Table of Contents

Upfront: Who Benefits From This Book?

The Labor Market: A Preview

Chapter 1: What Truly Competent Managers Know

Chapter 2: Metrics and HR Programs

Chapter 3: HR and Total Quality Management

Chapter 4: Guiding Statements Provide Focus and Clarity

Chapter 5: Job Analysis is Job #1

Chapter 6: Job Descriptions & Specifications

Chapter 7: Employee Recruitment

Chapter 8: Interviews & Reference Checks

Chapter 9: Employee Orientation

Chapter 10: Employee Training

Chapter 11: Employee Motivation, Coaching

Chapter 12: Counselling and mediation

Chapter 13: Employee Retention

Chapter 14: Performance Evaluation

Chapter 15: Progressive Discipline and Termination Processes

Chapter 16: BONUS: How to Maximize Your Job Search Effectiveness

Appendix: SKAP Audit:

HR in a Nutshell: Making Good Managers Great!

ISBN: 978-0-9731137-6-1, FIRST EDITION

Copyright 2013 by Steve Bareham and Summa Publishing

Information in this book is provided for informational purposes; examples are general

guidelines only. This book is sold with the understanding that neither the author, nor publisher, is

engaged in rendering professional advice. Much of the content is based on personal experience

and anecdotal evidence. Although the author and publisher have made every reasonable attempt

to achieve complete accuracy, they assume no responsibility for content errors or omissions. Use

information as you see fit and at your own risk. Your particular situation may closely parallel

examples illustrated, but there may also be significant differences requiring that information and

recommendations be adjusted accordingly. All rights reserved.

About the author

Steve Bareham worked in management capacities in

journalism, public relations, and marketing for 25 years before

joining the teaching staff at Selkirk College, Nelson, B.C., in

1994. Through the ‘80s, he gained valuable insights about

human resources management while working with an

organizational psychologist. At the time of writing, he is the

administrator of the Golf Club Operations Online Certificate

Program (GCOOL) and teaches human resources, business

communication, and marketing to resort, hotel, and golf

management students enrolled in Selkirk’s School of

Hospitality and Tourism.

Upfront: Who Benefits From This Book?

• business owners who manage staff

• managers, and aspiring managers, who wish to boost career advancement potential

by gaining additional human resources knowledge

• post-secondary management program students (vital information and short!)

• anyone interested in an HR career who wants to learn, quickly, what’s involved

• researchers needing succinct human resources information

• staff working for anyone who reads the book and who takes its premises to heart by

applying them—good human resources practises make everyone happier because

people are hired correctly in the first place, they know how to do what they were

hired to do, and progressive communication channels are firmly in place from the

start of the HR program to the end!

y belief is that every business or organization that employs more than five

people should have a human resources management program in place. This

isn’t to say that small employers need a full-fledged HR department, rather that

at least one person on staff should be educated and trained to plan and implement HR processes

such as those described in this book.

Further, even though one person may assume responsibility for HR oversight, every

manager who supervises any number of people should be required to study and understand time-

proven human resources strategies and tactics in the interest of good employee morale and high

productivity,

The words “program,” “processes,” “strategies,” and “tactics” are used advisedly in the

foregoing.

Managing human resources effectively over time requires specific process knowledge

and, as such, is not something that comes naturally to anyone. By definition, process must be

learned, and human resources is like any other discipline in this regard—study and practise are

necessary.

M

Yes, some people function well enough because they have natural aptitudes for dealing

constructively with people. Typically, these managers are empathetic, they listen and

communicate well, they have good intuition and they exhibit common sense. These are all

valuable managerial assets, and people who possess them have great foundations on which to

build, but holistic human resources management processes that deliver positive, predictable

results must be built on more than good interpersonal skills.

Combine strong personal skills with knowledge about planning, application and ongoing

fine tuning, and you have the best of all worlds in a manager.

Providing that important initial step—process knowledge—is what this book is all about.

Significantly, it seeks to provide essential information succinctly for people who have

neither the time nor the inclination to wade through a 700-page textbook. Unquestionably, such

textbooks contain enormously helpful information, but they tend to be written in academic

language that many people find tedious and overly technical. I can attest to the intellectual

heaviness of many HR texts since I’ve used them to instruct college-level management courses.

