OzHR #5 - Accountability for HR

Managers get fired if:

• patients don't get treated;
• the factory doesn't meet production targets;
• the sales targets aren't met for the period;
• invoices don't get sent to customers;
• enough product isn't bought to sell etc.

Managers of hospitals, factories, marketing departments, or finance, it doesn't really matter what the specifics of their task are. The expectation is they will meet their targets and get the job done every single time.

But what about HR? Where is their accountability in all of this? If HR professionals demand equal access to the executive suite and remuneration, it seems only fair that they also accept a 'perform or be fired' risk. And although HR may work under similar pressure, can we honestly say that HR is measured as easily and accurately as sales figures? This is the stuff that credibility is made of. 

The chat will be Thursday 3 October, starting at 7pm AEST, 6:30pm ACST and 5pm AWST. Just make sure to pop a #OzHR in your tweet so we can see it, and be sure to invite others along for the ride!

This week's questions are:

1. How can HR performance be measured so that it can be given a value? Get creative, realistic & specific - share some trench tools.

2. Since accountability fosters credibility, what can HR do to create accountability for itself in an organisation or as a profession?

3. Could HR ever be presented within the profit/loss statement or is it too far removed from numbers? Does this affect HR's reputation?

4. If tomorrow, HR had to meet targets like a marketing department, what would you predict the result to be? Why?

See you then,

Sarah

OzHR #4 - Employees vs Management

This week our host is Adam Axon who is active on twitter as @adamaxon. If you don't follow him yet, then please do, because he's a wonderful person to have a chat to. Thanks Adam, this is going to be a fabulous week! - Sarah

Employees vs. Management, the great organisational divide. As Human Resources professionals we often find ourselves in the unique position of being exposed to both sides of this divide, but what responsibility does this place on our shoulders? Is it our job to try and bridge the divide and bring both sides closer together or do our loyalties lie with only one side?

This week we're going to take a closer look at the divide. We'll look into what causes it, talk about the impacts it can have on organisations & the people within, and then finally we'll discuss how to reduce the divide, and who's responsibility it is to do so. Hope you can join in!

The chat will be Thursday 26 September, starting at 7pm AEST, 6:30pm ACST and 5pm AWST. Just make sure to pop a #OzHR in your tweet so we can see it, and be sure to invite others along for the ride!

This week's questions are:

1. What are the major contributors behind the divide between employees & management?

2. What impacts can this divide have on our organisations? Is it important that we try and minimise it?

3. Whose responsibility should it be to do this? What role does HR have to play?

4. What are some of the key actions that HR/Management/Employees can take in order to try and minimise the divide?

See you then,

Adam

OzHR #3 - The Verdict on Interviews

Job interviews are a process every single one of us has either experienced on one or two sides of the table. Perhaps we even have insight on how recruitment processes can affect a whole organisation, like branding, diversity, efficiency and team building. Whatever your experience, or insight, one thing is for sure: we all have an opinion about it.

So this week we're looking into job interviews, and especially looking into an interview's efficiency and effectiveness. How should it be run, by who, to find what and what can be done better? It's the most intimate process the public, employees, employers and HR will get with each other - so let's talk about it!

The chat will be Thursday 19 September, starting at 7pm AEST, 6:30pm ACST and 5pm AWST. Just make sure to pop a #OzHR in your tweet so we can see it!

This week's questions are:

1. What does a successful job interview look like for the employer & the candidate? Why isn't it achieved?

2. Should HR be training itself out of job interviews ? If so, who does it go to?

3. Are interviews actually effective beyond 5 minutes, or just reinforcing the first 5 minutes?

4. What is your vision for the future of interviewing, especially in Australian culture?

Politics and People Managers

Thank the heavens, the Australian election is this Saturday 7 September - this has been the longest run up to the election ever, and after eight months I'm sure we're all very, very over it! So let's have one last political hurrah and discuss state politics and people management.

Looking outside of organisational politics, this discussion will focus on state politics (not the state region but government administration). Politics is all about citizens, and can affect everything about how an organisation works. It can impact budgets, start and stop projects, import talent and protect talent - there is so much power in it. And yet, we hardly ever acknowledge HR & people managers as important political participators. I think this is a taboo we need to explore.

The chat will be Thursday 12 September, starting at 7pm AEST, 6:30pm ACST and 5pm AWST. Just make sure to pop a #OzHR in your tweet so we can see it!

This week's questions are:

1. How much do you consciously bring state politics into your workplace? Why/why not?

2. What civil political issues do you think affect people management? Does this influence your political involvement?

3. Can someone be a good people manager if they're not politically conscious? Why/why not?

4. Does political participation, or could it, make people management more effective in organisations?


See you then,

Sarah