Perspectives from the Kinetix team on HR, Talent Acquisition & Management, life lessons and whatever else we want.
Energizing the Workplace
"If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed." -Mark Twain
9 Top Online Resume Resources
I keep everything online from my music to my bills and everything in between. I have practically my life online. Including my resume. I recently asked a candidate if they had a link to their online resume…all I got was silence. No stuttering, no excuses –just silence. My guess is they didn’t know there could be such a thing. Well there is! Here’s a list of 9 online resume resources! So if you’re ever asked for a link to your online resume you won’t be stuck with your face looking like this–à:-0
1. iResume provides ease and convenience for you to create, manage, and submit your online resume. You have access to your iResume from anywhere in any format, which can be used for any recruitment transaction.. iResume provides a clean, sleek, standardized resume and professional profile solution with the ability to integrate into all of the common recruitment systems. It is easy to use, provides iResume submittal tracking and statistics, and it is positioned to become the most widely accepted standardized resume available.
2. Gigtide is a website that lets you create, publish, manage and track your resumes, contacts and cover letters online. You can store unlimited resumes, contacts and cover letters and there are professional resume templates to help you. You also have the option of creating a social media resume, which includes images, video, direct links and sharing functionality. Another interesting feature is a direct employer contact form, where employers can contact you directly through your resume.
3. Howtowritearesume gives you an easy way to build a professional resume, without being an expert. You get their phrase builder technology, which helps you build compelling headlines, qualifications, achievement statement and more. Their “one-click formatting,” automatically reformats your resume and makes it easy to choose the best layout. Your resume is stored online and is accessible by potential employers. The templates are all predefined, so filling in the blanks is a breeze!
4. Emurse allows you to create, share and store your resume for free online. Their resume builder is job seeker friendly, allowing you to create and maintain a professional resume which can be downloaded in any format, such as PDF. Just like LinkedIn, your resume can have a unique URL linked to your name and the ability to view employers who have seen your resume in the past. You also get statistics and graphs to aid in resume distribution.
5. Razume is a service that enables you to complete your resumes and polish them up with feedback from reviewers in the community. The resume you create using this service is exactly like traditional resumes, but this service allows you to improve your resume so you better your chances at landing your next job.
6. ResumeBucket provides you with a unique URL for your resume and enables you to promote your resume on your website or blog with embeddable ResumeBucket badges, or you can keep your resume private. In addition, resumes are shareable via popular social bookmarking and social networking sites.
7. ResumeSocial is a social resume community, where you can post your resume online and get feedback, just like Razume. Registered users can build a resume through feedback and comments from other users who have similar job experience. You can also be a resume expert and become a valuable member of the community by providing others with assistance. There is also an area for sharing cover letters and follow-up letters. When someone finds your resume on this site, they can print it, quote it, favorite it and email it to other people.
8. VisualCV is a website that provides users with a virtual resume, as well as a database of job openings and networking opportunities. Whether you’re a job seeker, entrepreneur, consultant, student or manager, VisualCV lets you display all of your credentials in an easy to read format, with multimedia integration.
For example, you can upload or embed a video resume or a podcast of you being interviewed. You can also combine other elements, such as images, charts, awards and recommendations, in addition to traditional resume fields such as “work experience”
Their latest capabilities allow job seekers to integrate their resume with social media sites, such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, to share their qualifications with friends and colleagues. When you update your resume, it can be shared through websites such as Digg and StumbleUpon.
9. Xing is a social network with over 7 million business professionals globally, and is read in 16 languages. Aside from being able to create a profile, the networking part of this site is what shines. There are over 22,000 groups and networking events from London to Beijing advertised.
Xing offers many of the same services as LinkedIn, and like LinkedIn, Xing can serve as your online resume and cover letter. The standard service lets you create a professional profile page, search for people by name and industry, and join groups and events. When you login, you’ll see jobs that might interest you, new members, visitors to your profile and much more.
Erica Williams, is a 20-something, small town, country girl who still marvels at the city lights. She’s a social media enthusiast with a background in Marketing. Oh, and she’s a Google fanatic! Connect with Erica on twitter @socialerica (See what I mean–even her twitter name has “social” in it!)
