Hi,
I was reading the article on '9 secrets of guaranteed failure of HR Manager' in CiteHR. Why talk about only failure? I am giving the 'top 7 secrets for guaranteed success of the HR Manager':
1. KNOW YOUR JOB:
- It is important that you know your job in the first place. Knowing your job does not mean just having knowledge about the HR function that you have been handling for years. What it actually means is knowing what your job is and what it should be in your company. You need to know your job, your role, and your job description in the context of your company and also the business phase/situation your company is currently undergoing – start-up, ongoing traditional company or young company, family-owned, new CEO, merger or acquisition, new regulations, new structure for HR department, etc.
- It would be nice to play a role 100% of your choice. But, you need to work your way through this desirable goal. So, before reaching that reap season, do not simply assume what role you think is the role you should play or your company wants you to play. Get your role/job description clarified by the CEO (or whoever is your boss). You cannot do this by having just one sitting with the boss with a job description proposal written by you.
- You need to first talk about the expectations of your boss of the HR role you are expected to play during a few one-to-one meetings with him and then arrive at an appropriate job description for you, expecting modifications on the way. You can influence your boss to have the role/system you may like, but do not be rigid.
- Your aim should be to eventually enlarge/upgrade, not shrink your role. But, be flexible to changes in your role along the way. Be aware of the influence that the changes – the strategic infliction points as Mr. Andrew S. Grove (President, Intel Corporation) would call them in his book 'Only the Paranoid survive' - may bring on your career management plan. The changes may be desirable or undesirable for your career advancement, and you must be able to judge and react. What appears to be a shrink in role may eventually prove to be growth. Be intuitive and alert.
- Constantly read the books/articles on all important HR topics - Recruitment, Induction, Training, Employee Relations, Legislations, New Regulations, Performance Management, Compensation & Benefits, Handling Employee Discipline, Discharge, and Dismissal, etc. Keep your knowledge abreast of the latest and important happenings in the field.
- You can accept responsibilities outside your normal role. Generally, the HR Manager is given miscellaneous jobs by the CEO/the boss that do not sometimes fall under the normal job description. It could be something related to the Corporate Social Responsibility program that your company plans to launch or becoming the industry faculty to a college where your boss holds some interest. Be careful to accept additional responsibilities. While you may keep your boss happy that you have offered him some help, it should not dilute your primary role and the prospects connected thereto. At the same time, you can't also totally avoid such jobs being given to you. Don't bite off more than what you can chew. Don't overpromise and underdeliver. Look for value addition in anything you do.
- If you are interested in taking up more jobs outside your normal role as a means of fulfilling your self-actualization needs or otherwise, then have good time management habits so that your primary job/role does not suffer.
- Be careful about accepting rewards - monetary or otherwise - based on jobs you have done outside your normal role. It will spoil your image/reputation amongst your colleagues at different levels. Let others not carry an impression that you have influenced your boss for recognition/reward only by doing the special jobs outside your normal purview. Whether your HR job brings tangible or intangible results, that should be the basis for your recognition/reward. Learn to quantify your contribution in HR.
- Be highly competitive.
2. UNDERSTAND AND RESPECT THE LEGISLATIONS:
- This is the minimum you need to do to survive and be safe.
- Be 100% clear about the legislations that would apply to your industry/company. Discuss and find out if any omissions are there.
- Have a habit of reading the bare acts, interpretations, and case laws.
- Reach out to the professionals, legal consultants for help or clarification when necessary. Do not jump to conclusions based on your understanding. At the same time, do not run to the external legal consultant for each and everything.
- If your company has appointed (through you or otherwise) a Legal Consultant for HR-related matters, get a legal opinion in writing from him during an issue or before the issue arrives. And, do not simply go by what the consultant says on anything and everything. Be innovative to find pragmatic solutions without compromising legal compliance.
- Ensure good compliance. Conduct a self-audit for checking compliance with respect to all applicable legislations.
