October/November, 1995
GOOD MANAGERS WON'T WAIT until New Year's Eve to make their resolutions for 1996. With the annual planning process well under way at most companies, now is the time to set some human resource goals that can build employee morale and productivity, reduce the risk of legal action and add to your bottom line.
The following ten suggestions, culled from some of the best-managed companies we've observed, may help stimulate your thinking and lead to still other ideas for making your organization a better place in which to work.
1. Make sure you have a job description for each and every position. A well-written description tells ìwhat countsî in the performance of a particular job and provides the best measurement of whether an incumbent is doing the job or not. In fact, a formal position description is often one of your best defenses against discrimination or wrongful discharge claims if an employee is subsequently terminated or denied advancement for performance-related reasons. At the opposite end of the spectrum, position descriptions guide those involved in the recruiting and hiring process.
2. Confirm that annual performance appraisals are indeed taking place and are honest in their evaluations. Virtually all companies require annual performance appraisals and may even promise them in employee handbooks. Over time, however, managers may tire of the practice or never quite get around to the task ó especially if they themselves fail to receive evaluations. Since performance appraisals complete the loop that job descriptions begin, they are vital to building credible employee records and letting employees know where they stand. Remind your managers that appraisals should be straightforward and objective, with no room for sugar-coating, and should be signed by the employee as well as supervisor. If the employee sets annual objectives, incorporate them in the appraisal process.
3. Restructure your compensation program to make the fullest use of pay for performance and long-term incentives. What company wouldn't like to encourage productivity and quality improvements, align pay more closely with business results, focus employee attention on the organization's business goals and discourage worker expectations that they are entitled to automatic pay increases? Various forms of performance-based compensation may well provide the answer. For rank-and-file employees, annual or even quarterly rewards for the achievement of specific goals will have the most dramatic impact. At upper management levels, stock grants and deferred compensation can be used to keep their focus on long-range goals and consistency of performance over a several-year period.
4. Ask every key employee to identify at least three potential successors ó with specific recommendations concerning additional training or experience required for each to be fully qualified. You know the key positions in your company, but the position-holders may best know the individuals most qualified to succeed them (along with their degree of readiness). Careful succession planning can avoid last-minute scrambles caused by unexpected departures and additionally can provide a roadmap for personnel development. If the management depth is missing, start making plans with your preferred recruiter for how to acquire it on a just-in-time or faster basis.
5. Develop a comprehensive hiring strategy for 1996. Most corporate hiring tends to be reactive ó stimulated by some unforeseen event (a sudden resignation, an unplanned promotion, the receipt of a big new order, etc.). While it may be impossible to anticipate every opening in your organization, consider what's likely to happen over the next 12 months. With at least some of the pieces of the hiring puzzle in place, you can budget more effectively and get a head start on candidate identification and selection. If this process reveals that you probably will look outside the company to fill one or more key positions, discuss this now with your recruiter.
6. Take a new look at employee economic education. Here are two facts: (A) Employees tend to exaggerate their company's profits. (B) A majority of employees have a neutral to negative opinion of management's concern for their well-being. While preaching the virtues of free enterprise may fall on deaf ears in today's culture, there is no reason why you can't help employees acquire a more accurate understanding of such matters as your company's financial condition and the dollar value of their benefits (both now and at retirement). Because numbers with a lot of zeroes at the end impress most people as large, present your quarterly or annual statements in graphic form. For instance, a pie chart can be used to illustrate the tiny sliver of corporate profits, or to show the large slice of pie consumed by pay and benefits.
7. Encourage your managers to practice MBWA. That time-tested concept, ìManage-ment By Wandering Around,î still works. Press the flesh, talk the talk and walk the walk. You'll be in better touch with your people, and they with you.
And, not to forget the legalities:
8. ADA-proof your place of work. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires all but the smallest employers to provide reasonable accommodation for the disabled and prohibits employment discrimination based upon current, past or suspected disability. Accommodation may involve remodeling a restroom, adapting elevators for the vision-impaired or modifying a work schedule to permit travel by bus with a wheelchair ramp. Non-discrimination means hiring the disabled if they can perform the essential functions of the job. A growing body of court decisions are clarifying such terms as ìreasonable accommodation,î so it may be wise to consult with corporate counsel.
9. Verify your organization's compliance with FMLA. The Family and Medical Leave Act took effect on April 6, 1995, and private employers with 50 or more employees who have worked at least 20 weeks are covered. The Act provides for unpaid family or medical leave of up to 12 weeks per year for such events as childbirth, adoption, serious family illness and serious personal illness. Employers are required to develop specific policies and procedures and to post certain legal notices concerning the Act. Depending on how your company decides to calculate the 12-month measurement period, employees could be gone for up to 24 consecutive weeks ó i.e., taking 12 weeks at the end of one year and 12 more at the start of the next.
10. Review your exposure to wrongful discharge claims. Any time you terminate an employee for cause, for job elimination or for lack of work, you may face a wrongful discharge claim (quite possibly accompanied by a charge of discrimination on the basis of age, race or sex). The use of careful documentation and standardized procedures provide your best defense.
Grounds for termination should be spelled out in your employee handbook, and any use of notice or probationary periods should be applied equally to all. Document all performance-based reasons for discharge and have detailed records of all conversations or correspondence with the affected employee. If employees are being discharged due to job elimination or lack of work, keep a record of the specifics and how they were chosen from among their peers.
Your employee handbook and/or offer of employment should, of course, assert the right of both employer and employee to terminate the employment relationship at will. Note, however, that the employment-at-will doctrine has come under increasing attack in many states and may not provide blanket protection against liability for an unfair termination.
If you work in a large, multi-unit organization, others – including the corporate Human Resources and MIS Departments – might appreciate copies of this issue. These can be ordered from your Sanford Rose Associates search consultant.
©1999 SRA International, Inc. All rights reserved, including electronic reproduction or alteration. This SRA Update is published for the clients of Sanford Rose Associates.