Tags: iResume, job hunt, job seekers, online resume
Kinetix CEO to Present at 2010 Georgia CPA Conference
ATLANTA, Aug. 17, 2010 – Kinetix, the RPO for growth companies, is pleased to announce that CEO Shannon Russo will be offering attendees at the upcoming 2010 Southeastern Accounting Show (SEAS) keen insight into the differences among the generations in today’s workforce and how those differences affect a wide range of workforce management decisions.
In “Understanding the Generations at Work,” Russo, a nationally recognized speaker and writer, will give perspectives on:
· Enhancing comprehension of how generational differences affect people in the workplace,
· Promoting skills to foster intergenerational communication, and
· Developing abilities to manage diverse working styles across generations in the same office.
“For the first time in history, we have four generations at work in the U.S. workplace at one time, and there’s a great competitive advantage to having an appreciation for the differences in the events and experiences that have shaped them and how those differences affect their attitudes and beliefs in the workplace, and how that can affect everything from an organization’s planning for job training to succession planning,” Russo says.
Click here to read more about the 4 generations.
Tags: career, HR, press release
Four More Reasons the Right RPO KO’s In-House Recruitment for Mid-Size Businesses
Despite common thinking and modern myths, Recruitment Process Outsourcing can be a perfect fit for a mid-size organization – a company with as few as 100 hires annually. The days are gone when the arguments against this kind of professional partnership could stand up to strong argument.
In the first installment of their executive brief, “An Eight-Round Knockout: The Right RPO KO’s Mid-Size In-House Recruitment “An Eight-Round Knockout: The Right RPO KO’s Mid-Size In-House Recruitment,” the experts at Kinetix, the RPO for growth companies, explained why mid-size organizations have been neglected by most RPOs and shattered the first four of the eight most common arguments against an RPO being a good partner for a mid-size organization:
1. Recruitment Is Core to Our Business
2. With an RPO, We’ll Lose Control over Our Recruitment Process
3. With an RPO, We’ll Lose Control over Our Hiring Decisions
4. We Have Relationships with Specific Recruitment Vendors for Specific Needs
In this new installment, Kinetix delivers solid punches against the remainder of the most common arguments against partnering with an RPO if you’re a mid-size organization. The final arguments are:
Prevention and Wellness Lead Benefit Designs
HR professionals have been trying to control health care costs by continually tweaking the medical plan designs, which result in shifting more costs to employees but do not reduce the cost of health care. That is why the new focus needs to be on prevention and wellness.
While this is not a new concept there needs to be more focus on it in order for it to make a difference. Some of the moderate plan designs (such as 100% coverage for preventative testing and wellness exams and intrusive disease management) have not moved the needle enough. Also, discounts to health clubs and gyms as well as smoking cessation support have failed to influence the behaviors of most employees. It is time to take a more direct approach. Watson Wyatt conducted a survey in 2009 to see what the major trends for 2010 would be. There were five trends that were noted:
- Higher out-of-pocket costs
- Consumer-directed health plans
- Consolidation of health plan offerings
- Closer eye on spousal and dependent coverage
- Prescription drug benefits
- Greater use of incentives to stay healthy
The last trend, greater use of incentives to stay healthy, has been growing over the past three years according to the report, How Employers Use Incentives to Keep Employees Healthy: Perks, Programs and Peers, which is conducted by Health2 Resources, a firm providing health care trend research.
“During tough economic times, employees who take control of their health and are more engaged and active in their own health are valuable assets,” says Katherine H. Capps, president of Health2 Resources. “We are not talking about $5 here or there. We are talking about serious investment into productivity, made by employers with as few as 200 employees, for as much as $1,400 a year per employee. Employers are taking control of health care costs by creating smart, effective new strategies to keep employees healthy, and to keep employees at work.”
Employers are not only making greater investments in wellness they are calculating their ROI. The percentage of US companies calculating their ROI on wellness investments has increased from 14% in 2007 to over 73% in 2009 with most, 83%, reporting at least a 1:1 return. These companies are rewarding achievement both during the program and continuing after the program is completed. This measurement of ROI has lead to an increase in investment with the average in 2009 being $329 per employee and ranging from $1 per pound lost to up to a $1,500 reduction in premiums. Another trend is the extension of these types of offering to dependents including disease management programs which have typically not been available to dependents.
