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Mar 6, 2010, Definition of StrategyThis is the respective definition of strategy by a number of writers. This can shed some light on the meaning of this word under different scenarios or applications. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Definition of Strategy" Mar 6, 2010, Definition of ManagementIt is essential to understand the definition of management in the different context it is used. This helps us to understand more about human resource management. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Definition of Management" Mar 6, 2010, Competency GapKnowing your employees' competency gap helps you to formulate the right employee training and development programs and effectively manage talents. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Competency Gap" Mar 6, 2010, Competency Based Human Resource SystemIn competency based human resource system, your organization's aim is to provide employees with the necessary competencies needed in the effective performance of their jobs. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Competency Based Human Resource System" Mar 6, 2010, CEO CompensationLoopsided CEO Compensation cannot escape serious criticisms. The issue will not disappear as long as CEOs continue to receive compensation that does not reflect performance that increased shareholders Permalink -- click for full blog post "CEO Compensation" Mar 6, 2010, Learning: Does Higher Qualification Pay More?Why do people spend additional time and money in obtaining higher education? Many believe that with higher education, they will be paid a higher salary. But this is not necessarily true. There are people who have a Master Degree yet they are only earning a bit more than someone who went to vocational school. Many find that the higher qualification only helps them get employed. The pay is not that encouraging. Soon many of them become disillusioned and lose motivation to work. So we come back to the question whether the higher qualification is worth the time, money and effort. Highly qualified people join those less qualified in being retrenched during hard times. They have to make the same effort in securing a good job that they like. Being fresh from college with no work experience, they are not much better than those who possess lower qualification. They may fare worse when competing for highly skilled job. Who is to blame for this state of affairs? Why is this happening? Is it going to get worse? What can be done to make things better? Permalink -- click for full blog post "Learning: Does Higher Qualification Pay More?" Mar 6, 2010, HR as Strategic Partner: Why is it necessary?Surely you must have read somewhere that the relevance of HR is closely connected to the success of organizations in achieving its business objectives with the help of HR. It is furthered argued that unless HR contributes to the financial success of organizations, it is at risk of becoming more insignificant. Thus, the demise of HR is predicted. When you make HR as a business partner, it means that your people strategies help your organization achieve its objective. Unless your organization is a charitable one, your main goal is making profits. Wait a second. Surely you recruited people for this purpose. To succeed and make a lot of money. Why is it that you are now required to find ways of making sure that people contribute to your organization's success? Finding the right people to fill vacancies in your organization only starts the ball rolling. Even if they have all the qualities that you need, they may still find it difficult to fit into the organization's environment. The right work culture may not exist. Your strategies are not water-tight. Other factors affecting their performance may exist. If this happens, you are paying people for minimal contribution. You are not getting much return from your investment in people. So you need to develop your investment and implement strategies to minimize risks of poor performance. If you delay a little longer in doing this, you will find that your investment has become a liability. HR refers to the HR department and the people there. It also refers to HR processes and practices. These exist for the very purpose of adding value to every activity carried out by your organization. For example, the HR department is there not for mere record keeping and some other administrative tasks. These are necessary but HR serves a higher purpose. The people in HR serve as 'internal consultants' to the heads and executives in other divisions and departments. This is one of the ways that HR can become a strategic business partner. Permalink -- click for full blog post "HR as Strategic Partner: Why is it necessary?" Mar 5, 2010, Appointment ProcedureAppointment procedure provides readily available guideline for decision makers on the appointment of new employees and employees selected for promotion. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Appointment Procedure" Mar 5, 2010, Appointment PolicyA clearly defined appointment policy leaves nothing to chance and this helps your organization to effectively conduct recruitment. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Appointment Policy" Mar 5, 2010, Acting Verses Covering AppointmentActing verses covering appointment can become contentious if it is unfair. It may not comply with the law. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Acting Verses Covering Appointment" Mar 5, 2010, Absence of Appointment LetterAbsence of appointment letter can have negative effects on employee-employer relationships. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Absence of Appointment Letter" Mar 5, 2010, Appointment LettersAn appointment letter specifies the main terms and conditions of employment. It is preferable that this agreement between employees and employers be in written form. As the employer, it is a sound policy to issue appointment letter every time a new employee is recruited. Sometimes you are tempted to think that since the job is fairly simple and / or not at the executive level, it is not necessary to issue one. What can you do if after making the offer, you decide not to go ahead with the appointment? Worse still, the selected candidate has already reported for duty. Can you withdraw the appointment letter? Can you terminate the appointment? These questions are not easy to answer. Can termination be made under any of the following? An employment contract can come to an end under various circumstances. Resignation from a job becomes effective at the completion of the notice period. It is unlikely that the new employee will send in his or her notice. An employment contract can come to an end by way of dismissal for misconducts or criminal acts. You need to wait and see. You cannot simply terminate people for no reason. Remember that an employee can allege constructive dismissal as the result of poor handling of the employment relationship. The working relationship also comes to an end under the principle of frustration of contract. You cannot deliberately make the life of the new employee miserable. You still need to train him or her and provide all the necessary support. You need to do this even if you do not like the employee around. Do everything that prevent frustration of the contract. If not, this will lead to a lot of problems and you may end up at the other end of the law. This scenario shows the necessity to ensure that the recruitment and selection process can eliminate the possibility of the wrong person being appointed. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Appointment Letters" Mar 4, 2010, Employment: Retrenchment and $100K JobsMany times in life, you may find that life is not being fair. While others are enjoying the best in life, many more are not getting a fair share of the good things that life has to offer. This may appear strange and hard to swallow but it is true. Thousands lost their jobs during the recession. Many have lost the interest to work. There are those who are forced to take up new jobs with less pay. The number of people graduating each year is increasing. The majority will look for jobs. But we know that there are not enough jobs for everyone. Job creation and the number of job seekers do not progress in tandem. It is mission impossible! Yet you read of some organizations that are looking for people who have the right qualification and experience. And these organizations are paying them well beyond $100K. It is ironical that while a lot of people are losing their jobs, others are taking up jobs that allow them to live like lords. Most of these jobs are very specialized in nature. Organizations are going for quality rather than quantity. This is of little surprise since corporations want to survive and continue to grow. There will be headhunters going around. Organizations that have money to spare will fare better while others will lose their talented people. As an organization that wishes to continue in existence, it is important that as corporate leaders, you need to make the right decision in recruitment and implement effective plans to motivate and retain your key people. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Employment: Retrenchment and $100K Jobs" Mar 2, 2010, Do You Have an HR Policy on Sexual Harassment?Wikipedia defines sexual harassment as the 'intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors.' Sexual harassment is an undesirable behavior at the workplace or at any other place whatsoever. It can seriously interfere with work performance. It affects individuals and organizations. Such behavior can lead to serious legal consequences. Many countries have enacted laws that outlaw many workplace behavior including sexual harassment. Sexual harassment can take the form of annoying the other person, abuses, retaliation or revenge for rejected advances, assaults and rape. The effects on the victims are devastating. Their job performance will suffer. They may lose opportunities for career advancement. Their lives come under public scrutiny. They may become sick. Their very lives may come under threat. Organizations need to ensure that undesirable workplace behaviors will result in the punishment of the wrongdoers. If this is not done, their performance and productivity will suffer. Implement an HR policy of zero tolerance for sexual harassment. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Do You Have an HR Policy on Sexual Harassment?" Mar 2, 2010, Amazon BooksAmazon.com is an online store where you can purchase most of the things that you may need. Among the popular items are Amazon books. In line with the theme of this website, you are referred to books on human resource management, personal development, career, education and so on. Feel free to browse through the listing of books in the store. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Amazon Books" Mar 2, 2010, Distance LearningLearning is a necessary part of life. You may have started formal education as early as kindergarten. Some may have attended nursery school. Thereafter, you went to high school and most probably to college. The education system requires people to learn for a long time. By the time you have a regular work, you are already eighteen. Those who went to college are a bit older. Learning does not stop when you commence working. You continue to learn new things. You need to if you want to progress in your career. Sometimes you may find that what you had learned is not adequate for doing the job well. It is unfortunate that much of school learning has little to do with real-time work. There are millions of people who have no access to education. Students who have no opportunity to attend college full-time still have the opportunity to improve themselves. They can learn online. Working people can also take advantage of this opportunity. All that is needed for online distance education is an internet connection with the motivation to learn. Some people argue that the way people learn will change with further development in technology. One or two even say that learning from home will become widespread. Others counter-argue that if this happens it is not good for the development of the individual. Whatever will happen in future, the opportunity to improve your educational attainment, and to enhance your knowledge and skills is already here with the availability of distance learning. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Distance Learning" Mar 1, 2010, HR IssuesNew HR issues continue to come up with different faces. The environment is dynamic which means that new people issues are bound to come up. For example, what is happening to HR after the recession? The worst of the recession is over. During the recession thousands of employees were laid off. Now organizations are starting to recruit people again. It is clear that the staffing level will not be like that before the economic downturn. Organizations will be seeking to recruit the best talents. This puts at risk organizations that cannot hold on to their key employees. To prevent or reduce the risk of losing their best people, these organizations must implement plans to keep their people. If they fail to do so, organizations that can afford to give attractive pay and incentives will gain at their expense. Permalink -- click for full blog post "HR Issues" Mar 1, 2010, My HR and Personal Development Store at AmazonMy HR and Personal Development Store at Amazon helps you in your search for books on effective people management and on your own personal development. Permalink -- click for full blog post "My HR and Personal Development Store at Amazon" Mar 1, 2010, Problems of HR ManagersThese are only some of the problems of HR Managers. Resolving them on time will prevent other problems. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Problems of HR Managers" Feb 26, 2010, Motivating EnvironmentA motivating environment is a condition that makes you give your best. You look forward to doing your part of the job every time. What you do gives you joy and answers the yearning in your heart. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Motivating Environment" Feb 25, 2010, Human Resources Salary GrowthResearch appears to indicate that Human Resources salary growth for 2010 is not encouraging. Now the question arises: "Whither HR?" Permalink -- click for full blog post "Human Resources Salary Growth" Feb 25, 2010, Finding Gratifying WorkThis book by Julie Jansen provides guidelines in finding gratifying work. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Finding Gratifying Work" Feb 25, 2010, Diamond HR ModelThe proposed Diamond HR Model of HRM is intended to help you to understand and implement human resource management. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Diamond HR Model" Feb 24, 2010, Diamond Edge General ServicesConsultancy services in career planning, HR and training are some of the services provided by Diamond Edge General Services, a firm located at Donggongon, Penampang in Sabah, Malaysia. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Diamond Edge General Services" Feb 22, 2010, First Step in HR StrategyTaking action in achieving something worthwhile is never easy. Taking the first step in HR strategy formulation and implementation is the same. To Lao Tzu of China, taking that step is very important. Permalink -- click for full blog post "First Step in HR Strategy" Feb 22, 2010, Free DownloadThe free things in life are there to help you improve your station in life. Free download is one. But choose wisely and stay on-course. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Free Download" Feb 19, 2010, What is the Position of HRM now?We are now in the second month of 2010. There were hopes for more organizations to implement strategies in human resource management. But this may have to wait. The recession had caused a chaotic condition for HR. A lot of workers were terminated. It is not any time soon that the level of employment will reach that before the recession. It is not all bad news for HR, however. Many organizations found ways to survive during hard times. People strategies were reviewed. New ones were formulated. For example, organizations realized that they have to identify and retain key employees. They need to train people, providing them with new or enhanced skills and knowledge. The scenario may have changed forever. We have to wait and see how things turn out for the remainder of the first half of 2010. Permalink -- click for full blog post "What is the Position of HRM now?" Feb 17, 2010, Recruitment PolicyRecruitment policy is that framework by which you conduct recruitment exercise that achieves your staffing objectives. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Recruitment Policy" Feb 12, 2010, DemotivationRefrain from doing or saying things that increase employees' demotivation. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Demotivation" Feb 11, 2010, Books From AmazonRead the best books on HR management, personal development and on other subjects that inspire and empower. Among these are books from Amazon. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Books From Amazon" Feb 10, 2010, Compensation Key ElementsIt is essential that you know the compensation key elements. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Compensation Key Elements" Feb 10, 2010, Compensation and the LawAwareness of the inter-relationship between compensation and the law will help you to exercise caution in formulating your compensation system. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Compensation and the Law" Feb 6, 2010, SalaryAs employers, you need to ensure that your salary and benefits package attracts good talents and motivates employees to perform to the best of their ability. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Salary" Feb 4, 2010, Top Management BooksCheck out top management books from my Book Store at Amazon.com Permalink -- click for full blog post "Top Management Books" Feb 4, 2010, Task ManagementEffective task management skills will help you to accomplish more within a given time. You can achieve your job's target by doing the right task and doing it right. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Task Management" Feb 3, 2010, Site Build It AffiliateGet your SBI!, the all-in-one site building and hosting software and become a Site Build It affiliate. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Site Build It Affiliate" Feb 2, 2010, Questions on Compensation StrategyBe alert to questions on compensation strategy that come up from time to time. By doing this, you are not taken by surprise. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Questions on Compensation Strategy" Feb 1, 2010, Is HR the Weakest Link?Asking the question, "Is HR the weakest link in my organization?" may yet save the day for you. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Is HR the Weakest Link?" Feb 1, 2010, Human Resources OrganizationsHuman Resources Organizations play an imporant role in building people's skill and organizational capability. These also advance governments' human resource development agenda. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Human Resources Organizations" Jan 27, 2010, HR TrainingNew developments require you to attend the right training programs. Also provide HR training to HR people, line managers and superivors. Permalink -- click for full blog post "HR Training" Jan 26, 2010, Grievance ProcedureEmployee grievance procedure aims to solve employees' problems amicably. If not handled well, these can become serious industrial disputes, causing disruption in your organization's activitivities. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Grievance Procedure" Jan 25, 2010, Employee ManualAn Employee Manual states everything that are related to the employer-employee relationship. The appointment letter may refer to it as binding on employees. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Employee Manual" Jan 25, 2010, Employee EngagementBy implementing a plan to engage employees, you save face, time and money and improve productivity. Effective communication is crucial to employee engagement. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Employee Engagement" Jan 25, 2010, Employee DisciplineEmployee discipline or staff discipline as some name it, is a necessary part of human resource management. Failure to act on any perceived misconduct can lead to loss of control and trust. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Employee Discipline" Jan 25, 2010, Effective Leadership SkillsEquipping your key executives with effective leadership skills ensures that good decisive decisions are made each time and every time. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Effective Leadership Skills" Jan 19, 2010, How HR Can Shine During RecessionHR is often at the receiving end when things go wrong with people at the workplace. During recession, HR is expected to do certain things some of which may hurt people. However, recession is also an opportunity for HR people to shine. Read this article on the positive things that HR can do during recessions. Jan 19, 2010, Implementing Human Resource Policy ManualWhether you are the Human Resource Manager, a line manager or a supervisor, one of the things that often comes to mind is how you can effectively implement a human resource policy manual. This presumes that your organization has such a manual. This is a very important manual containing almost everything about your organization, its goals and activities. Implementation will vary from organization. Effective implementation depends on many factors. Effective implementation of the HR manual requires that you have read and understood much, if not all, of its contents. This is the first thing you need to do especially if you have just been appointed into one of these responsible positions. The next thing to remember is that every manager and supervisor must have a common understanding of the meaning and intention of each of the provisions in the manual. If you are the Human Resource Manager, you are expected to facilitate this. Once you have this understanding, use the manual as your main reference material when dealing with every human resource matter that arise. If it happens that the matter before you is not covered in the manual, study it, conduct research and make your recommendation to higher management. In the meantime, inform the employee or employees that the outcome of the matter is awaiting decision by the higher authority. More on this in future posts. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Implementing Human Resource Policy Manual" Jan 6, 2010, What is a Mission StatementAsk "what is a mission statement ?" when preparing this important statement expressing why your organization exists in the first place. Permalink -- click for full blog post "What is a Mission Statement" Dec 24, 2009, HR Strategies and Taking the First StepThe Chinese Lao-tzu said, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." You can say the same thing with using strategies in HR management. It is not easy and the road is long but you can do it. Many people may say that it is a futile exercise but you know better. Some may say most employees are not trustworthy but you see things differently. Top management may have doubts but you know you can convince them, given the opportunity. People are the catalyst that make your organization grow and succeed. People are like a yeast that makes your organization rise to new heights. You do not need to run in order to implement HR strategies. You can adopt the way of the tortoise. It takes little steps but in time it will reach its destination. This is to demonstrate that HR transformation is a slow process. I like to quote Dr. David Ulrich who said that the number of organizations that used strategies in human resource management had not changed much since about a decade ago or so. Organizations are still struggling in trying to understand how HR can leverage their productivity. Some are still not convinced that people are crucial to their organizations' success. This is not surprising as many HR people are not well prepared for the tasks they are entrusted with. In most cases, it is not their fault. There are many contributing factors ranging from the type education made available by institutions of higher learning to HR policies, quality of corporate leadership and employees themselves. If you are the HR Manager in your organization, you face the criticism that HR had failed to recruit the right people. Others include the failure make people productive and so on. However, you are only one of the players. If you are newly recruited into the HR department, your professional advancement looks bright when you are well informed of the your organization's business activities and how the HR function and objectives are connected to them. College education may not have prepared you fully for this. However, you can read books and study corporate reports, HR manual, employee handbook, among many others. This is a slow process. It is like a taking one painful step after another. The destination is nothing less than ensuring that HR objectives go hand in hand with the corporate activities and strategies in order to achieve the overall goals of your organization. Permalink -- click for full blog post "HR Strategies and Taking the First Step"
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