Strategic Planning 1: Navigating HR
This month we’re focusing on strategic planning. If you’ve been watching our social media at all, you know that I’ve been teaching about strategic planning at the Waterloo Chapter monthly meetings. These meetings are open to anyone, so I invite you to join us in December. For more information about the meetings, or to view the previous content that’s been presented, click HERE.
To begin our series, we’re going to focus on HR. This can feel a bit like navigating landmines, but by implementing some of the following tips and recommendations, you’ll be able to recruit and retain great employees.
- Implement effective recruitment and hiring practices
“Always be hiring” is advice we regularly give. Finding the right person is more important than just filling a position, so always be looking for great people. Then once you find them – or they find you – you’ll be more prepared to find a spot for them.
One of the best ways to ensure you hire well is to encourage referrals. Your current employees know the company, the culture and the work, so if they recommend someone, it will likely be a good fit. Encourage these referrals by rewarding the person who referred them once hired.
There are a number of software programs that HR tasks much more manageable, keeping you on top of hiring, training, onboarding, compensation and culture. For information on the programs we recommend, contact Charolette.
Finally, one of the best tools to use when hiring, especially for upper management positions, is personality profiles. There are many, many options and we have found that they each have their strengths, but they all provide valuable information. Better to take some time and pay an assessment fee before you hire than to hire poorly and have to terminate later. For recommendations on personality profiles, contact Charolette.
- Develop and implement company HR policies
In order to avoid some of those landmines we mentioned, it is important to clearly communicate your HR policies. We highly recommend developing an employee handbook that outlines your culture, expectations and policies. There are many HR policy resources and templates available online, so there’s no need to create them from scratch. The issue with most companies is not developing the HR program but rather implementing it and holding people accountable to it. If you communicate the polices well, it’s easier to implement and hold people accountable. We recommend a review of the employee handbook be part of the employee onboarding process.
- Implement education and training programs
The amount of training and education available is mind-boggling! There are many government programs and grants for education, along with the many options available through Landscape Ontario. Prioritizing education is something you’ll never regret, and staff will be better trained, more efficient and more effective in their roles.
- Develop and implement programs to retain your employees
Henry Ford famously said, “The only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave, is not training them and having them stay”. People want to feel competent in their role and they want to know that there’s room for them to grow. We recommend developing a training passport whereby employees clearly know the training available to them and what is required in order to be promoted. Investing in your people is the best retention program you can offer!
- Develop a safety program
Safety starts at the top. If the owner doesn’t prioritize safety, it’s can be a waste of resources and effort by people who are trying to implement change. It is true that you will likely have to explain the “Why” over and over again, but it is worth it for the sake of your staff’s safety. Health & safety is too often something we respond to rather than work at proactively. Show your commitment to health and safety by creating a budget for it and creating a culture that clearly demonstrates to its staff their importance to you and your commitment to their safety.
- Develop and implement job descriptions
Good job descriptions provide accountability for the employee, clarity around the role, and information on how job performance is measured. Job descriptions should be reviewed on an ongoing basis, not just for new hires, as employee roles and responsibilities often change. You want to make sure that the job description is updated and accurate reflects the job the employee is doing.
- Manage employee discipline and termination
No one likes to be the heavy when it comes to discipline, but it’s true that we promote what we permit. Therefore, it is important to determine and communicate policies regarding employee discipline and terminations.
Ideally, we’d like to deal with issues before they become problems that require discipline or termination. But we have found that people will avoid having hard conversations like nothing else! However, those conversations can help foster a culture of trust, of accountability, and of transparency. The book we have recommended more than any other in the last year talks about this very issue. To read our review of Crucial Conversations, click HERE. To purchase a copy for yourself (and, may I suggest, everyone on your leadership team, click HERE).
Our team is happy to talk to you about any of the recommendations we’ve listed. You can contact any one of us HERE.