These programs must start with a comprehensive confidential health history questionnaire. Two-thirds of all size companies are offering this type of health assessment to their employees and three-fourths of them are also offering incentives for their employees to participate in these questionnaires. These incentives range up to $300 annually with a small percent, 10% to 15%, offering more. While company size does matter in whether incentives are offered, it does not dictate the value of the incentives. Some companies with as few as 210 employees are offering incentives valued at $1,400 a year because they see the benefit to keeping their employees healthy. This benefit not only is health care cost reduction but also shows up in reduced number of sick days and increased productivity.
Programs are being designed to prevent and manage chronic disease. Smoking cessation programs have been around the longest. In this latest survey more than 53% of the responding companies offer some type of smoking cessation program to their employees. Other programs such as weight loss and increased physical activity are gaining popularity as they are continually being linked to more chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. Diabetes management programs are the most popular disease management programs with over 92% of the companies surveyed offering these programs.
The biggest challenge that companies face with all of the preventive and disease management programs is how to keep them going and to keep employees involved. Like any behavior change, time is the key to success. The more you practice a new behavior the more likely it is to become a new habit. However, time is also the biggest obstacle to success. Behavior change is hard and more people cannot keep up the motivation long enough to succeed. Companies need to calculate into their plan design ways to keep the motivation up. This may require an added investment up front but should give a greater return on that investment in the long run.
“Employers are becoming more sophisticated about measuring the return on investment from wellness and disease management programs, and today’s economic outlook dictates that these programs bring a positive ROI,” says Sean Sullivan, president and CEO of the not-for-profit Institute for Health and Productivity Management. “No other kind of health management program has been given the same scrutiny as health and productivity management in measuring its effectiveness in reducing total health-related costs, including sick days, disability claims and impaired performance at work. Employees are too valuable a human capital investment for companies to take their health and productivity for granted.”
The above quote is the best conclusion I could come up with for this post. As managers of our companies talent we need to be proactive in the approach to preventative heath care and continued wellness of our employees, not just to reduce health insurance cost but to protect our companies greatest asset, its employees. There is a skill shortage that we will really feel when the economy recovers and added to the increase of global competition, HR professionals need to do everything they can to retain their skilled talent and keep that talent productive. I hope each of you accept these challenges and make a true difference in your companies.
Diane has over twenty five hears of HR experience, twelve of which were at the HR Executive level. As Director of HR Solutions for Kinetix, Diane uses her extensive experience to work with organizations to solve their business issues with talent solutions and working directly with the Executive Team to design an integrated Talent Strategy that aligns with their Business Strategy. Diane is a thought leader in her profession and has been awarded the SHRM-Atlanta Lifetime Achievement Award and the SHRM Nation Pinnacle Award. Connect with Diane on her LinkedIn profile.
Tags: Benefits, healthcare costs, HR, wellness programs
An Eight-Round Knockout: The Right RPO Beats In-House Recruitment for Mid-Size Businesses
The battle for Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) has traditionally been waged among large organizations – companies that need more than 1,000 jobs filled annually. But the right RPO also makes a perfect fit for a mid-size organization – a company with as few as 100 hires annually.
Kinetix, the RPO firm for growth companies, explains in a new and engaging executive brief, “An Eight-Round Knockout: The Right RPO KO’s Mid-Size In-House Recruitment,” why mid-size organizations have been neglected by most RPO firms and delivers solid counterpunches to the eight most common arguments mid-size organizations make against considering an RPO.
“The bottom line is that the old way of thinking doesn’t make sense today, not when you have RPOs that are designed and built to deliver the goods specifically on behalf of, and to serve the needs of, the mid-size organization,” Shannon Russo, chief executive officer with Kinetix, says in the first installment of “An Eight-Round Knockout: The Right RPO KO’s Mid-Size In-House Recruitment,”
Click here for the eight most common arguments a mid-size organization makes against working with an RPO.
