Productive Use of HR data

Productive Use of HR data Productivity growth since the late-2000s recession has been relatively weak and evidence supports the suggestion that SMEs have seen a bigger hit to productivity than larger firms; however, the UK stands out as one of the worst productivity performers among its peers, persistently ranked toward the bottom of a sample of advanced economies. Small improvements in productivity and retention can have a significant impact on the bottom line. HR professionals ought to be productivity experts, looking at how work is done, with an open mind, so as to educate management and help them reorganize work and teams around the best way to get stuff done. Using business data to try to help figure out why things are happening and the people piece behind that; that’s where data analytics really come into play in a truly useful way. Relevant data I think that a lot of HR data is not particularly relevant or enlightening; what is needed is a shift in the mindset from HR measuring HR to HR enabling the business to deliver”. Employers collect a mass of data on employees and use it to report on areas like diversity, gender pay and staff turnover, but we should be using robust people analytics to understand how poor productivity, skills gaps, and long-term trends affect the organization. It’s about understanding the business impact that drives profit and loss so that the data is put to best use; using it to review business objectives and identify opportunities to enhance and influence workflows. If employees really matter, then the organization will recognize that engagement, recruitment and retention become problematic if workers don’t feel that they have a stake in organizational success. Employees are entitled to expect that both the data generated from their employment and insights that derive from the data, will be used to benefit them as well as the organization. At 10Eighty, we prefer to focus on analytical techniques that enable employers to assess and develop talent, managing skills and aligning them with training investment that empowers workers to engage with development opportunities and invest in their ongoing employability. The CIPD suggests we consider three key areas when interrogating HR data: Is it insightful? Does it tell something you did not already know? Is it relevant? Does it concern something that matters? Is it actionable? Can it be used to trigger a meaningful intervention? Changing work practices New technologies that allow employees to work remotely and change in work patterns and contracts mean that employees have greater flexibility and more control over their working lives; these changes benefit employees and employers. Given these new workplace dynamics, it is apposite to enquire whether the HR data currently collected is entirely relevant and useful in the current environment; ensure that what is collected is what is needed and that it means what you think it means. Giving employees freedom with accountability allows them to incorporate creativity and purpose into their work and to focus on development opportunities. Good employees want to map a career path with an employer of choice; they want managers who give them a voice and they want to see how their contribution fits into the bigger organizational picture. Ensure the organization has the data to build a collaborative and supportive culture that will help to tackle the productivity puzzle. It’s also important that HR analytics are integrated into evidence-based HR practice in order to improve the use of people data when informing or advising on decision-making. Used appropriately, the data may improve trust and transparency within the organization and improve outcomes for employees. Robust, realistic and sharply focussed HR analytics allow the creation of HR strategies and policies that will facilitate an employment relationship based on trust and an environment that fosters creativity, exploration, versatility, and risk-taking.

How to Wake Your Sleepy Recruiters 10B410!

How to Wake Your Sleepy Recruiters 10B410! The market for agency recruiters is relentlessly  tough  right now.  Many are battling declining demand and skittish clients who are at best unreliable, and at worst  openly aggressive and uncooperative. It’s hard to stay motivated in this environment. Yet here we are, with a job to do, overheads to cover, salaries to earn, and targets to meet. But spare a thought for the  leaders of recruiting teams  who are caught in a downwards spiral of dropping fees, and ever increasing inertia. How do recruiters get each new day started? Mostly, it’s with a coffee, then a browse of email, then a furtive peek at Facebook, then a visit to the loo, then a chat about the weekend, then a glance at the football scores from overnight, than a chat on the phone with mum, then take your daily call from your deadbeat  candidate-cum-stalker, and then…. plan for lunch. Yes, I know, I am being harsh. But only a little. Many recruitment teams look like a group of librarians practicing being quiet for the first hour of the day. For many consulting teams it seems we start the day really, really slow… and then we  slow down. I understand why too. Constant rejection will do that to you. So how we do we start the day with a spark? With a flurry of activity? How do we get the team energised, on the phone and doing productive stuff? There is a way… I call it ‘10B410’ Or if you like things a little less cryptic,  â€œTen before Ten” It’s simple. At 9 am, or 8.30 am, or whatever time you want to get things cranked up, the  10B410  begins. The goal is simple. Every team member makes 10 real, productive, meaningful, phone calls, where they  connect  with a client or candidate and achieve a meaningful outcome. You can define ‘outcome’ as you see fit, but typically it’s setting up a meeting with a client, or selling in a candidate, or doing a reference check, for example. With candidates it could be briefing on a job, or debriefing on an interview, or asking for a referral. And those 10 calls have to be made, completed and documented in the database… by 10 am! But to count, the person has to be spoken to and the outcome achieved. So it may take 30 actual calls to hit those 10 conversations. Imagine the  fireball of energy  amongst a team of 8 recruiters all trying to make 10 connected calls in an hour. As mentioned, it could be clients or candidates, and it could be for a huge variety of reasons, so no one, new or veteran, could have an excuse not to hit the 10. Suddenly, instead of 8 dopey and mopey recruiters frittering away the first hour of the day, we have 80 great connections with our customers, which inevitably will lead to 80 more. And away we go! The start of a busy, productive and fun day. Add your own twist to my formula, but this is the way to start the day with sprint, not an hour of yawning and aimless web-trawling. Try it… 10B410 Call it the “Savage Power Hour” if you like, and then send me 10% of your increased billings.

