HR Practitioner’s Diary: Desert to Oasis

Annie Hayes

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HR Practitioner’s Diary: Desert to Oasis

By Annie Hayes

Lady luck is on Sue’s side this week, see how she got on with an eye-opening review process, a brewing contract and an oasis of single men.

W/C 27 June 2005
Review – the ‘main’ man
My client has some 33 staff and have been preparing to conduct a review process.

The managers seemed quite keen to use my simple one page process, they’re glad that it’s not going to take up loads of time as the admin is quick and simple.

I’ve put in place a schedule whereby the managers will review the general staff. If the staff member feels they can be frank and open in their comments regarding the performance of their manager too, then it becomes a far more constructive process rather than a ‘nit picking’ session.

The fun really starts to happen when the managers get to review the performance of their Chief Executive – why not?

Fortunately the CEO (likened to Donald Trump due to his entrepreneurial skills) is very open to this process and is looking forward to learning what his staff really think of him.

This should be a real eye-opener for all parties but everyone must understand that the purpose is for it to be beneficial rather than a ‘witch hunt’.

The reviewee may have to take some comments on the chin from the reviewer(s), but it can be real fun if conducted in the right spirit.

I remember the first ever review of this type I conducted. The CEO, lets call him ‘Dennis the Menace’ had a tendency to be rather outspoken and blunt to the point he could easily offend.

During his review his managers were very fair in their comments about his strengths and the benefits that those strengths brought to the business.

However, on the downside the areas they needed him to improve in were to listen more, show empathy in terms of being more realistic with deadlines, not place his hands on his ears and go “la, la, la, la…,” and to reduce the regularity and strength of his expletives which could at times be very explosive. I’m sure many of you will know what this can be like?

Well, full credit to Dennis, he took it on the chin, took more time to listen, considered deadlines more carefully, didn’t “la, la, la” quite so often and reduced the expletives considerably. He enjoyed the whole process and is looking forward to the follow up in six months time to see what his managers think of his renewed efforts.

I think this shows the benefits of a CEO taking part in a fair two way exchange. If it makes him a better CEO and his staff feel their comments are appreciated then it’s a win, win solution.

I’m hoping through this current review process I may come across some interesting scenarios for broader discussion. I would also be interested to know if any other HR departments encourage this sort of initiative to improve their senior management?

More than I could have ‘hopped’ for!
What a coo! This week I managed to secure a training contract with Carlsberg (hence the reference to hops – they smell wonderful when brewing). They have outsourced their senior staff Grievance and Disciplinary training to me.

The trial day in mid June went well, as it was important for me to understand their own internal procedures as well as the statutory requirements. The feedback on the evaluation forms was very encouraging and gave a good indication of the potential success of the whole innovation.

The course delegates had numerous questions relating to their particular culture which presented me with a very steep learning curve. I’ve been able to gain a speedy understanding of their rules so that I can give accurate answers.

The courses will be delivered from Northampton as well as their various distribution points throughout the UK.

I’m so chuffed this has happened early on in my new business venture as it’s a great client to have. In addition, if all goes well with the D & G courses, they may outsource other subject matter to me to relieve their workload.

YIPEE!

Three happy bunnies…
About a month ago I took three girls through an interview and testing process with a view to internal promotion.

It involved Tanya moving from Agency Administrator to Underwriting PA, Kayleigh from Receptionist to Agency Administrator and Lucie from Office Junior to Receptionist.

I’ve monitored their progress through the month and they are all loving their new roles. Their managers are really happy with the overall result so all it leaves me to do now is produce amendments to the terms and conditions of employment to reflect their promotion and salary increases.

I love it when a plan comes together!

Vital Stats:
For all of those ‘singletons’ out there:

Weight – 9st 10lbs (back on track)

Chocolate – nil – too busy to think about choccie!

Wine – shared nicely chilled bottle of Pinot Grigio with my Italian Stallion! Also enjoyed nicely chilled cider with my Balti.

Boyfriends – three dates – the desert has become an oasis!
1st date – old friend (‘Victor’ “I don’t believe it!) of some 22 years treated me to round of golf, so I treated him to a tasty Balti afterwards. New golf clubs are settling in nicely now.
2nd date – county golf player (‘Tiger’) some 15 years my junior flirted outrageously with me and made a point of collecting his birthday hugs and kisses. Lovely surprise, lovely kisses and made an older woman feel very chuffed. Daren’t play him at golf yet – I’d truly embarrass myself and spend too much time in the bunker so to say!
3rd date – my ‘Italian Stallion’ took me for splendid meal at a new restaurant close to his. Mission to check out the new competition. Marcello has no worries, his place is far more fun and better value. Tried to imagine what Marcello would look like without his pony tail and goatie beard – he looks a bit like an old rocker if you get my drift, but he serves up a mean Steak Diane!