Tags: changing industry, HR consulting, Recruitment Process Outsourcing
Operational Excellence Depends on Cultivating Talent’s Strengths
As if the global economic situation isn’t enough to keep an executive up at night, concern abounds when you consider that only 20% of employees working at large organizations use their strengths on a daily basis. Since that poll was taken, downsizings, layoffs and restructuring have become every day occurrences. As a result, already compromised organizations now find themselves with fewer employees and the same, or even larger, amounts of business-critical work to be done – even as the majority of their employees’ capabilities remain untapped.
Globally, only 20% of employees working in large organizations we surveyed feel that their strengths come into play every day. Most bizarre of all, the longer an employee stays with an organization and the higher he climbs the traditional corporate ladder, the less likely he is to strongly agree that he is playing to his strengths. Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton, Ph.D. brought those startling results to light after The Gallup Organization polled 198,000 employees working in business units of 36 large corporations. The pair later expounded on the survey results in their breakthrough tome, “Now, Discover Your Strengths.”
Survey respondents who “strongly” agreed with the statement that they were working from their strengths produced improved results over those who did not work from their strengths, according to the poll. Consider these poll results:
- 50% of the employees’ business units experienced lower employee turnover;
- 38% were more likely to work in the organizations’ more productive business units; and
- 44% of their operations posted higher customer satisfaction scores.
How well can your company compete with a staff working at 20% of its true capacity? If your answer is “Not very well,” now is an optimal time to turn to a proven human resources approach that leverages each individual’s strengths to create high performance teams. In competitive global markets, mining the massive opportunity buried in the 80% of unused strength-based capacity can mean the difference between survival and market dominance.
Leverage your strengths
Precision-Based Team Building
One approach to achieving more with fewer employees centers on precision-based team building – an innovative effort that creates strength-based working units. Precision teaming takes into account the strengths and weaknesses of each employee before creating the working unit.
This approach flies in the face of “traditional” human resources utilization which often spends the majority of HR staff’s time addressing the weaknesses of so-called “problem employees.” In precision teaming, each potential team member’s strengths and weaknesses become part of the overall team’s capabilities. Taking the precision teaming approach empowers HR executives to compensate for one team member’s weakness by selecting another team member with strength in that same area.
Literally changing employees’ brains
Creating strength-based teams not only allows each team member to come to the assignment from a strong position, it leverages the total potential power of the collaborative collective. In fact, neurological research points out, refocusing employees’ attention via strength-based teaming can actually change the molecular structure of their brains.[1] Schwartz writes, “…directed, willed mental activity can clearly and systematically alter brain function.” He explained saying, “The exertion of willful effort generates a physical force that has the power to change how the brain works and even its physical structure.”
The strength-based approach to teaming pays dividends to employees and their employers now and in the future as the employees’ brain-resident priorities are literally re-prioritized. “Therefore, to continue to rehearse counterproductive behaviors reinforces the physical structures in the brain that create the urge toward that behavior. A strengths approach encourages individuals to focus on the correct use of their innate abilities which subsequently reorders the brain to produce behaviors indicative of excellence,” Schwartz concluded.
Preparing to create teams
Implementing strength-based teaming relies heavily on three key HR-based activities – a stringent skills assessment which looks at individual potential through a “collective-oriented” lens, aligning skilled capacity with the company’s business goals and a compensation structure that incents lateral moves.
Creating high performance teams depends on an accurate and up-to-date inventory of each employee’s strengths and weaknesses. Several automated tools for skills assessment, including but not limited to StrengthsFinder® 2.0, Halogen eLearning Manager, Oracle’s PeopleSoft Enterprise Human Capital Management and a range of inhouse-developed systems, can streamline data collection and speed analysis. Attempting to create teams with strength data only is akin to trying to complete a puzzle while missing 50% of the pieces.
Before teams can be created, Human Resources experts need to review the organization’s business goals. Knowing the direction in which the company is headed, especially in respect to product, technology and market lifecycles, is vitally important to creating productive teams. For example, if a large number of employees currently work in product areas, industry markets or technologies that are about to be “sunsetted” or phased out, that information influences redeployment decisions. Also, emerging products, markets or technologies that will need a fully staffed organization to be best positioned for success must be considered as well. The human resource expert can use the skills inventory to determine how much of the staff currently allotted to the sun setting areas can be assigned to the emerging offerings, even identifying the types of training needed to make the transition.