5 Mid-Day Routines to Help You Reset Get on Track - Classy Career Girl

5 Mid-Day Routines to Help You Reset Get on Track We often hear of routines to help you have better mornings; a way to start your day off on the right foot. Mornings are extremely important and play a major role in your day. There are so many benefits in starting your mornings off with being grateful, having a plan, eating breakfast, drinking water, stretching, etc. However, starting your day off on the right track and keeping it there is just as important. Here are 5 mid-day routines to help you reset and get on track when the afternoon slump attempts an attack. 5 Mid-Day Routines to Help You Reset Get on Track 1. Take a Clarity Break Sometimes, sitting in the same environment, hour after hour can make us feel delirious and cyclical. Our eyes need a break, our legs need a stretch and we need an overall different perspective for a moment.  To be a better you, better employee or leader, you may need to step away. The Fix Take a clarity break. A clarity break is just a break that allows you to step away from your environment to gain a new perspective. Some clarity breaks do need to be longer than others, but mid-day, you may not have too much time. Instead, take a mini clarity break and walk away for 15 minutes.   The clarity break needs to be out of the office or workspace you have been in. Take this time to go for a walk outside. Use this break to look at nature, be solution oriented and visualize the stress or problems releasing from you. 2. Reexamine goals While we may start off our day with goals in mind, it is easy to let the hecticness and distractions veer us off track. Knowing we are off track can make us feel unproductive, overwhelmed, stressed and all over the place. The Fix Reset yourself mid-day by checking your to-do list or schedule. Create a habit of not letting the day slip you by without checking your planner. When you feel all over the place, stop for a moment and check your planner to see what your goals were for that day. Have you lost focus? If so, don’t get discouraged, just get back on track. Put the distractions that you can aside, or the new to-do’s on another day’s agenda and stay focused on your tasks for that day. Sticking to your schedule can increase your confidence and feelings of accomplishment. 3. Eat a Snack Glucose is brain fuel. Your brain is a very energy-needy organ and if you want it to work well, you need to fuel it. When the day passes by and you haven’t eaten, you might feel grumpy, on edge, irritated, or have a headache. To reset, you might need some food. The Fix Eat. Grab a snack and eat. At work, have handy foods around you that increase your memory and focus like avocado, nuts, blueberries, celery and, lucky you, dark chocolate (Disclaimer: in moderation!). We are all very busy nowadays, but that should not be an excuse to not fuel your body and mind, especially if you want your brain to work effectively and at  top notch so you are successful. [RELATED: 10 Ways to Beat Work Stress and Burnout] 4. Get Inspired As the day goes on, things change, distractions pop up, the afternoon slump sets in and you just might need a double dose of motivation to keep going. Especially if you have half the work day left, kids to help complete homework and dinner to make; not to mention that the calendar is showing it is only Tuesday. To reset, you may need a quick boost in motivation. The Fix Get inspired. While you can’t always change your immediate situation, you can change your perspective. Take time during your mid-day to look at inspiring quotes, pictures and even visualize your goals  coming to fruition. This is not the time to get on social media and check out the “fabulous” lives of everyone and pity yourself, but rather inspire yourself with what you have and where you desire to grow and be. I encourage you to surround yourself and your workspace with things/pictures that are upbeat, colorful and goal focused. Then, at mid-day, take time to reflect and look around at your space. If you have a vision board, your workspace is a great place to put it up and take time each day to reflect on it. 5. Take Deep Breaths With the fast pace of our society, we sometimes forget to breathe. Yes, we are breathing, but we fail to stop and just take a deep breath to center and be present.   Failing to just stop and deep breathe can keep us in a go-go, rush-rush and somewhat impulsive mode. The Fix Take deep breaths. Taking several deep breaths at mid-day can help you to feel calmer and neutralize stress. Make deep breathing at mid-day a habit, even on non-stressful days. Deep breathing can bring mental clarity, re-center you from distractions and help you to be more present.