So, the goal here is to provide only must have information in plain language that can be

quickly digested in brief, manageable sections arranged logically and sequentially. Those

wishing to go deeper can continue studies in ways of their own choosing.

The fact that you’ve read even this far suggests that you care about managing people, so

the next section reveals what managers must know to be truly competent. Chances are that

you’re already up to speed in many of these knowledge/skills areas, and if so, you have a

valuable treasure trove of marketable knowledge and skills. Make note, though, of the ones that

you can’t check off as “done”; these should be part of your ongoing professional development

plan.

The Labor Market: A Preview

any companies struggle to develop and retain a skilled workforce. This

challenge, thanks to rapidly shifting demographics, will be even more difficult

in the years to come.

It’s well known that the Baby Boomers (born from 1946-1964) are the largest generation

in our nation’s history, while the next generation, Gen-X, (1965-1977) is one of the smallest.

Generation Y, also known as Millennials (1978-1994), also figure largely into the labour mix.

As the baby boomers begin to phase into retirement, companies are already experiencing

challenges to replace them with two generations of workers with different skills, attitudes, and

expectations.

What exactly does the labor scene look like?

Statistics Canada notes that the number of workers nearing retirement rose significantly

between 2001 and 2006. In 2006, workers aged 55 or older made up 15.3 per cent of the

workforce, up from 11.7 per cent five years earlier. Within 10 years, not only will retirees

outnumber newcomers to the work force, they'll also likely outnumber children, Stats Can warns.

“We see a trend where children are on the decline and seniors are on the increase; these

two lines will cross in about 10 years,” said Rosemary Bender, director general of social and

demographic statistics for Statistics Canada.

At the moment, the number of young people entering the work force hovers just above

the replacement rate of people retiring. By comparison, the 1960s had two new workers for every

retiree. As the boomers near retirement, the new-worker ratio will inevitably drop below

replacement levels.

Most demographic and economics experts suggest that employers need to start thinking

and planning now to avoid staff shortages. One of the most common ideas is to keep baby-

boomers in the work force longer. At the same time, it will be necessary to plan carefully to

ensure not only that boomer skills keep pace with a changing world, but that they also pass their

knowledge and skills on to the next generation to avoid a brain trust vacuum.

The working population is also aging rapidly. In 2009, baby-boomers, range between

ages 44 and 63. Indeed, this pre-retirement age group grew by 28%, a rate of growth more than

five times the national average. In contrast, the population aged 15 to 24 increased by only 5% in

the same period.

The 2006 Census shows that there are barely enough young people entering the working

age group to replace those approaching retirement; just 1.1 persons 15 to 24 for every person

aged 55 to 64, compared with 2.3 in 1976. As well, projections show that in about 10 years,

Canada may have more people at retirement age than people at the age where they can begin

working. An aging working-age population presents considerable challenges for Canadian

employers who will have to adjust to a high rate of employee turnover, employee retention,

health of older workers and continuous training of employees.

Garth Whyte, of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, recently told CTV-

TV that his members are feeling the effects of labor shortages, even before the workforce begins

to shrink due to demographics. “It's a tidal wave that's been coming at us for a couple years, and

it's fast approaching. It's approaching in terms of time, but it's also approaching from west to

east."

M

The number of member businesses that say a labor shortage is an important issue to them

has gone from 40 per cent to more than 50 per cent in the past decade, he said.

Not only that, business owners themselves are aging and planning to quit. "They don't

have succession plans," he said. "So not only is there a shortage of labor, there is a shortage of

entrepreneurs."

Morley Gunderson, an economist at the University of Toronto, said the issue of Canada's

aging workforce isn't new. "…the labour market and employers will probably adjust and adapt

reasonably well." For example, the trend to early retirement has reversed itself since the mid-

1990s, he said. Jackson said pension plans are weakening, which will keep some people in the

work force past age 65.

Companies will have to learn how to best utilize the talents of their older workers,

perhaps by offering flexible schedules and part-time work, Gunderson said. Strategies that

companies and governments can adapt to address today's worker shortages should also help with

the long-term problem, he said.

