ability to handle the various people-related issues that arise as well as general HR requirements and reporting. Also, they have saved time and headaches by having policies documented and processes to follow.

If you are a business owner and need some advice about HR processes or compliance, or have a particular HR issue you’d like to discuss, you may want to consider my Just in Time 3-Hour HR Advisory Service.

Contact me today to schedule a free 30-minute consultation to see how Just in Time 3-Hour HR Advisory Service can help you.

https://calendly.com/michellemendoza-connecttohr/30-minute-consultation

New to HR? You Don’t Have to Do it Alone!

When a company hits the 50-employee mark in California, a lot of HR regulations kick in. I wrote about some of those regulations in a previous blog.

Understanding what those regulations are and putting processes and procedures in place to ensure compliance are essential to avoiding costly lawsuits and penalties. At this point in a company’s growth, it’s wise to have someone dedicated to the HR function.

Such was the case with a hi-tech client who reached their 50-employee milestone and needed some help creating structure around the HR function. They had assigned their Office Manager to the HR role and tasked her with implementing an official HR department. She had been with the company for many years, but had no prior HR experience. She was very concerned about her new assignment and didn’t want to face this new challenge alone. That’s where Connect to HR came in.

The first thing we did was perform an HR audit to see exactly where the company was in terms of compliance and best practices. As with many companies with fewer than 50 employees, there was very little structure in place. Also, the practices around hiring, promotions and increases were random and inconsistently applied.

Top on our list of priorities was to document and communicate policies and procedures that reflect both legal requirements and company guidelines. These serve as the foundational piece for hiring, firing, promoting, performance management, etc.

We also helped the Office/HR Manager implement a performance management system, hiring process, and best practices around terminations. Often one of the hardest things for new HR Managers is handling employee relations issues. So for four years now, we have provided ongoing and just-in-time HR consulting services on various employee scenarios that pop up and how to handle them.

With the HR structure in place, plus the knowledge she gained from the HR audit and our one-on-one HR guidance and support, the Office/HR Manager felt more confident in her new role. Over the years, she has recognized that she isn’t alone when facing complicated HR issues. She’s comfortable knowing she has a resource in Connect to HR when she has questions or needs a sounding board.

If you are new to the HR function and need some advice about HR processes or compliance, or have a particular HR issue you’d like to discuss, you may want to consider my Just in Time 3-Hour HR Advisory Service.

Contact me today to schedule a free 30-minute consultation to see how Just in Time 3-Hour HR Advisory Service can help you.

https://calendly.com/michellemendoza-connecttohr/30-minute-consultation

Get the Best from Your Team – Be an Effective Coach

In my work with leaders over the years, I’ve found that the most effective leaders are those who embrace their role as a coach – to their teams and to their individual employees. These are leaders who listen, who develop and empower their people, and who earn respect through their actions and how they treat others.

Developing your skills as a coach is one of the best ways to grow as a leader.

A great reference tool for this is the book, Trillion Dollar Coach, which profiles Bill Campbell, a football coach turned C-Suite executive who created a third career coaching some of the top CEOs in Silicon Valley. The book is written by Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg and Alan Eagle, Google executives who witnessed firsthand “Coach Bill’s” ability to “build trust, foster personal growth, and inspire courage.” The authors interviewed more than 80 people to create a compendium of Bill Campbell stories, insight and wisdom.

Here are 5 key takeaways from Coach Bill’s principles that the authors shared.

Your title makes you a manager, your people make you a leader. Build relationships with your team – show them that you care about them as people. Get to know them. Ask about their lives outside of work, their families. Be generous with your time, connections and other resources.
Respect must be accrued, not demanded. The command and control style of leadership doesn’t work anymore. Treat your employees with respect. Listen to them. Be an evangelist for courage by believing in people more than they believe in themselves. Don’t tell them what to do – offer stories and help guide them to the best decisions for them.
Honesty is key. Practice complete candor. Pair negative feedback with caring. And give feedback as soon as possible. If it’s negative feedback, deliver it privately. Feedback is necessary for growth, and your responsibility as a leader and coach is to help your people grow.
Pick the right players. Look for those who have the ability to learn fast and are willing to work hard. Choose people with integrity, grit, empathy and a team-first attitude.
Create a decision-making process that ensures all perspectives and points of view are heard. Look for the best idea, not necessarily consensus. If necessary, break a tie and make the decision.

