Fire that elusive "somebody" in HR by redefining ESS (employee self-service)

The recent trend to corporate downsizing has affected many human resources departments, frequently making it difficult for employees to get correct benefits information. Employers may turn to Web-based technology and utilize an employee self-service (ESS) system as a way to make accurate and timely benefits information accessible to employees when they need it. To be most effective, an ESS system should be redefined to promote employee self-sufficiency.

Is high touch finally here?

Can anyone single-handedly create a caring environment without adding hours to his or her work week? As turnover continues to rise, it's worth considering. Techniques managers say have worked for them are suggested, including: Monitor workloads; celebrate successes; make niceness an expectation; mentor; offer training as often as possible; stamp out problems before they go public; consider offering flexible hours and extended leaves for all; and introduce yeast to keep people stimulated. Will these strategies--all of which may not work for you--fatten your bonus this year? Probably not, unless top management is monitoring retention and doing occasional exit interviews. However, one of the byproducts is that employees don't stop with each other. They begin to treat patients better, something neither bribery nor threats may produce.

Critique vs criticism

Critique can have as much benefit for management as it does for staff members. The fact is every time you have an opportunity to teach, you gain staying abreast of your field. Each time someone learns by your instruction, you earn their respect. Each time you have an opportunity to talk with your staff, you have first-hand experience of what's going on under your auspice. And each time you contribute to your staff, you invest in your own success, both personally and professionally.

Case study. Does this company need a union?

No doubt about it, the top managers in this fictitious case study agree, Wellington Associates is a great place to work. Analysts at the high-tech consulting firm enjoy some of the best pay in the industry. And their benefits are extensive: flextime, liberal educational opportunities, comprehensive medical and dental coverage, generous vacation leave, and even on-site day care. So it came as something of a shock to CEO Jane Wellington and her top executives when HR chief Elvin Cusack started out the weekly senior-management meeting by declaring that the United Office Workers Union had begun organizing the support staff. Turns out, Cusack explained, that the company looks very different from the support staff's point of view. Although their starting salaries are indeed competitive, raises average a mere 2% to 3%, and promotions to professional ranks are rare. Medical and dental coverage take a greater chunk out of clerical pay than out of the larger professional salaries, and the cost of the day care center is pretty much out of reach for the support staff. Flextime is impractical for workers who need to be in the office to answer phones and to file papers. Worse, the support staff is expected to accommodate the analysts' flexible schedules; if an analyst decides to work late to finish a project, the secretary has to stay as well. What to do? Suggestions ranged from "fire 'em" to "say nothing before calling in legal counsel." Five commentators examine Wellington's options and its legal obligations.

Helping staff cope with change

Resistance to change is as inevitable as change itself. But successful leaders can help their staff come to terms with a new culture by understanding the process of grief that accompanies change and by taking time to see that employees' concerns are addressed.

The set-up-to-fail syndrome

Why do some employees perform poorly? Most managers would answer that question by ticking off a list that includes weak skills, insufficient experience, inability to prioritize assignments, and lack of motivation. In other words, they would contend that poor performance is the employee's fault. But is it? Not always, according to the authors. Their research with hundreds of executives strongly suggests that it is the bosses themselves--albeit unintentionally--who are frequently responsible for an employee's subpar achievement. According to the authors, bosses and their perceived weak performers are often caught in a dynamic called the set-up-to-fail syndrome, which tends to play out as follows: A boss begins to worry when a subordinate's performance is not satisfactory. He then takes what seems like the obvious action by increasing the time and attention he focuses on the employee. But rather than improve the subordinate's performance, the increased supervision has the reverse effect. The subordinate, in perceiving the boss's lack of confidence in him, withdraws from his work and from the boss. And the relationship spirals downward. What is a boss to do? First, he must accept the possibility that his own behavior could be contributing to the problem. Second, he must plan a careful intervention with the subordinate that takes the form of one or several candid conversations meant to untangle the unhealthy dynamics in the relationship. The intervention is never easy, but the time and energy invested in it usually yields a high payback.

Your direct reports loathe you. Does it matter?

Chalk it up to the labor shortage or to growing worker independence, but today almost everyone agrees that management effectiveness rests heavily on grass roots support. Why do subordinates despise a superior? Indecisiveness, non-support, expense account abuse, and arrogance are some of the documented reasons. Your direct reports can cause you to fail and their perfidy will never be detected. They can question your competence and decisions often-through the grapevine-bombarding top management with derogatory information it ultimately can't or won't ignore. Moreover, the movement of workers from organization to organization means that negative gossip will be repeated in dozens of grapevines. What is the worst thing disgruntled workers do to a manager's career? Not only will victims protest and flack your sins in the grapevine, they'll vote with their feet. Worker shortages mean that turnover is watched as closely as salary expenses. Explored herein are some signs that should cause a manager to examine how he or she stands with the troops.

Mergers: enhancing human resources management

The health care industry is experiencing merger mania, but the majority of its current leadership underestimates the importance that significant differences in corporate culture and employee morale play among physicians and others in implementing such organizational objectives as enhancing access, reducing cost, and improving quality of care. The key human resources management issues are discussed that are too often overlooked and frequently sidetracked in the formation of powerful health networks now so prevalent in almost every metropolitan region. The authors conclude that in America's intensely competitive managed care environment, there are a number of critical human resources management ingredients that deal makers need to achieve from these mergers in order to ensure their perceived objectives: (1) paying far greater attention to variations in corporate culture and employee morale; (2) reducing total salary and fringe benefit costs; and, (3) concurrently recruiting and maintaining a qualified and stable workforce that focuses more decisively on clinical-fiscal concerns so as to improve quality of patient care at a lower cost.