As part of the leadership team for the Strategic Capability Network, I participated in developing and analyzing a survey conducted in the fall of its 500 plus senior HR practitioners to determine what they see as the top HR priorities for the next year or two.

The overriding themes to come out of the survey: talent management is a “peak” issue and the most pressing priority. More than 90% identified all areas related to talent management and acquisition as highly urgent items. When looking for new talent, many respondents stated they are attempting to solve talent problems by hiring superstars from outside the organization.

Tony Duckett, an owner of xiB/OSS Corporation, a boutique contract recruiting agency in Toronto says, “We recruit highly skilled people on a global basis, and it is becoming increasingly evident that the demand for these folks is growing dramatically”.

Personally, as a quickly growing small entrepreneurial company (Prescient Digital Media), we have experienced the same issues. Finding the right individual to fit our specific requirements is not an easy task. To deal with this issue we have instituted a few strategies.

One of those strategies is to always be looking. Although we may not be in the hiring stage this month or next, we will be soon and having a stable of good available candidates is essential.

One other tactic we have employed is to look outside of our local geography. In fact, we just recently hired a great individual from the U.K (welcome aboard Jed)!

A final tactic, and the one employed for our recent hire, is to ask for a referral. Your network is a great source of candidates and sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook are also a great way to find potential candidates.

Some of the other highlights from the survey include:

-          HR professionals are feeling extremely bogged down in transacational issues.

-          Engagement and leadership development show up as very strong areas of focus

-          Change management, team development, compensation, governance and communication are also rank solidly, however HR metrics and work-life balance are emerging as higher priority.

-          Ethics, outsourcing, diversity, globalization and employment branding emerged as being less significant

-          Two other popular write-in themes consisted of 1) unrealistic workloads and 2) building greater credibility with CEOs and line managers

-          A very high majority of respondents emphasized their need for both more time and more expertise on strategy work as opposed to the tactical side where they seem fairly comfortable with the time available

The respondents were evenly split between practitioners and consultants as well executives and managers at large and small organizations.

When asked what the most important issues required:

-          60% cited more time on strategy is necessary

-          60% cited more expertise on strategy is needed

-          37% cited more expertise on tactics is necessary

The full report can be downloaded at Carswell.com. 

Well, sort of... The headline in the SDA Asia magazine reads Serena Software Adopts Facebook as Corporate Intranet, but Serena is instead formally encouraging and scheduling time for employees to use Facebook at work:

"Serena Software is breaking out of the corporate mould by announcing today that its 800 employees around the globe will participate each week in a company-wide program called “Facebook Fridays,” which encourages employees to find fun and personal connections in the workplace.

Each Friday, employees are granted one hour of personal time to spend on their Facebook profiles and connect with co-workers, customers, family and friends. This initiative will start today and will be rolled out in 18 countries where the company has offices."

This is intriguing. Most corporations, up to 50%, are blocking the use of Facebook. Serena is pushing the opposite:

"Serena President and CEO Jeremy Burton who is an avid user of Facebook, uses it to keep in touch with employees, friends, and business partners from wherever he is in the world—in Japan visiting customers or racing cars at Laguna Seca. He wants to bring the benefits he gains from using Facebook to his company, and allow employees to have more fun combining their personal and professional lives and is doing this by making Facebook his company’s intranet—a place where employees can find everything from a list of company holidays to the CEO’s favorite movie.

Burton believes that colleagues who get to know one another on a more personal level will work together better. The company already has more than 50 percent of its global workforce on Facebook prior to the launch of Facebook Fridays.

Burton believes that colleagues who get to know one another on a more personal level will work together better. The company already has more than 50 percent of its global workforce on Facebook prior to the launch of Facebook Fridays."

Hmmm, I’m not sure I totally agree with Burton on this one. I have encouraged my own staff to join Facebook, and I personally established the Intranet Global Forum on Facebook, but I’m not sure that establishing a formal Facebook “day” to the work week establishes a work benefit. I’m just thinking out-loud here because I’m not certain that it doesn’t establish a work benefit… it just might.

Establishing a “Facebook Friday” might benefit an organization suffering from culture problems and it could boost sales in others… The thing is, call me a skeptic, but I wonder if this has more to do with "limmiting" time spent on Facebook (we want you to use Facebook! But only for one hour, only on Fridays).

