The HR Hub

Learning and development is, obviously, not all about training.  But you might think they do a lot more than they do.  This is a overview of all of  L&D with many useful tips for seasoned HR professionals in addition  to those with a specific interest.   Irina Ketkin is an L&D professional who teaches Udemy courses on the  subject and has a YouTube channel as well - the L&D Academy.    This video covers a more accurate view of L&D with some tips you ,  the keys to L&D success and, my favourite, some of the adult  learning principles.  I will be applying her tips in the the future and  some are sure to resonate with you:   - Only 10% of learning occurs in training (this is not an adult learning  principle, but still useful!)   - Adults are focused on achieving goals when they attend training   - Adults use their life experiences to help them learn and remember   - Adults are more self-directed in their learning   - Adults like to have choice in how they learn  These few tips will help me improve future training.  They'll probably  help you too!

Will it make a difference if you can say "time-to-hire has improved 2.5%  compared to this time last year"?  Of course we can create more complex  or creative metrics like  'retention rate per manager' or 'HR cost per  employee'.  Still... are they really helpful?   The thing is, metrics measure the past. We track these things to make  sure we are efficient and accountable.  They rarely tell us about the  strategic things we should be doing.     This is what I spoke with David Simmonds about.  He is the Chairman of  HCM Metrics and an early supporter of the HR ISO standard.  I didn't  even know there was an ISO standard for HR!     ∞ With a decent HRIS you could measure a million things.  How do you  pick?   🤔 The ISO standards will provide insight on what you should measure.    🥱 While I am a bit tired of the expression 'a seat at the table', it  still had meaning and HR data plays a big role in getting and staying  there.  We have a wealth of data.  Are we using it to track the past or  provide useful insight into business problems and solutions?   🗣 We need to speak their language. See it from the perspective of  business problems.   Find David on LinkedIn or at https://www.hcmmetrics.co.uk/   Find Andrea for consulting support in Canada at https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-adams1/

Telling your employees to get well through nutrition, sleep and exercise  and demanding they work extra every day is like telling them to eat cake  and only giving them celery. You aren't serious.    The work environment has a huge impact on wellbeing - particularly  asking too much of people.   Linda Duxbury is Canada's leading expert on employee wellbeing. She's  done national studies involving tens of thousands of people. She has a  lot to say on the subject and it does not include telling employees to  get more sleep.  As the video below says, she refuses employers who want  her to talk to employees.  She wants to talk to the EMPLOYER.     And she cleared up some things for me:  ❌ Unequivocally, time at work or in front of a computer is a terrible  measure of productivity.  ⤵ Productivity rises, plateaus and falls.  The point at which it starts  to fall depends on the person and the demands on their time.    🧐 To truly improve wellbeing, employers need to consider the demand  they put on their employees.  📣 We need to stop paying so much attention remote workers who want to  stay remote or hybrid.  We need to pay attention to all the the people  who have to show up in person.  Their morale post pandemic is terrible.     This should be required content.  The amount of insight... 😯 As she said during the interview, Linda doesn't really do social media but you can find her by googling!     Find Andrea for HR consulting or just a connection at https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-adams1/

This episode is for students!  Membership in your HR association has  benefits and, if you can capitalize on them, it can be very helpful in  landing your first HR job after university.     I spoke with Ioana Giurca who is the CEO of CPHR Alberta.  Even if you  don't live in Alberta... check out what your own association has to  offer students!  After all, you are the future of the profession and  we've all been in your shoes trying to get that first job.  Chances are  that support is offered - look for some of the following:   🙋‍♀️ Mentorship.  Is there a professional who would guide you and act  as a sounding board?    ☕️ One-on-on meetings.  If mentorship is too much or you can't find one,  someone would be willing to have coffee with you.    ✍️ Resume writing.  There is no where better than your HR Association to  get help writing resumes.  After all, we are the experts.    👋 Networking opportunities.  The thought of networking always  intimidated me, but if you can be brave enough  and hone your own  approach, it WILL pay dividends.     👏 Volunteer.  It's also a clue to an employer about your intentions and  commitment.     Not all associations will offer free memberships (although Alberta  does).  Whatever your association offers, makes use of it!     CPHR Alberta: https://www.cphrab.ca/   Student Links:  https://www.cphrab.ca/student-toolkit  https://www.cphrab.ca/become-member/student-member  https://www.cphrab.ca/walk-and-talk-program  https://www.cphrab.ca/mentorship-program     Find Andrea at https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-adams1/

Soft skills is a misnomer.  These skills are so critical to your success  that 'power skills' is far more appropriate.     The concept adds a lot of value to our careers in HR as well as the work  we do! Focusing on the right power skills can help us create more  effective organizations through skills development, identify the right  high potential employees and create meaningful training programs.    Susie Tomenchok teaches a course on power skills with the  Intrapreneurship Academy. I have seen other iterations of 'power skills'  but I think Susie is onto something with the ones she includes in her  course.  They are:    1. Lead with your strengths.  2. Take the time to clarify your purpose, vision, and values.  3. Take control of how you are perceived.  4. Corporate politics isn’t about manipulation.  5. Don’t be afraid of feedback, both giving and receiving.  6. Self-advocacy is essential to achieving goals.  7. Building a strong network makes you a valuable resource.   Few of us are good at most or all of these... imagine what would happen  if you were!