- Have a good aptitude for compliance. It involves a lot of Forms and Registers to be meticulously filled and submitted periodically to the concerned Labour Inspector or any other Inspector/Officer of the Govt. dept. If you personally do not have such aptitude, then hire one having the right aptitude for this job.
- If you need to get necessary exemption from the concerned Govt. department for avoiding laborious work for the sake of compliance, get it. But, check and be sure that the exemption really applies to the areas you have envisaged and to all your establishments if you have expected it that way.
- Do not relax if you have totally outsourced the compliance job. Anticipate lapses on the part of your outsourcing partner and proactively take corrective actions.
- Maintain a good relationship with the Govt. authorities – Factory Inspector, Labor Inspector, and other such officials, even if you have outsourced the compliance part of the job to a consultant. The relationship management could be preferably through your suitable senior subordinate rather than yourself directly handling the matters all the time.
- Report serious issues immediately to your boss/the key personnel concerned (Ex. Company Secretary). Do not postpone the reporting assuming you would be able to handle/resolve it yourself. The issue may eventually turn out to be a crisis, and reporting it later would mean 'gross negligence' or 'failure to report' on your part. You may be able to handle it yourself, but report on time without panicking your boss/colleagues.
- Keep cool when you have serious issues. If necessary, take more than one opinion from external legal consultants on serious issues. Keep the opinion formal or informal depending on how you want to use it.
3. KEEP YOUR IDENTITY SEPARATE AND SLIGHTLY AWAY FROM THE CEO:
- Don't depend on the CEO too much; don't become his mouthpiece.
- The CEO generally expects his HR Manager (more than from any other manager) to fully reflect his personal policies, irrespective of what is written, to suit his whims and fancies. Often the HR Manager becomes the CEO's mouthpiece or projected that way. This role, the nearness you enjoy with the CEO, the say that you have on people-related matters (salary increments, promotions, etc.) might give you a sense of power. But, be careful. Do not get caught in this trap.
- While you cannot openly show your disagreements to your CEO on matters that you do not really agree with, and you cannot express your half-heartedness when implementing the CEO's decisions that you may not like, it is quite possible that you do not become aggressive/arrogant while implementing the decisions that are not in the general interest of the people. It does not mean that to save your skin you let others know that you are helpless though you have not agreed in principle. That kind of game is dangerous.
- Do not offer yourself to the CEO to become his arrow so he can shoot you at whomever and whenever he wants. If you do that, then someday you will become the target, and he will blame and break you.
- While you may play the role of his informer often biting his ears on what is happening around, do not carry tales that would unduly harm others. Be fair and objective in this role. Keep the interest of the company in the first place. Verify before taking the grapevine information to the ears of the CEO. Do not appear to be sure if you are not really sure. And, do not take matters about which you are not very sure. Otherwise, people will come to know of your tale-teller role, would call it dirty politics, and you will lose credibility.
- Do not just reflect the CEO's attitude when you need to implement harsh decisions. While you need to be ruthless, you can be cool and graceful.
- Dealing with the CEO is a double-edged sword for the HR Manager. He has to handle it carefully. If your CEO is very generous about employee benefits and often goes out of the way to give more, do not assume that you need to control him and give advice to him accordingly. He may use that to show that he is generous in spite of your 'ill advice' AND you will then face the embarrassment. Or, do not give an impression to people for enhancing your personal image that you have contributed to the CEO's generosity. Stay neutral. This will help you when the CEO suddenly changes his policy after burning his fingers. People will not blame you.
- Give proper advice to the CEO. Initially, he may turn it down. Do not lose heart. Develop the ways of tactfully communicating to him. Do not simply depend on him for advice and action.
- Keep your identity separate and slightly away from the CEO.
- While you allow the CEO to use you, use the CEO in the process to get a meaningful and satisfying role for you.