Compensation restructuring, the third recommended activity, plays a critical role in helping ensure a successful transition of motivated staff. Employees targeted for redeployment must see the new assignment as a reward and an opportunity to showcase their strengths. To do that, the compensation scheme must incent lateral moves with the same career enthusiasm and pay package as clear “advances” up the corporate ladder. In fact, the compensation package associated with lateral moves that enable the company to be more competitive in the marketplace may even outstrip those of “advancing” positions.
Conclusion
Armed with the employees’ collective’s skills inventory and its own expert analysis, Human Resources executives can create high performance teams that leverage employees’ strengths and compensate for individual’s weaknesses – all while helping to advance the company’s business and improve its bottom line. Aligning compensation with the company’s business goals will reward employees’ flexibility and reduce turnover, likely building long-term loyalty to the company. Tapping into the unmined 80% of true capacity that today goes unused not only benefits the company, it creates employees who are engaged in their work and look forward to the next challenge.
Diane Tuccito is currently the Director of HR Solutions for Kinetix and has over twenty- five years of HR experience, 10 of which were at the HR Executive level. In her current role, Diane is working with companies to solve their business issues with talent solutions. Her focus is on three main areas: Organization Design, Talent Optimization and Total Rewards.
[1] Schwartz, J., “The mind and the brain,” New York: Harper Collins, 2002.
Tags: HR, human resources, Operational Excellence, Retention, Strengths, team building
Rant: Death to the VMS
In the course of the staffing portion of our business, occasionally we are asked to be part of a VMS (vendor management system) program. While we normally decline the business at that point, for a variety of reasons we have chosen to be part of a few of these over the years. Nearly every time I regret being convinced that this next account will be different. Now I will say, with my finance background, I get the logic that managing rogue spend is important and a system can be a good way to do this, no issue here. My beef is simple – if you think that anyone involved in the process will have an improved experience or that you will get any better process or quality out of doing a standard VMS system – you are sorely mistaken. That is not to say that it cannot be done, I just have yet to see any of the big players or the system based programs do this, ever. It is all about the perceived money savings, period, the end.
Here’s a little playback from a recent experience:
they: you haven’t submitted candidates to the last 8 jobs we sent you….please sign this stating that you know that you got “0″ points for this period and that is bad….we will be reviewing vendors for high scores (submittals for jobs)
me: we stopped submitting to jobs that we do not have a direct relationship with the hiring manager because any time we did, it was a complete waste of time, we never got any feedback, never, nothing, nada… and the jobs are actually already filled by the time you give it to us thru the system anyway.
they: Well [hmph]…1st – you are NOT allowed to have direct contact with hiring managers…EVER; 2nd they are not filled when we send them, why would you possibly think that?
me: “perhaps 2 reasons: a) because that is what we do to you with those we have the relationship with e.g. the hiring managers reach out directly and we work closely with them to fill the position, then they post the job to the system…to which we submit the final candidates and they make the selection which was already determined… and b) as a result, the other jobs you send us are closed within about 24 hours of you sending them out (an impossibility if client wants to review, phone and f2f interview, etc using the system….) to us.”
they: um, I was not ready to discuss specific jobs and have not reviewed them, but I am sure that is not the case……I’ll have to check on that and get back with you….
me: “you do that…..I am sure I’ll be getting a call back real soon” {cut to crickets chirping}
Now, I may be a little harsh in my view, but is there honestly anyone (with a brain) that believes that you can do high quality recruiting with only a (usually terrible) boiler plate job description? No ability to ask questions, discuss the team, the environment, what makes someone successful in the role, and not what aspects are most important, etc. A whole world of information that is relevant both to making the best match and selling candidates on why this opportunity may be worth their time.
Second – the experience for the hiring managers is just as bad! they have to, ahem, do their normal process…. and then put the job into another system, supposedly review resumes, put in the right pay (which is usually terribly hard for some reason) and start day and time. Of all of our clients over the years…I have yet to meet a hiring manager that EVER thought this gave them higher quality talent or improved their
speed to hire…..NOT.EVEN.ONE.