Building a home around a career

Building a home around a career We all have dreams of living in a perfect home, but making that dream a reality can be a time consuming process. Decorating, furnishing and generally styling a dream home is a full time job in itself and can sometimes seem an impossible task for those applying themselves fully to their career. With a little planning however, its perfectly possible to create your own palace in your spare time. Here, we look at a few ways you can enhance your property without having to compromise on your busy working life. Go for low maintenance   The last thing you want when youve got very little time on your hands is to be required to carry out basic maintenance tasks. If every spare minute is taken up bringing your house back to the point of being functional, it will be a long time before your dream home can become a reality. The key here is to go for a low maintenance property. New builds in Oxfordshire can offer you a blank canvas, where every minute you spend will take you closer to your ideal home. Think minimal   Part of the reason furnishing a home is sometimes so time consuming is that people are keen to fill every nook and cranny with a unique item of furniture. While this can create a cosy and artistic feel to a property, it more often leads to a house feeling cluttered and short of space. Minimal designs are not only great for keeping your mind clear, but they require less time to create. Rather than spending all of your weekends scouring flea markets for that perfect bookcase, you should be able to tick furnishings off the list within a matter of days. Get help   Creating your own home can be an enjoyable process, but its not everyones cup of tea. If work is taking it out of you and youre not looking forward to spending your down time shopping around, dont be afraid to get help. Whether its enlisting a professional to take care of your interior design, or just bringing in some decorators to take care of that last lick of paint, a little help can sometimes go a long way.