What do you think? Post your comments below.

Please join us and become a member of the Facebook Intranet Global Forum.

How many times have you said, or hear, “I can’t believe they hired that guy…” We’ve all been connected to a bad hire (or sometimes been that bad hire).

CareerBuilder.com recently asked pollsters Harris Interactive to survey hiring managers about the worst resumes they’ve seen. Some of the interview comments heard and resume statements were quite zany to say the least. Among them, some razor sharp candidates…

·         Specified that availability to work Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays is limited because the weekends are "drinking time."

·         Drew a picture of a car on the outside of the envelope and said the car would be a gift to the hiring manager.

·         Listed hobbies that included sitting on a levee at night watching alligators.

·         Explained an arrest record by stating, "We stole a pig, but it was a really small pig.”

I suppose there are worse hires. I once had a client’s employee come to me (13 years ago) with a wad of cash that a customer used to pay (rather than a cheque or Visa) and said, “So, let’s split it.” My client was a charity.

HIRING AN INTRANET CONSULTANT OR MANAGER

In honor of these bright lights and some of our own favorites, I’ve compiled my own fictional list of those potential comments you don’t want to ever hear from a prospective intranet manager or consultant:

1.      “I’ve used the Web and that’s the same as an intranet.”

2.      “It doesn’t’ matter what management thinks, it’s users that count.”

3.      “The intranet is just a communications tool… like a newsletter.”

4.      “You don’t need Sharepoint, my cousin designed the local Hooters site for only $900."

5.      “I think it would be cool to take the Velvet Revolver website concept to the intranet.”

6.      “What’s IBM?”

7.      “What a CMS?”

8.      “Wiki…? Is that the hot receptionist in HR?”

9.      ”I write a lot better if I get a couple of crantinis in me!”

10.  “I personally believe… that U.S. Americans…. And the Iraq, and such…”

I wonder what Alberto Gonzales will say during his next job interview?

For many organizations, an intranet makes a fundamental change in organizational communications, and also, business process. A change management communications program is a requisite for any intranet launch.

“Even for logical change, many people will be offside,” adds Harris, the author of Change Leadership: Inform, Involve, Ignite! “Don’t underestimate the normalcy of “resistance” and find ways to integrate that resistance into change efforts.”

In short, intranet change management becomes an exercise in “selling” or communicating not only the reason and purpose for the change, but especially anticipating and directly addressing the spoken AND unspoken fears (or apathy) of employees.

Read my complete article: Intranet change management 

Communications folks see the world a tad differently from IT. And if men are from Mars and Women from Venus, then IT is from Pluto and Human Resources from Mercury. All very, very different individuals with greatly differing jobs. Yet all are expected to work together on the intranet and do so with effectiveness. Yeah right...

I know a lot of communicators and IT read this column, but probably a few more communicators than techies. And if you communicators want to redesign the intranet or build a better tool or get things done faster, then you need to learn how to talk the talk.

So in the spirit of cooperation and team building here are some of Catherine Elder’s recommendations for working with and talking with IT:

• Put yourself in their shoes
• Set project goals and communicate them
• Involve IT in your project
• Respect. Ask. Listen
• Be prepared and do your homework
• Become friends, or at least friendly, with your IT staff
• Build a business case
• Adjust expectations
• Keep informed and share what you know
• Appreciate

Good advice.

Read Catherine’s full article How to talk to IT staff.

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“8 of 10 hires are hired for their knowledge and technical skills,” says Edgar Papke, CEO of Living Change. “9 out of 10 fires are for poor teamwork and interpersonal skills.”

As I’ve said time and time again in the column, the biggest challenge facing intranet managers and consultants is not technical, but political. Specifically, the politics of what I call ‘competing priorities.’ IT, communications, and HR all have differing priorities and focuses, yet have to work together to build and manage an effective intranet.

Technical knowledge and skills are nice to have, management skills are a necessity for an intranet manager or intranet consultant.

When interviewing a perspective hire, here are five very telling and important questions that Papke recommends:

1. Tell me when you were part of a high performing team. How did the leader lead?
2. What was your contribution to the team?
3. Tell me when you were part of a team that didn’t /wasn’t a high-performing team?
4. What was your contribution to that team?
5. How will you contribute here?

