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Client: Legazpi City Tourism Council
Date: March 2010
Venue: Legazpi City

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Learning polished presentations

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Venue: Manila Southwoods Golf & Country Club

Plant, Nurture, Harvest!

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HR policy implementation

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(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.

Leader lead thyself

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(Published in the Job Market-Working People section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, May 25, 2008, Sunday)

By Roel Andag

Contributor

LEADERSHIP IS ABOUT POWER AND INFLUENCE. Given, you are perched highly in the company, hit business targets while keeping costs down, worshipped by staff like a deity, pulverize the competition and cause others around you to gasp in awe but do you really have power and influence over yourself?

True leaders are successful in three aspects: managing tasks, leading people, and leading oneself. Success in the first two aspects makes a person an excellent manager. One can only truly be called a leader if he excels in all three.

Leadership includes what the leader does away from public view. Without the scrutiny, he relies on his own faculties in behaving towards himself. Such behavior is largely stimulated by the subconscious. Luckily, there are areas of the subconscious that one can consciously influence to achieve worthwhile goals. Self management – the process of maximizing one’s own resources to realize objectives – starts with managing self image, thoughts and emotions.

Self image
Self image is the product of a lifetime of internal (how you see yourself) and external (how others see you) scripts. Self image or self concept is rooted in conscious or subconscious perceptions and feeling about your capability (what you believe you can do), worth (what you believe you deserve) and significance (what you believe is your impact). If you are constantly told that you are a leader and your self-generated script agrees, chances are great that you will embody the script.

Conditioning is so potent that your self-image becomes your comfort zone, which is why it is important to deflect scripts that are not beneficial. Gifted with wisdom, it is up to you to receive or reject what others tell you and what you tell yourself. If you disagree with the script but act it out anyway, you become a fabrication who lives an illusion manufactured for projection purposes. You will find it difficult reconciling your multiple personalities.

I believe there is a self image continuum that ranges from extreme insecurity at one end and narcissism at the other. Extreme insecurity or inferiority complex makes one overly receptive thus becoming susceptible to manipulations. Former US first lady and human rights champion Eleanor Roosevelt once quipped: “Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission.” On the other hand, narcissism or superiority complex leads the narcissist to believe that he doesn’t need the opinion and help of other people. Either way, a deflated or inflated ego is destructive. Lead yourself by cultivating a healthy self image that results in esteem and trust in self.

Self talk
You don’t mumble words to yourself in public lest you become suspected of losing sanity. But you talk to yourself all the time. It is routine. Scientists believe that one talks to himself at an average speed of 50 words per minute or 3,000 words an hour. Imagine the thought torrent! A speeding train of thought, so to speak. This is the most important conversation you have.

If you listen close enough to your inner dialogue you will hear judgments, fears, hopes, worries, prejudices and useless gobbledygook. You discuss with yourself a myriad of subjects including family, career, sex, money, what to wear, what to eat, what to say. It’s an endless list. Your inner dialogue contributes largely to your self image.

The danger is when you dwell on limiting thoughts such as “I can’t do it,” “I don’t deserve to be successful,” or “I’m not good enough.” Lead yourself by applying the self-talk interrupt technique: eliminate an unhelpful thought as soon as it crops up and replace it with enabling and uplifting self dialogue.

Leadership gurus from in different eras testify that thoughts are things. Thoughts translate into reality. No wonder “think positive” is an undying reminder.

Emotions

Leaders are stone cold, devoid of emotions. Excuse me. This notion of leadership is obsolete. The popularization of emotional intelligence concepts is an obituary-in-progress for the macho corporate culture that considers admitting emotions is queasy and un-businesslike. No longer is emotion considered a mushy topic associated with tearjerkers. After all, beneath its icy exoskeleton of chrome and metal, the workplace is an emotionally charged environment, what with buyouts, layoffs, low pay, hyper targets and other close-to-the-gut issues.

Basic and complex human emotions run the range from pleasure to despair, love to hate, empathy to jadedness, comfort to fear, calm to anger, and conviction to doubt. Do you have to hit your staff with a telephone when you are angry? Do you gratuitously act out your sexual urges? Do you withhold appreciation? Do you decide on bonuses when you are euphoric? Mismanaged negative emotions result in harassment, office rage and, at times, suicide. There is no joy in working with someone who is emotionally unstable.

Lead yourself by exercising your three choices in handling emotions: display, delay or deny. Situations and consequences guide the appropriateness of handling emotions. There are times for transparency, deliberateness and concealment. Process and express your emotions to move toward a positive direction.