What Truly Competent Managers Know

reat managers have to know a lot, and as the world gets more complicated,

there’s a lot more to know. Competent managers have good understandings of

finance, marketing, sales, information systems, research and development, etc.

But when assembling the hierarchy of what you need to know, I argue that your human resources

knowledge should also be very close to the top, because if you’re a manager with only a

superficial grasp of the holistic HR process, you have an enormous blind spot that can seriously

hamper your career advancement.

I’ve seen managers muddle through for years because they were highly proficient in

specific areas of expertise, but then suddenly everything implodes because they didn’t know how

to manage staff. And when the implosion occurs, it’s invariably ugly. Often, the manager is

caught totally unaware, thinking he, or she, had survived for 20 years and now—blam—my

expertise has been trumped by operational dysfunction and a staff in revolt.

In reality, such people got Peter Principled by being promoted into positions they were

never fully qualified to hold. People without formal HR knowledge and training really shouldn’t

be put in charge of people until they shore up that weakness. Yet, untold tens of millions of

people with no HR expertise have willingly, or unwillingly, been thrown into management roles

where suddenly they don’t know what they don’t know.

How can anyone expect them to be competent? Metaphorically, it’s like expecting an

electrician to wire a house properly with zero training; I wouldn’t want to live in it!

So let’s look at what great managers know and know how to do; look at the unfamiliar

points as development opportunities!

G

Do you know:

1. how to conduct job analyses: these enlighten businesses and organizations about the

requirements of specific staff positions, and when you determine how many positions

are needed and how much time each one requires to do in a given time period, you get

crucial information about precisely how many people are required to staff the

organization—the Goldilocks formula, not too many staff, not too few, and each with

just the right qualifications. Many organizations get this wrong and suffer

accordingly.

2. what should be included in each job description/specification for each person you

employ or manage so you know precisely what to look for in job applicants and so the

person filling the position can perform the job to a high standard in a reasonable

amount of time? Many organizations don’t even have job descriptions and

specifications for those jobs, a fact that explains a lot of performance issues, poor

staff morale and generally cranky workplaces where people are confused about what

they’re supposed to do and about what they’ll ultimately be evaluated on. Good job

descriptions/specifications are perhaps the most important tools a manager can create

and use.

3. the right ways and wrong ways to recruit and shortlist job applicants; do it the right

way and you’ll waste far less time and have far fewer costly failures

4. how job interviews should be conducted to ensure that you get the information you

need? Job interviews are often done horribly; no process here can be disastrous.

5. how to orient new staff to get them off on the right foot? Orientation often means

giving someone a brochure to read and showing them around in a two-hour blur of

introductions. Next the new hire faces days or weeks of frustration trying to figure out

how he/she fits in—bad for morale and a terrible waste of productivity.

6. how the recruitment and selection process, in concert with the job interview and

orientation period, should yield valuable information about training needs (few new

hires have 100% of the knowledge and skills needed to fulfill every job duty and

responsibility). Knowing where gaps exist enables you to spot deficiencies and then

plan training to avoid potentially costly errors and employee frustration.

7. how to structure and conduct performance evaluations; this is another area where a

little knowledge is a dangerous thing. They should be properly planned and structured

so that the people being evaluated leave the room feeling positive. If performance

evaluations are the equivalent of visits to the dentist that don’t result in improved

performance, they aren’t being done correctly.

8. what coaching and mentoring plans look like? These can elevate the morale and

commitment of both new and old employees, but few organizations even attempt

them. It’s a basic rule of human psychology—virtually all people perform better

when they believe their managers care about them.

9. what retention strategies are available and which work better than others? As the

workforce changes in the coming years (retiring baby boomers and more immigrants)

there is going to be fierce competition for qualified staff, so keeping your best people

will be increasingly difficult.

10. how to keep up with the changing socio-economic-technological environment so

employee skills remain current? This isn’t easy in a world with seven billion people

where new products and services emerge daily; if you have competitors, you need to

stay abreast, or preferably ahead.

11. how to discipline employees, when needed, in ways that enable them to redeem

themselves and to continue (or become) valued members of staff? (do it wrong and it

can mean lawsuits)

12. how to terminate someone humanely and in a way that doesn’t end up in court? This

knowledge, too, can save you a lot of time, aggravation, stress, and money, not to

mention perhaps deter an angry dismissed employee from seeking retribution—it

happens.