In particular, question three is a critical one, says Papke: “If someone answers ‘no’ to question three then say ‘goodbye.” For two reasons: either they’re lying or they haven’t any experience with conflict. In short, you want to hire someone that knows how to manage conflict.

See How to hire an intranet manager

Another hiring tool to use is Ed Ryan’s MPR Competency Model. In short, the MPR model focuses on ranking three key traits required for a typical job:

T = Talent (skills to do the job)

E = Experience (job related experience)

C = Chemistry (cultural fit & personality)

The most important trait is talent, followed by chemistry. A strong trait is exemplified by a capital letter (T); a weak trait symbolized with a small case letter (t). The ideal candidate is a strong T-E-C, but a close runner up is a T-e-C (someone with talent and is a good cultural fit, but has limited experience).

The best combinations (in descending order of preference) are:

·         TEC

·         TeC

·         Tec

·         Tec

·         tEC

All of these tips and learnings are equally applicable for hiring an intranet consultant. If you’re hiring in an intranet consultant, then you’re likely benefiting from their ability to cut through some of the organization’s red tape and politics. If this is true, then having a skilled diplomat (C) is perhaps one of the most valuable traits a consultant can bring to the table.

Scandinavian cell phone maker Nokia recently reported record-breaking fourth quarter results. The company is making money hand over fist (approaching $6 billion in 2006). Senior management is predictably getting big bonuses this year. However, employees are not getting the same bonuses and Nokia is not paying out a special “Connecting People” bonus despite the good results.

The Helsinki Sanomat reports “…a further cause of annoyance is the fact that the missed targets also translate to cuts in the bonus systems paid by individual business groups. Such bonuses are based on the net sales, business profit, and cash flow, among others. Nearly all of Nokia's 68,000 workers belong to the scope of bonus systems as well other than the Connecting People plan.” (See Nokia personnel fume over bonus cuts).

"Nokia workers have expressed their disappointment in regard to what they feel is an unjust situation on the company's intranet chat groups, where the company directors have also answered some of the questions.

Nokia President and CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo explained the bonus criteria in a Friday video speech, which has since been available on the Nokia intranet.

 

The personnel representatives have already held talks with the management over the development of the Connecting People, bonus system, which is the most controversial. Nokia has promised to continue to discuss the development of the system world wide."

The value of a really good intranet is considerable and immense. While usage, ROI, and employee satisfaction are typical and traditional performance measure for the intranet, the intranet is also leading to improved retention and job satisfaction.

At HCL Technologies, the intranet is a key component of its employee retention program (see Employees first` is the new mantra!, Business Standard).

Read my complete piece Intranet is key to good HR (Communitelligence.com)

To measure and increase the value of your intranet, please dowload the free white paper, Finding ROI.

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Employee satisfaction used to matter. In fact it still does at most organizations, however, employee satisfaction is a dying metric.

In a new analysis (Making Employee Engagement a Focus) by research firm Ipsos, “there is a very poor correlation between employee satisfaction and bottom line results (see “Shattering the Myths of Customer Loyalty”). Sometimes the connection is there, but just as often, it isn’t.”

Instead, some experts maintain that organizations should shift their focus from satisfaction to employee engagement.

There are of course differing definitions of employee engagement, but in essence, an engaged employee is one that is committed to personal growth and the growth of the organization, and acts accordingly.

The Wikipedia entry on employee engagement:

“Employee engagement is a concept that is generally viewed as managing discretionary effort, that is, when employees have choices, they will act in a way that furthers their organization's interests. Engaged employees feel a strong emotional bond to the organization that employs them. (Robinson) This is associated with people demonstrating a willingness to recommend the organization to others and commit time and effort to help the organization succeed. (Harter) It suggests that people are motivated by intrinsic factors (e.g. personal growth, working to a common purpose, being part of a larger process) rather than simply focusing on extrinsic factors (e.g. pay / reward). (Ryan) The concept has gained popularity as various studies have demonstrated links with productivity.”