Self mastery

How you handle your thoughts, emotions and self image manifests in your appearance, decisions, words and actions. How you treat your inner self shows in how you treat other people. Castigate yourself and you criticize those around you. Celebrate yourself and you become appreciative of others. When you are positive towards yourself you radiate a positive energy towards others.

A powerful force resides inside you. The self is one’s most powerful cheerleader and most dangerous enemy – everything starts from within. Take ownership of your life, lead yourself.

Why you should ask for your job description

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(Published in the Job Market-Working People section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, May 10, 2008, Sunday)

By Roel Andag

Contributor

In various points of my early career, I worked as proofreader in a giant printing company, as project officer in a startup NGO, as teacher to non-English speaking Asians, as writer in a publishing company promoting international diplomacy, and as researcher for a television program for children. I recall not receiving a job description in any of these jobs. Being the naïve fresh graduate that I was, I didn’t bother asking for any. Truth is I didn’t have the faintest idea that there was such a thing as job description. Being employed was more important than anything else. At this point in the race, I was scampering around dark minefields. Confusion always ended in voluntary resignations. My employments ranged from one week to six months.

I then moved to a national NGO where I worked first as researcher-writer. I was issued a two-page job description that pretty much spelled out my accountabilities. Its novelty to me felt like they were two tablets hewn in Mt. Sinai. Within my six years of employment, I moved up the organization ultimately becoming a program director. A multinational company then recruited me to become its communications manager. This time, I was handed a five-page role profile. What a fancy name for job description, I thought. After a year and a half in the company, I transitioned into consulting. Today, I design my own job descriptions based on the clients’ requirements. By experience, I have learned that an effective job description is a stabilizing force.

Aside from the stability that it builds in the employee, a job description is a tool of empowerment. In black and white, the company communicates its expectations. Aware of these expectations, the employee has the choice to become proactive in the fulfillment of his duties. A job description provides both the company and employee informed decisions on whether employment should commence in view of the ability of the employee to satisfy the demands of the job. If he accepts the job offer, the job description is the basis of the employee’s subsequent performance appraisals.

Just like in my case, in his excitement to get employed, a new hire usually neglects to ask for a copy of his job description, relying merely on the published job advertisement and on the verbal explanations of whoever handled his job interview. An opportunity of empowerment is missed. It is the responsibility of the company to provide a job description on the first day of employment or within the first week of the probationary period.

As career-oriented people, we obsess over the substance of our resumes. In the same manner, companies will always insist on the precision of our qualifications in relation to their human resource requirements. Isn’t it time we become similarly meticulous with our job descriptions? Here are the 10 essential components of an effective job description:

1. Position and job class – states the employee’s official job title and classification (example: Communications Manager-Middle Manager).

2. Job summary – in one to three sentences, it explains the purpose of the job.

3. Job responsibilities – details the key accountabilities of the position, their prescribed prioritization, activities to be undertaken to realize the accountabilities, and key result areas.

4. Organizational location – a visual representation using an organizational chart that marks the placement of the job in the company structure.

5. Reporting arrangements – identifies the names and designations of the persons to whom the employee is directly and ultimately accountable.

6. Decisionmaking authority – specifies the employee’s role in making decisions – whether he can make and enforce decisions on his own, in concurrence with others, approve those made by subordinates, or make decisions and secure approval of higher officers.

7. Supervisory and financial authority – indicates the quantifiable scope and dimensions of the job. Expressed in numbers, this shows the number of individuals supervised and the financial accountability involved.

8. Workflow and work relationships – communicates in a flowchart the processes that the employee will handle. It plots procedures, participants, lead times and outputs, and describes his work relationships with coworkers and external business partners.

9. Qualifications – enumerates the minimum and ideal educational, skills, behavioral, health and other qualifications for the job.

10. Working conditions – describes the work environment explaining work hours, time spent inside the office, extent of job-related travel, and exposure to identified occupational hazards if any.

Concerning flexibility, the two trickiest cases are when the job description states “Other responsibilities the company may assign” and when the employee reasons that “It’s not in my job description.” In the first, the employee is exposed to potential exploitation. In the second, the employee is either being change-resistant or is simply protecting his rights. A job description is not written in stone. It is a dynamic instrument that evolves with company priorities and innovations that impact on the job.

Winning companies invest time and money to produce effective job descriptions. An employee is wise to examine his job description as he joins a company and revisit this vital document time and again. The importance of a job description is emphasized by the fact that it can be used by either party in labor-related legal disputes. Because it fosters understanding between the worker and the company, an effective job description contributes to better employer-employee relationship thereby resulting in company stability.

My experience taught me that not having a job description is inexcusable, having one is not good enough, having an effective one is ideal.