Stay tuned for future blogs when we’ll talk about more ways you can grow as a leader.

A Coach Can Help You Take the Next Step in Your Career

Advancing in your career doesn’t have to mean finding a new job in a different company. Often there are opportunities to grow right within your own organization. And companies who provide those opportunities are more likely to engage and retain their top performers. One of the challenges that organizations face, however, is creating a clear path for employees to traverse toward that next step in their career.

Whether you are an organization looking to retain top performers, or an individual wanting to move up within your organization or at another company, a good career coach can help you meet your goal.

Here are some ways a good career coach can help.

Provide clarity. Before you even begin to look for your next opportunity, you need to gain clarity around your target. What do you really want to do? What do you definitely NOT want to do? A coach can help you filter through your skills and experience and map them toward opportunities that have the potential to be fulfilling next steps in your career versus “just a job.”

Help you strategize. A good career coach will identify the skills and behaviors you need to move up within the organization, and help you create a plan to develop those skills and behaviors. They also know what works and doesn’t work in the job search process. So if you’re looking for a new job they can offer real world insight and ideas. Either way, they will help you put together a targeted, effective plan that will get you in front of the right people for the right opportunity.

Polish your pitch. A targeted, concise, compelling resume is your first opportunity to impress a hiring manager and differentiate yourself from other job seekers. Whether you are moving up within your organization or moving on, you should always have an up-to-date resume. A good coach will help you create a resume that gets results.

Keep you accountable. A good coach will keep you on track, encouraging you to make the regular small steps that will lead to the big result. They will celebrate your successes with you, and help you keep going when things don’t go as planned. They’ll help you tweak your strategy as necessary to achieve your goals.

Provide support. Your coach is there to help you succeed. They can be a sounding board if you get discouraged. They can connect you to resources within their network. Many will do mock interviews with you to help you prepare. They can give you objective feedback on your plan, your pitch and your approach.

Are you an organization looking to retain your top performers? Or an individual ready to take the next step in your career but don’t know how to get started? Do you know someone who is looking for a job but getting little or no results? I have worked with many senior leaders to help them develop and successfully implement an effective plan to get “unstuck” and take that all-important next step. Contact me at michelle@connecttohr.com

Employees Want Regular and Timely Feedback

In my last blog I talked about how to have a difficult conversation. For some leaders, giving feedback is considered a difficult conversation, especially if the feedback is negative. But here’s the thing. As a leader, one of your responsibilities is developing your people. And one of the best ways to do this is by giving regular, timely feedback.

And guess what? Employees want to receive regular feedback, even negative or “redirecting” feedback. In a study reported in the Harvard Business Review, 92% of respondents agreed that “Negative (redirecting) feedback, if delivered appropriately, is effective at improving performance.” In that same study, 69% of respondents said they would work harder if they felt their efforts were better recognized.

So when your employees are performing well – let them know it. And when they need improvement – let them know it. Don’t wait until the annual performance review. Without acknowledgement of their good performance, those who are performing well may lose momentum. And without feedback and coaching to improve poor performance, employees may assume that they are doing just fine.

Waiting until the annual performance review significantly reduces the impact of the feedback – whether positive or constructive – and in cases where improvement is needed can often prolong and increase the impact of undesirable behaviors. Here are 5 tips for giving feedback effectively.