We all want to move forward in our career path and sometimes that is up.   Sometimes that is sideways, which is why 'lattice' is better term for  how to view careers. I am definitely on the lattice path! 😅    Dianna Dempsey is an expert in career pathing/ladders/lattices.  She  gives us advice on how to do it although, truthfully, many times... it  depends.  We also talked about how to make use of the phrase in HR and  development.  Some tips:   👆We need to stop talking about 'moving UP the ladder' and reinforcing  the idea that only up is moving forward.  Lateral moves may still be a  progression.   ❌Some of us are not cut out to be leaders at least not in the  conventional sense.     ⚙️ Of course that is true... so we talk about how to approach the  conversation for people in a technical stream.     ⚖️ Realistically we cannot do career pathing for everyone. We have to  strike a balance between career pathing for organizations and those for  individuals. Find Dianna at https://www.linkedin.com/in/diannadempsey/   Find Andrea at https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-adams1/

🥱 Leadership is stagnating... they got successful and stopped learning.  (Stagnation) 🤬 Structure and rules are four-letter words.  (Chaos)   🙊 People in one department don't talk to people in another. (Silos)   🤷🏻‍♀️ "Work on what you think is important." (Permissive Leadership)   These are all forms of dysfunction at work and usually aren't helpful to  organization success. Often they start at the top with senior  leadership!  Which makes it that much harder to address.    Anne Dranitsaris and Heather Dranitsaris-Hilliard from Caliber  Leadership Systems like helping organizations with their dysfunctions  and have tips and strategies on what to do about it.      ➡️ You don't have to start with senior leadership.    ➡️ HR has little position authority.  You need to influence people to  help them get them unstuck.   ➡️ Start with systems not behaviour.  Changing behaviour can be  overwhelming.     ➡️ Meet leaders where they are at not where you think they should be.    ➡️ Dysfunction is addressed in stages.  You don't flip a switch.   Anne and Heather are remarkably insightful and provide useful advice! Dismantling Dysfunction Podcast: www.dismantlingdysfunction.com  Website: www.dranitsaris-hilliard.com / www.caliberleadership.com  YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/DranitsarisHilliard   Find Andrea on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-adams1/

HR Tech seems like a big decision.  Get the wrong tech and you might be  'that person'. 😬 Get the right tech and you'll get more and better  opportunities.  Fortunately there are steps to success!   I spoke with Phil Strazzulla of Select Software Reviews which  specializes in HR tech.  I don't usually plug my guests too much, but  his site gives us free advice on how to navigate the process of buying  HR tech!  The quality of advice is so good too!  Like:   💸 You can and should negotiate.  Prices are almost always negotiable.   🔠 Make sure the vendors know you are looking at a variety of systems.   That will help with negotiations.   📆 It's true! The time of year (or month) matters!   🪄A gut check is a valid method of making a decision although you should  understand and articulate it for others.   🛞 Contrary to popular thought, people practices aren't going to create  success... successful organizations have something that people want.  It's more like great HR practices 'grease the wheels'.   There was so much valuable insight in this episode.  And some of the  tips apply to buying many things!   Find Phil at https://www.selectsoftwarereviews.com/   Find Andrea at https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-adams1/

Presenting data is harder than it looks.  Bar charts may not cut it.  But, maybe in HR we have an advantage because our data is about people.   We can tell stories! We can humanize the data!      For example, change ' 20% of employees are planning on leaving within 6  months' to '1 out of 5 employees want to leave by Easter'.  It's even  better if, after that, you draw the line between the fact and the  business impacts.    Presenting people analytics was the subject of this week's episode with  Kevin Campbell.  Kevin is an Employee Experience Scientist with  Qualtrics and has also worked for Deloitte and Culture Amp.  Some other insights:  🗣 Tell stories!  They are engaging.   💧Software is making people analytics much easier.   😘 You want to generate an emotional connection to the data.   🏁 As another guest said (so it must be true): Just give it a try!  Start!   #️⃣ Focus more on outcomes than output when you can.     Effective presentation of data including stories may be as important as  generating it.   Find Kevin on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevingeorgecampbell/   Kevin talked about the XM Institute.  Find that here: https://www.xminstitute.com/   Find Andrea on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-adams1/

Employees complain to HR because they hope we can fix it. Sometimes it's  more than hope... they KNOW it's our job to solve the problem. And  it's easy for us to be drawn in.  After all, HR is ALSO supposed to be  empathetic and supportive and many of us buy into that idea. But stop.  Yes you can and should hear the complaint and there likely is  something on.  But before you make the determination, get all the facts.   And don't get drawn in personally! I loved this conversation with Heather Dranitsaris-Hilliard and Dr. Anne  Dranitsaris of Caliber Leadership Systems because I've fielded many  employee complaints. Every single time, it feels like I am walking a  knife's edge. I fear making the employee more angry (and at me) or that I  am throwing my client under the bus. Or just that I should have been  able to make the employee feel better, but I didn't. Anne and Heather have a few areas of expertise and one of them is  definitely handling complaints! And their advice is pragmatic... they're  not fully buying into to the utopian messages you see in social media: 🤷🏻‍♀️ The employee will tell a story that works in their favour.   It could be 100% true, but let's be honest:  Do you tell the whole  objective truth when you complain? 📖 Most often there's far more history and context. 😢 Don't apologize! 🛟 When you sense this happening, pull back.  Don't fall in and rescue.  I felt better after this.  Maybe you will too! Find Heather and Anne at https://caliberleadership.com/ or on LinkedIn Find Andrea on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-adams1/