But, great managers know even more.

Core Executive Qualifications Defined

ore executive qualifications as defined by the U.S. Office of Personnel

Management for the Defense Leadership and Management Program, reveal what

3rd millennium leaders must know and be able to do and accomplish.

Again, as you read and analyze the following pages, make note of the operative words

and phrases that pinpoint specific desirable knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSA’s) that

effective managers and employees should have. You can use these KSAs when selecting people,

but you can also use them to identify where personal training and development is necessary.

Look at them as the ingredients of a career success recipe, as knowledge that can keep things

from falling between cracks.

Key Characteristics of Competent Managers

ability to exercise leadership and to motivate others to incorporate vision, strategic

planning, and elements of total quality management into the full range of the

organization’s activities (learn about strategic planning—great knowledge to have)

encourages creative thinking and innovation (study critical thinking)

able to influence others constructively (crucial managerial skill)

open to change and new information (learn to love change; resistance is futile!)

tolerant of ambiguity, able to adapt behavior and work methods in response to new

information, changing conditions, or unexpected obstacles

constantly seeks feedback from others and opportunities to master new knowledge

identifies and keeps up to date on key national and international policies and

economic, political, and social trends that affect the organization (be aware of the

world)

understands near-term and long-range planning and determines how best to be

positioned to achieve a competitive business advantage in a global economy

creates a work environment that encourages creative thinking and innovation

C

able to design and implement new or cutting-edge programs/processes.

grasps the essence of new information; masters new technical and business

knowledge

recognizes own strengths and weaknesses; pursues self-development

resilient: deals effectively with pressure; maintains focus and intensity and remains

optimistic and persistent, even under adversity. Recovers quickly from setbacks.

ability to lead: This core qualification involves the ability to design and implement

strategies which maximize employee potential and foster high ethical standards in

meeting the organization’s vision, mission, and goals.

able to promote quality through effective use of the organization’s performance

management system (e.g. establishing performance standards, appraising staff

accomplishments using the developed standards, and taking action to reward, counsel,

or remove employees, as appropriate)

values cultural diversity and other differences; fostering an environment where people

who are culturally diverse can work together cooperatively and effectively in

achieving organizational goals (study diversity planning: The world is headed for 10

billion people by 2050; in four decades, in the U.S., African Americans and Hispanics

will outnumber Caucasians.)

manages and resolves conflicts and disagreements in a positive and constructive

manner to minimize negative impact (study conflict management).

assesses employees’ unique developmental needs and provides developmental

opportunities which maximize employees’ capabilities and contribute to the

achievement of organizational goals; developing leadership in others through

coaching and mentoring.

identifies and analyzes problems; distinguishes between relevant and irrelevant

information to make logical decisions; provides solutions to individual and

organizational problems.

understands and appropriately applies procedures, requirements, regulations, and

policies related to specialized expertise. Is able to make sound hiring and capital

resource decisions and to address training and development needs. Understands

linkages between administrative competencies and mission needs.

representing and speaking for the organizational unit and its work (e.g., presenting,

explaining, selling, defining, and negotiating) to government officials, staff; the

media, clientele, and professional groups; making clear and convincing oral

presentations to individuals and groups; listening effectively and clarifying

information; facilitating an open exchange of ideas.

All of the foregoing, of course, is on top of your day job—nobody said being a great

manager was easy!

Metrics and HR Programs

imply stating that HR is an important organizational function often doesn’t cut

much ice with people in charge of budgets, especially when those people lack HR

knowledge and training. So, it’s smart to be able to articulate benefits in ways that

reveal why an organization is better off with a planned process than without one.

Money-minded people will concur that employees are the greatest asset of any

organization, but in the next breath, they will also note that staff is also the greatest expense. So,

the natural inclination of most finance administrators is to minimize staff numbers and to also

minimize any and all expenses related to staffing, even expenses such as training.