Make it timely. Saying “thank you” or “good job!” soon after an employee has done something extra encourages them to continue. Likewise, discussing performance issues “in the moment” helps reestablish expectations and initiates the improvement process sooner rather than later. If you allow a performance issue to continue without bringing it to the employee’s attention he or she may not even realize it’s a problem.
Be consistent. Be sure you’ve communicated expected performance levels and behaviors to all your employees and then give feedback consistently based on those expectations. This will prevent the appearance of favoritism.
Make it clear. Use the SIE format – Situation, Impact, Expectation. State the situation – “Being at work on time is essential for us to be able to meet the needs of our customers. You’ve been late three mornings in a row.” State the impact – “When you’re late, others have to make your deliveries which impacts the schedule.” State the expectation – “I expect you to be at work and ready to start deliveries by 8:00 am every day.” When employees understand the adverse impact of their actions they’re much more likely to change them.
Write it down. Writing down employee issues serves two purposes. First, it provides the paper trail necessary to prove you have a valid reason for corrective action or termination. Second, it holds the employee accountable for their actions.
Own it. Feedback needs to be about something you’ve observed, not something you’ve heard second hand, and it should never be delivered when you’re angry or upset. Also, find a private place to have your developmental discussion.

Both positive and constructive feedback should be given in the spirit of recognizing people for what they achieve and helping them be the best they can be.

Mentoring Programs Benefit Both Employees and Organizations

One of the most frequent comments that comes up on employee surveys is that employees want more opportunities for growth and development. And studies show that companies who provide those opportunities have more engaged employees, higher retention rates, and better business results.

Providing your employees with learning and development doesn’t have to involve costly training programs. It can be as simple and cost-effective as transferring knowledge through mentoring relationships.

A mentoring program involves matching a less experienced employee or manager (mentee) with a more experienced employee or manager (mentor) for guidance and development. In most mentoring programs mentees do not report to their mentor, which often allows the mentee to be more candid about issues and concerns. Mentoring relationships provide development for the mentee and also benefit the mentor by helping them develop or enhance their leadership skills. Often the experience helps the mentor regain passion around his/her work and thus become more engaged and productive.

There are also myriad benefits to the organization. A mentoring program:

Shows employees that the company is willing to invest in its people
Conveys to the outside world that the company values its employees
Reduces turnover by increasing loyalty among employees (saving replacement costs)
Creates a more positive work environment
Helps mentors develop leadership skills
Provides growth opportunities for employees
Promotes a sense of cooperation and harmony within the organization

There are different schools of thought about the process for matching mentors and mentees. Some recommend that the pairings be allowed to evolve naturally. Others ask for volunteers to participate and then manually match mentors and mentees based on function and/or location. Others use software tools to do the match.

If you are thinking about developing a mentoring program, here are some tips to help it succeed:

Select mentors who are positive role models and enthusiastic about the program.
Establish clear expectations for the mentoring partnership, such as minimum number of meetings, length of partnership, who is responsible for initiating meetings and driving the relationship, etc.
Include at least one check-point to evaluate the relationship.
Encourage mentors and mentees to create specific goals for the partnership.
Orient mentors with best practices and guidelines around goal setting, giving feedback and basic relationship skills such as open communication, active listening, being accessible, building trust, sharing knowledge and ideas, and working together to resolve differences.
Develop a process for obtaining and incorporating feedback from both mentors and mentees about the program to ensure continuous improvement.

I had the privilege of starting a mentoring program for a large organization some years ago. We established it initially for 6 months, with a kick-off, mid-term event, and Mentor/Mentee luncheon with all participants at the end of the period. The program was very successful, and we were able to track the progress of participants. Several of the mentees received promotions. Another mentee decided to go back to school to obtain an advanced degree. Another mentee decided to make a lateral transfer to a different position that would provide the experience he needed to achieve a promotion. The mentors also benefited from the program. They felt more engaged and motivated in their jobs. They were very proud of their mentees and the progress they saw. Several of the mentoring pairs continued their mentoring relationship beyond the end of the pilot.