4. DON'T
From India, Bangalore
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6I was reading the article on '9 secrets of guaranteed failure of HR Manager' in CiteHR. Why talk about only failure? I am giving the 'top 7 secrets for guaranteed success of the HR Manager':
1. KNOW YOUR JOB:
- It is important that you know your job in the first place. Knowing your job does not mean just having knowledge about the HR function that you have been handling for years. What it actually means is knowing what your job is and what it should be in your company. You need to know your job, your role, and your job description in the context of your company and also the business phase/situation your company is currently undergoing – start-up, ongoing traditional company or young company, family-owned, new CEO, merger or acquisition, new regulations, new structure for HR department, etc.
- It would be nice to play a role 100% of your choice. But, you need to work your way through this desirable goal. So, before reaching that reap season, do not simply assume what role you think is the role you should play or your company wants you to play. Get your role/job description clarified by the CEO (or whoever is your boss). You cannot do this by having just one sitting with the boss with a job description proposal written by you.
- You need to first talk about the expectations of your boss of the HR role you are expected to play during a few one-to-one meetings with him and then arrive at an appropriate job description for you, expecting modifications on the way. You can influence your boss to have the role/system you may like, but do not be rigid.
- Your aim should be to eventually enlarge/upgrade, not shrink your role. But, be flexible to changes in your role along the way. Be aware of the influence that the changes – the strategic infliction points as Mr. Andrew S. Grove (President, Intel Corporation) would call them in his book 'Only the Paranoid survive' - may bring on your career management plan. The changes may be desirable or undesirable for your career advancement, and you must be able to judge and react. What appears to be a shrink in role may eventually prove to be growth. Be intuitive and alert.
- Constantly read the books/articles on all important HR topics - Recruitment, Induction, Training, Employee Relations, Legislations, New Regulations, Performance Management, Compensation & Benefits, Handling Employee Discipline, Discharge, and Dismissal, etc. Keep your knowledge abreast of the latest and important happenings in the field.
- You can accept responsibilities outside your normal role. Generally, the HR Manager is given miscellaneous jobs by the CEO/the boss that do not sometimes fall under the normal job description. It could be something related to the Corporate Social Responsibility program that your company plans to launch or becoming the industry faculty to a college where your boss holds some interest. Be careful to accept additional responsibilities. While you may keep your boss happy that you have offered him some help, it should not dilute your primary role and the prospects connected thereto. At the same time, you can't also totally avoid such jobs being given to you. Don't bite off more than what you can chew. Don't overpromise and underdeliver. Look for value addition in anything you do.
- If you are interested in taking up more jobs outside your normal role as a means of fulfilling your self-actualization needs or otherwise, then have good time management habits so that your primary job/role does not suffer.
- Be careful about accepting rewards - monetary or otherwise - based on jobs you have done outside your normal role. It will spoil your image/reputation amongst your colleagues at different levels. Let others not carry an impression that you have influenced your boss for recognition/reward only by doing the special jobs outside your normal purview. Whether your HR job brings tangible or intangible results, that should be the basis for your recognition/reward. Learn to quantify your contribution in HR.
- Be highly competitive.
2. UNDERSTAND AND RESPECT THE LEGISLATIONS:
- This is the minimum you need to do to survive and be safe.
- Be 100% clear about the legislations that would apply to your industry/company. Discuss and find out if any omissions are there.
- Have a habit of reading the bare acts, interpretations, and case laws.
- Reach out to the professionals, legal consultants for help or clarification when necessary. Do not jump to conclusions based on your understanding. At the same time, do not run to the external legal consultant for each and everything.
- If your company has appointed (through you or otherwise) a Legal Consultant for HR-related matters, get a legal opinion in writing from him during an issue or before the issue arrives. And, do not simply go by what the consultant says on anything and everything. Be innovative to find pragmatic solutions without compromising legal compliance.
- Ensure good compliance. Conduct a self-audit for checking compliance with respect to all applicable legislations.