HR staff and departments are often placed on the debit side of the ledger, i.e. not as

revenue generators like sales and marketing. In the main, HR is seen as costing money, not as

something that can add value. Negative perceptions (fear, distrust) also arise because HR staff:

conduct performance evaluations

change job descriptions

are involved in labor negotiations.

administer benefits plans that are often seen as inadequate, too expensive, etc.

handle payroll—who hasn’t seen mistakes on their cheques!

In my view, it’s unfortunate that HR involvement has been forced, in many organizations,

and for administrative convenience, to accept responsibility for things like benefits, pensions,

payroll, records, policies, regulations, negotiations, handling grievances, and the like. These

involvements often alienate staff from the more humanistic and constructive elements of human

resources and staff have difficulty rationalizing differing perceptions—too bad.

But, wishing that such administration functions had never been merged with HR

management doesn’t do much good at this point—there’s no going back.

S

There is also no way to change the fact that the business world is dominated by people

concerned with quantifiable metrics. Metrics in business refers to things that can be measured to

gauge innumerable performance criteria: return on investment, customer churn rates, employee

productivity, how training costs relate to increased revenue generation, etc. etc.

Metrics are typically categorized: measurements of quantity, quality, time, money and

satisfaction. It’s been said that metrics can change behavior by driving action to change; "what

gets measured gets done" is an oft-repeated phrase that underscores how numbers provide

impetus to direct behavior. Many business-minded managers now link their compensation and

contract renewals to metrics, so these people are totally all in while many HR people are less

so—often much less so!

The disconnect between business types and HR types can be explained, in part, by the

fact that metrics, by definition, are quantifiable, while much of HR is qualitative and having to

do with emotions, subjectivity, etc. Humans are, after all, psychological creatures whose actions,

attitudes, and behaviours, are often difficult to quantify. For example, it’s difficult to quantify

how much impact a motivated, loyal, and productive workforce has on the fiscal bottom line.

Everyone knows the impact is significant, yet it defies quantification. Wringing statistics from

good morale is just plain difficult.

But difficult doesn’t mean it should not be attempted whenever and wherever possible.

Using measurement metrics as catalysts can be an incentive for more HR people to start thinking

of HR in terms of business case fiscal potential, to use the concept of metrics to point thinking

and planning in the right directions, and to zero in on actions that can actually make quantifiable

differences.

There are areas where clear metric linkages can be drawn to bottom lines:

reduced labor costs without negative impacts on productivity or morale

higher productivity from training and education

reduced turnover

lower recruitment and selection costs (compared to comparable organizations)

How many people should be employed?

Perhaps the most obvious and most important metric is to really understand optimal

staffing levels since these link directly to budgets. If an organisation doesn’t know how to

conduct proper job analyses, it’s easy to have too many, or too few, people on payroll, thus

stressing staff needlessly.

Too many employees is a waste of fiscal resources, plus, underutilized staff members

often descend into bad morale because they’re bored, so it’s a double negative whammy.

Alternatively, if the staffing pencil is too sharp, the opposite misjudgement is made and

staff members are overstretched, making it difficult to meet production or service deadlines at

appropriate levels of quality—and staff members burn out.

HR staff can prove their worth in this single area alone if intelligent processes optimize

staffing levels.

Having a process in place that enables the organization to retain trained and skilled staff

also deserves a note. It’s expensive to advertise constantly for new staff, then time is required to

get them in for interviews, to conduct interviews, to make the selections, and to then train where

skills may be lacking, all the while productivity may be less than what is was before with the

staff members who left. High levels of staff turnover are costly fiscally and in terms of time and

morale.

Trained HR staff can report metrics on how many people leave compared to other

organizations, why they leave, and what it costs the organization.

There is also the issue of a rapidly changing labor force as baby boomers will soon begin

to exit into retirement by the millions (90 million in North America). From where will the next

generation of managers come? It’s an issue that requires significant thought and planning and

that clearly falls into the purview of HR.

Several key questions need to be researched, answered and prepared for by HR staff, and

being proactive in these areas will win favor from senior fiscal managers who have foresight:

what will be the most in-demand knowledge and skills in five years or ten?

high demand careers can be very competitive in terms of expected compensation and

availability—how can you plan for that so you are an employer of choice?

how will a changing labor environment fit into training and promotion systems?

can hard-to-find expertise be obtained through consultants or contracts to meet

skills/experience deficits?