If you need help initiating a mentoring program at your company, please feel free to contact me. In my next blog, I’ll talk about establishing affinity group mentoring programs and give you some success tips for mentors and mentees.

Conducting a Great Coaching Conversation

One of your roles as a leader is to develop your employees. This includes giving regular feedback, providing opportunities that help them stretch and grow, and allowing them to learn from their mistakes. It’s called coaching. And putting yourself in the role of coach (positive) instead of boss (often negative) will go a long way to improving employee engagement and, by extension, improving company performance.

A survey by Corporate Executive Board found that firms whose culture encourages open communication outperform peers by more than 270% in terms of 10-year total shareholder return. Good coaching and an open, honest communication environment go hand in hand.

Key to an effective coaching process is the coaching conversation. This is where the leader (coach) does more asking than telling, and where the coach and coachee (employee) co-create a solution and next steps. This model works for both performance coaching and career development. Although the content will be different, the basic structure is the same – two-way, honest communication resulting in clarity and specific next steps.

Performance conversations should happen as close to when the performance issue is observed as possible. Unlike wine, poor performance does not improve with age. And unless the employee is made aware of the issue, he/she may assume everything is OK. Give employees the opportunity to learn from mistakes and to improve. Career development conversations should be held on a regular basis.

Here’s how a performance coaching conversation might look:

Set the stage. Explain that the goal of the conversation is to provide feedback to help them improve.
Describe the issue. Be sure that the issue is something you have personally observed, not something you were told by others. “I’ve observed that you came in late three times this week.”
Get them thinking. Ask, “What do you think the impact of your being late is?” “How could this have been avoided?”
Confirm expectations. “When do we need to be in the office and available for customer calls?”
Gain commitment. “What are the new behaviors you will practice?” “What are the benefits of those new behaviors?”
Follow up. If the behavior changes as promised, be sure to have another conversation where you give them positive feedback, including the positive impact of their actions. “I’ve noticed that you’ve been on time or even early for the past two weeks. We have consistently gotten orders out on time as a result. Thank you!”

Remember that, as a coach, you need to be providing regular feedback for both performance and career development. Catch your employees being good, and let them know how much you appreciate them. Praise them when they turn around a performance issue. When they come to you with a work issue, avoid the temptation to tell them how to solve it. Ask good questions to help them come up with a solution. “What have you tried so far?” “What’s another approach that might work that you haven’t tried yet?” “How have you handled something like this in the past?” “What was the outcome?”

If you’d like to learn more about giving effective feedback, please contact me about my one-hour performance feedback training.

Increase HR Knowledge with Our Generalist Certificate Program

As a long-time HR Professional, I know that those who work in human resources must continually add to their knowledge about HR best practices, employment law, benefits and various other topics that impact companies and their employees. That’s why for the past two years I’ve been partnering with HR Training Centers to deliver their Certificate Program for HR Generalists. This 3-day program is designed to provide HR Generalists, and anyone responsible for the HR function, with practical solutions and strategies to manage the challenges HR professionals are faced with every day. This class is for anyone who wants to increase their knowledge about the various aspects of the HR function.

The next offering of the certificate program is July 17-19 at the Santa Clara Tech Mart, 5201 Great America Pkwy, Suite 360 Santa Clara, CA 95054. Register on or before June 17 to receive the early bird discount.

Participants in the program will:

Learn best practices and indispensable strategies for every HR function
Acquire the practical knowledge and tools needed to navigate employment law landmines
Practice their learning through “real-life” case studies
Network with other HR professionals
Earn an “HR Generalist Certificate” that enhances professional growth
Earn 18 PHR / SPHR re-certification credit hours
Earn 18 SHRM PDCs

Participants will also receive access to our Training & Certification Programs for FMLA, ADA, COBRA, and Paycheck Fundamentals!

The interactive workshop format of this program allows for plenty of discussion around real-life issues, resulting in knowledge and solutions that participants can immediately apply. I hope to see you there!