(Published in the Job Market-Working People section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, June 1, 2008, Sunday)
By Roel Andag
Contributor
The challenge of converting intention to action
IN ALL MY SEVERAL employments, there were only a couple occasions when I received human resource policy manuals. The first was when I worked as Communications Manager in a multinational pharmaceutical company. Marvelling at the 26-page company manual containing three main sections, I quickly turned to the subsection titled ‘Disciplinary Action’. My interest was in knowing behaviors that can get me in trouble. The second was when I worked as HR consultant to a multinational petroleum company. I contemplated a 137-page of what amounted to rough drafts. I was hired exactly to make sense of the yellowing pages and turn the voluminous material chockfull of margin notes and doodles to a coherent HR policy book. This second occasion did not allow me to be choosy about what policies to look at. I was obliged to examine each of the over 60 policies. It was this particular consulting project that spurred my real understanding of HR policies. What I learned in graduate school sure came in handy.
A company has its constitution and bylaws. The vision and mission are its preambles and its human resource policy form part of the implementing rules and regulations. HR policies can be categorized into: procedural (task definition and assignment of roles; example, complaint and grievance), distributive (allocation of benefits to particular segments; ex. bonus for high performers), redistributive (allocation of benefits among broad segments; ex. salaries and leaves), regulatory (establishment of restrictions; ex. dress code), material (provision of tangible resources or substantive power; ex. promotion), symbolic (appeals to cherished values; ex. loyalty award), collective (provision of indivisible goods; ex. instituting security measures), and private (provision of goods to those who are able to pay; ex. discounts on company products).
HR policies, and any policy for that matter, are useful for four purposes: information (to make employees aware), inducement (to facilitate the adoption of desired behavior), enforcement (to require employees to adopt desired behavior to avoid penalty), and benefaction (to offer benefits or incentives to people employees who modify their behavior in the desired direction). In real terms, an HR policy manual is useful to both employer and employee because it is the company’s basic bible on how to treat employees and it is the set of rules that govern the employee from the day he applies up to his last day in the company, and sometimes even beyond.
In broad strokes, the basic contents of an HR policy are company vision and mission, code of conduct, and personnel administration. HR policies usually originate from labor laws, documented best practices, management decisions, collective bargaining agreements, and industry benchmarks.
Companies can have the most beautifully worded and graphically presented HR policies, all within the bounds of law. The real challenge, however, is in their implementation – the process of converting intention into action. When this process fails, an implementation gap
– deviations between policy and actual practice – occurs. There are two types of implementation gaps: non-implementation, where policy is simply not put into practice, and unsuccessful implementation, where, despite best efforts, applying the policy does not produce desired results. The second type is attributable to bad execution, bad policy or bad luck. Implementation gaps can lead to crises such as lawsuits and unrestrained turnover. A policy that is brilliant in words but lacklustre in implementation is similar to not having a policy at all.
Multinational companies have their own challenges in HR policy implementation. They have to marry global standards with the laws of the country where the company is headquartered with the laws of the country where they operate. Whatever the case, HR policy implementation will be greatly improved when these 11 success factors are present:
1. Soundness – a sound policy is based on valid theory. For example, motivation strategies are based on established motivation theories. A sound policy has well defined objectives and implementation guidelines. In addition, HR policies have to be aligned with the company’s vision, mission and business priorities so that policies do not only pursue outputs but impacts as well.
2. Simplicity – a policy is easy to propagate when it is easy to understand, implement and communicate.
3. Leadership – implementation depends largely on solid leadership at all levels of the organization. Top level management as policy sponsors, mid-level managers and first level supervisors as implementers, and rank and file employees as converts. Everyone in the company has to be a policy champion, not a passive complier. In the overall scheme, it is the HR department that shepherds HR policies and it is crucial that those in the HR department possess astute implementation ability, people skills and legal knowledge.
4. Ample resources – what good is a policy on bonuses and incentives when it is habitually violated because no resources are allocated?
5. Organizational flexibility – rigidities in structures, processes and attitudes can capture HR policies in limbo. Organizational adaptability is necessary so as to absorb beneficial changes while deflecting harmful ones. This is especially advantageous when HR policies need to be updated due to changes in laws, competition, corporate culture, and agreements with labor union, among others.
6. Objective – it balances the interests of the company and its employees.
7. Degree of change required is manageable – radical change is met with high resistance while marginal change is welcomed with high acceptance. Some policies take longer to implement because of ingrained attitudes and the corresponding unlearning required as is true in the case of equal opportunity employment.
8. Healthy communication – HR policies have to be clearly communicated so as to leave no room for ambiguity. They have to be cascaded to all employees to make them feel a sense of ownership of the policies. The HR department has to be responsive in clarifying points when necessary.
9. Adequate participation of employees – without the commitment of employees, policies are nothing but empty declarations. Participation can be obtained either through coercion or encouragement. It is a good sign when employees raise questions about HR policies. It means they are paying attention.
10. Clear consequences – rewards and penalties are accurately applied. Double standards are not tolerated.
11. No insurmountable external constraint – even the best policies go awry when force majeure such as economic busts affect the business.
Wouldn’t life be easier if these preconditions are present? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the HR department can create a laboratory version prior to full-blown implementation? This will enable the fine-tuning of policies until they become ideal. But ideals are oftentimes elusive because conflicts can occur between what is desirable and what is actually achievable.
Flawless implementation of HR policies will result in individual and collective effectiveness and efficiency. What holds true, however, is that there is no such thing as perfect implementation. But this is not a license to bastardize HR policies. At least try to achieve the highest score possible in your metrics.
Owing to their immense significance, both employer and employee should treat HR policies as dynamic instruments, not inert matter that gathers dust in desk drawers, revisited only in times of turmoil.
My consulting experience made me realize that HR policies do not merely spell out rewards and punishments. Their implementation dictates the rhythm of corporate life.