- Have a good aptitude for compliance. It involves a lot of Forms and Registers to be meticulously filled and submitted periodically to the concerned Labour Inspector or any other Inspector/Officer of the Govt. dept. If you personally do not have such aptitude, then hire one having the right aptitude for this job.
- If you need to get necessary exemption from the concerned Govt. department for avoiding laborious work for the sake of compliance, get it. But, check and be sure that the exemption really applies to the areas you have envisaged and to all your establishments if you have expected it that way.
- Do not relax if you have totally outsourced the compliance job. Anticipate lapses on the part of your outsourcing partner and proactively take corrective actions.
- Maintain a good relationship with the Govt. authorities – Factory Inspector, Labor Inspector, and other such officials, even if you have outsourced the compliance part of the job to a consultant. The relationship management could be preferably through your suitable senior subordinate rather than yourself directly handling the matters all the time.
- Report serious issues immediately to your boss/the key personnel concerned (Ex. Company Secretary). Do not postpone the reporting assuming you would be able to handle/resolve it yourself. The issue may eventually turn out to be a crisis, and reporting it later would mean 'gross negligence' or 'failure to report' on your part. You may be able to handle it yourself, but report on time without panicking your boss/colleagues.
- Keep cool when you have serious issues. If necessary, take more than one opinion from external legal consultants on serious issues. Keep the opinion formal or informal depending on how you want to use it.
3. KEEP YOUR IDENTITY SEPARATE AND SLIGHTLY AWAY FROM THE CEO:
- Don't depend on the CEO too much; don't become his mouthpiece.
- The CEO generally expects his HR Manager (more than from any other manager) to fully reflect his personal policies, irrespective of what is written, to suit his whims and fancies. Often the HR Manager becomes the CEO's mouthpiece or projected that way. This role, the nearness you enjoy with the CEO, the say that you have on people-related matters (salary increments, promotions, etc.) might give you a sense of power. But, be careful. Do not get caught in this trap.
- While you cannot openly show your disagreements to your CEO on matters that you do not really agree with, and you cannot express your half-heartedness when implementing the CEO's decisions that you may not like, it is quite possible that you do not become aggressive/arrogant while implementing the decisions that are not in the general interest of the people. It does not mean that to save your skin you let others know that you are helpless though you have not agreed in principle. That kind of game is dangerous.
- Do not offer yourself to the CEO to become his arrow so he can shoot you at whomever and whenever he wants. If you do that, then someday you will become the target, and he will blame and break you.
- While you may play the role of his informer often biting his ears on what is happening around, do not carry tales that would unduly harm others. Be fair and objective in this role. Keep the interest of the company in the first place. Verify before taking the grapevine information to the ears of the CEO. Do not appear to be sure if you are not really sure. And, do not take matters about which you are not very sure. Otherwise, people will come to know of your tale-teller role, would call it dirty politics, and you will lose credibility.
- Do not just reflect the CEO's attitude when you need to implement harsh decisions. While you need to be ruthless, you can be cool and graceful.
- Dealing with the CEO is a double-edged sword for the HR Manager. He has to handle it carefully. If your CEO is very generous about employee benefits and often goes out of the way to give more, do not assume that you need to control him and give advice to him accordingly. He may use that to show that he is generous in spite of your 'ill advice' AND you will then face the embarrassment. Or, do not give an impression to people for enhancing your personal image that you have contributed to the CEO's generosity. Stay neutral. This will help you when the CEO suddenly changes his policy after burning his fingers. People will not blame you.
- Give proper advice to the CEO. Initially, he may turn it down. Do not lose heart. Develop the ways of tactfully communicating to him. Do not simply depend on him for advice and action.
- Keep your identity separate and slightly away from the CEO.
- While you allow the CEO to use you, use the CEO in the process to get a meaningful and satisfying role for you.
4. DON'T
From India, Bangalore
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Top 200 Secrets Of Success.pdf