An engaged employee is more likely to:

• Understand and support through action a company’s vision and goals
• Recommend the company’s products and services to friends and family
• Work smarter and longer hours without being asked twice
• Enjoy challenges and problem solving
• View their own personal growth as linked to the company’s performance

Here according to Ipsos are 24 Factors for Higher Employee Engagement:

1. Understanding of corporate goals/mission
2. Understanding of job and how it contributes to overall corporate goals
3. Clear communication of goals, expectations, directions
4. Job design
5. Job fit
6. Support and tools
7. Independence & innovation
8. Relationship with boss/direct reports
9. Clear feedback on performance
10. Recognition
11. Fair compensation
12. Learning and development opportunities
13. Opportunities for advancement
14. Leadership practices
15. Confidence in senior leadership
16. Pride in organization/quality of product or service provided
17. Employee input
18. Employee involvement in decision making
19. Work-life balance
20. Workplace culture/morale
21. Co-worker relationships/good team environment (enjoy colleagues)
22. Orientation/on-boarding
23. Safety and well-being
24. Fair HR practices

Note that the intranet is not listed on this list – nor should it. The intranet is a business system that when properly executed should support these factors. However, it can play a major, major role in determining the success of those factors. Particularly factors #1, 2, 3, 6, and 7. This is just one reason why strategic planning is very important for any intranet – the intranet must align with corporate goals and objectives and support key factors such as those for successful employee engagement.

Ipsos goes onto say that “all of these factors are equally important...” Frankly I don’t believe that is true at all. You’d have trouble convincing me that “Employee involvement in decision making” is as equally important as “recognition”.  Nonetheless the factors are important and a process for understanding and prioritizing these factors is helpful.

The Ipsos analysis on employee engagement is very good. It’s important intelligence for anyone connected to employee communications. I agree that employee engagement is more important than employee satisfaction. However, the report all but emphatically states that employee satisfaction is not important. I don’t subscribe to this opinion.

While employee engagement is more important, it is far harder to quantify – if not impossible to precisely measure. Not all companies can afford to measure and track employee engagement (which is essentially what Ipsos is trying to do with this analysis, sell their research services. And there’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s important to keep in mind because employee satisfaction is important).

Employee satisfaction (like user satisfaction) is a good yardstick measurement that is easy to measure and track. Employee satisfaction also provides a solid and quick metric of how the company is doing. If employees are happy, chances are the company is doing well. If not, well the company could still be doing well but it might be an omen of troubled waters ahead. If the company is not doing well, then a satisfaction survey can help pinpoint problem areas.

Even more important is a rolling or tracking employee satisfaction metric – regular (e.g. quarterly) measurement to understand the changing momentum or mood. If two consecutive quarters shows dropping satisfaction, then it is likely there are issues that need to be addressed (or post-bubble letdown). On the flip side, rapid increases in satisfaction might not be sustainable and could create an environment of unreasonable expectations.

To learn more about prioritizing and addressing employee engagement factors and issues please read the entire Ipsos analysis Making Employee Engagement a Focus (registration is free but required).

It’s a buyer’s market. There is a shortage of skilled workers and we all know it. In fact, while the shortage is estimated at a couple of million workers in the U.S. alone, the shortage is increasing rapidly and expected to grow to 14 million by 2020.

Is it any wonder why so many HR professionals are completely and totally obsessed about employee retention? Retention has become such a hot issue for executives that even The Economist dedicated an issue last month (October 2006) to “The search for talent: Why it’s getting harder to find.”

Despite the need and focus on employee retention Spherion Corporation’s IT Employee Confidence Index dropped 4.3 points to 54.1 in the third quarter, according to the latest IT Employment Report (conducted by Harris Interactive). However, some 73% of IT workers say they feel it is not likely to lose their job. So job confidence is not a factor in affecting their job confidence and satisfaction.

“On the surface, this quarter’s data may seem contradictory, but the tech sector itself is operating counter-intuitively,” said Brendan Courtney, senior vice president of Spherion^® Professional Services. “IT workers are still being enticed to stay with their current employers through a series of retention efforts which may explain why even more of them are confident in their own job security.”

So employees are not worried about their jobs, but their confidence and job satisfaction is declining – and the market is screaming for skilled workers with a massive shortage that is dramatically on the rise.

What’s the problem?

Read the entire article: The intranet as an employee retention tool 

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