A Story of Faith, Patience and Grace [Guest Post] - Career Pivot

A Story of Faith, Patience and Grace [Guest Post] - Career Pivot Don Varey didn’t know his career was a lemon until he was forced to turn it into lemonade. Don was a customer of mine 20 years ago. I was a National Account Manager for MCI/Worldcom. Remember them? (Bernie Ebbers, Enron era, cowboys and charlatans galore) and Don was an IT Manager for my largest account, a large, well-known Denver-based company. (This piece was originally published by the Making Aging Workand is being republished with permission.) Don was my favorite customer: likable, knowledgeable, a doer, and supportive. I left the craziness of Worldcom just before it went “poof” and I lost touch with Don. When we reconnected, as a result of him reaching out to me as a recruiter because his job had been eliminated, I found out that the dozen or so years that transpired had been very good to Don, culturally speaking. He had moved up the ranks to the department’s top spot as VP, Information Technology. High profile, high intensity, high salary, high stress. Until, one day, on short notice, it wasn’t. Seems new ownership and top management had their own person in mind for his job. A younger, lower-priced model. Heard that one before? Listen to the most recent episode Don was on the street in his mid- 50’s, and with no severance. Funny thing, lifestyle overhead doesn’t stop when the paycheck suddenly does. Another mid-life casualty of MA and ageism. I recall a coffee meeting at Panera shortly after his termination to kick around whether me helping with career transition coaching made sense. Don forged ahead on his own. We reconnected by phone a few times following that meeting and it was obvious that the big title, high salary and some gray in the beard was making it tough to come anywhere close to what he had before. Job search scorecard No surprise, Don kept meticulous records during his 7 ½ month search: Applications submitted:239 Interviews:10(mostly phone interviews, including conversations with recruiters) Networking meetings: lost count; significant contribution to Starbucks and Panera bottom line. Participation in executive outplacement group: good people, little help. Offers: goose egg; nada; nil; nein; zip. If you’ve never been in an executive job search in your 50’s or later while being “gainfully unemployed”, you might be inclined to scoff at those numbers and say “this guy didn’t know how to network/interview/sell himself, etc.” You would be wrong. I see it a lot. Don was experiencing a malady common to seasoned execs at that age and salary threshold. Don shared that the many, many hours, days, weeks, months of applying for jobs, interviews and receiving rejections really worked on his psyche, kicked his tendency to worry into high gear and brought him to lows he had never experienced. These were the hardest and darkest months of his life. His wife, Diana, became concerned that there was no joy in his life â€" this is a man with deep faith. And then Montrose happened! For you flatlanders and non-U.S. readers, Montrose is this terrific town of 22,000 on the “western slope” of Colorado. I know the town, having been there several times to visit the Montrose hospital, a client of mine. I have felt for years that Montrose is one of the best-kept secrets in Colorado. Surrounded by Colorado’s most beautiful mountains, an hour from Telluride skiing, fly-fishing in your backyard, several highly-rated golf courses in town or close by and just generally a clean and very friendly community. A photo from Don and Diana’s backyard I was shocked three years ago to learn that Don had applied for and accepted a position as the Information Technology Director for Montrose County, a county with fewer people than the Denver suburb he and his wife, Diana, had left. Right in his technology sweet spot; not exactly a resume enhancer (culturally speaking, of course). He seemed happy when I contacted him a year or so into the job. When I reached out to him again just this month, that “happy” had evolved to “ecstatic”. That “ecstatic” might be hard for most of us to comprehend because the job involved a 75% salary cut and a “downgrade” to a relatively “plain Jane” title (culturally speaking, of course). The huge salary cut, fortunately, still left them at a salary that supports a comfortable lifestyle in this smaller, less expensive community. A powerful “second half” story Don and Diana’s story has “feel good” throughout. Don is satisfying a long-held interest in community and long-term strategic development. He’s now checked that box. He’s involved in Economic Development, opportunity zone, and Social Impact community planning projects; he sits on the historical landmark board. More community involvement to come. The positive social impact of this new phase has added to their mental health. They’ve deepened their church involvement â€" Don leads a men’s bible study; they are involved in youth ministry; Diana does a bible study in a homeless shelter. High stress to no stress. Don is sleeping through the night â€" a new experience. Quality of life has gone up by “several magnitudes.” Retirement? Maybe, maybe not. I asked Don what their views were about retirement. He emailed his response from Denver prior to them boarding a flight to Maui. Not surprisingly, their views of “retirement” have changed since Montrose happened. Years ago, he and Diana (a breast cancer survivor) had planned to retire at 65 and stayed committed to that goal financially. It’s interesting to note that were they to retire at 65, they could do so at a higher monthly income than what they have now, even planning in healthcare costs. But it doesn’t sound like it’s going to happen that way. I’ll let Don’s own words sum it up: “Given our current situation, where we live, how much I enjoy what I do and the ability we have to contribute to our community, both through my job and through our volunteering at various organizations, I intend to continue to work for as long as I feel I am making a significant contribution to the County. I love working for the County and making a significant difference both within my official job responsibilities, but also just with my involvement with all aspects of County Government. As long as I can add significant value, I intend to continue working. My job responsibilities may expand beyond IT over the next year or so which excites me greatly as well. You know what they say, “When you love what you do, you never have to work a day in your life’. That’s me right now.” Montrose gained. The Vareys gained by setting aside cultural expectations, comparisons, competition and are proving that mental, physical and spiritual health blossom when a servant’s mindset takes hold.Shoulda, woulda, coulda disappears. Life takes on a daily meaning, lives are touched and transformed andsecond-half wisdom takes root. The impact of being an outlier is once again confirmed. And a community and a family get better. This post was written by Gary Allen Foster. Gary is an executive recruiter, retirement and career reinvention coach, writer, and speaker. He is an over-70 “portfolio-career” guy and audacious ager dedicated to helping folks in the over-50 crowd adopt a new perspective on how to live longer, live better and with more purpose in the second half. He coaches, speaks and writes publicly on the issues of mid-life career transitions, planning for purposeful retirement and achieving better health and greater longevity. Find his thought-provoking articles and get a copy of his free ebook entitled “Realize Your Full-life Potential: Five Easy Steps to Living Longer, Healthier, and With More Purpose” at www.makeagingwork.com. Like what you just read? Share it with your friends using the buttons above. Like What You Read? Get Career Pivot Insights Check out the Repurpose Your Career Podcast Do You Need Help With ...