That is not so say that there are not companies that have been able to merge the best of high touch and a system (we are working with one Fortune 50 now that has), but the number is staggeringly small in comparison to how many put the systems in horribly. Why is it that these companies cannot get it right, or even be in the right ball park?
Tags: HR, Talent Acquisition, Vendor Management, VMS
Did I need to tell you….don’t wear flip flops to an interview
The heat of summer is upon us, and with it, the greatest threat to the business dress code. If you’re like me, I try to dress as light as possible
during the summer months. However, I still maintain my professionalism and follow a dress code that’s acceptable for the workplace. Sometimes candidates seem to forget that. We often see notes about what not to do in an interview, think of this as a prep for showing up to it (on time of course).
As part of our talent acquisition work, we’ve seen and heard of candidates making some horrible, yet perfectly avoidable mistakes in the summertime because they let the heat fry their judgment. Here are our top 7 dress code malfunctions interviewees bestow upon us eachsummer.
- Skimpy spaghetti strap tops are not ok, unless covered by a jacket..
- Cut off shorts—in fact ANY clothing altered using scissors— are better left for the beach.
- Finish your popsicle or 64 oz. slushie before you come in. Especially if you didn’t bring one to share.
- Don’t chew gum during the interview. It’s OK to pop a breath mint before an interview, but it’s no place for snap, crackle or pop.
- Don’t wear flip flops to an interview. . Just don’t.
- Anything spandex should pretty much be off limits or for the gentlemen, no undergarments should be showing.
- Guys, any hat is not a good impression, no matter how cool you think you are, unless you are interviewing for a part in godfather 6, leave it home.
What’s the silliest faux pas you’ve experienced during an interview? We have a special surprise for the best/craziest in the comments.
Tags: interview, interviewing, job seekers, professional
Why You Need a Networking Plan Today
In today’s overcrowded job market, good skills, experience and a history of hard work are not enough to land your next great position. You need two things to be ‘lucky’ for the right opportunity-focus and a differentiator. A Networking Plan provides the focus you need to channel your activities toward a pre-determined goal. Your Personal Brand is your differentiator we’ll talk more about that in a future post.
What’s Inside?
In a company, a business plan states the product’s value proposition, identifies the product’s differentiators, determines sales projections and identifies target markets. In a job search, you are the product and your value proposition and your key attributes are two of the four components required for your networking plan. In your plan, sales projections are the roles you would like to fill and target markets are the companies where you would like to work. Let’s take a deeper look at these four components:
Format Keys
- Your networking plan should be only one page (both sides, if needed). The top section of your plan should list your proficiencies, value proposition and key attributes the same as your resume.
- The second section is for your target roles or functions. When defining your next role, you want to be more specific than just a title. Titles mean different things in different organizations. Describe the role in terms of scope of responsibilities, individual contributor versus manager or leader, level of autonomy and decision making, areas of focus and expertise and size of operation or company.
- The third section is for your target companies. When listing companies of varying sizes or industries, you may want to group them under headings. For example: Fortune 500, Mid-size Revenue ($500M to $2,000M) or Technology, Financial Services, Professional Services. You can also talk here in terms of what they do e.g. transaction processors, software as a service, etc. This section will change over time as new contacts suggest companies you were not aware of before.
- The last section of your networking plan is for a list of companies where you have contacts. The “pay-it-forward” component, this reinforces your willingness to help your new contacts and may incent them to keep your networking plan for future reference. Try to leave each meeting with at least one introduction for the person who is helping you.
Using your Plan
Like any plan, it’s only as good as its execution. Creating the plan is only the first step. You now need to strategically network to gain contacts in your target companies. Remember, the best time to give a contact your networking plan is when you have a one-on-one meeting with them to begin to build a relationship. The final point is that your plan is a networking tool, which provides a focused purpose to your networking efforts and helps others help you. Make sure you follow through on any next steps and keep track of your new contacts’ needs so you can continue to help others as you build your network.
Good Luck!
Tags: job hunt, job search, networking, networking plan
The 6C’s of Change Management
More than 80% of all change initiatives fail because management of the change is ineffective, for many reasons, from poor planning to incomplete implementation. With ‘Change or Die’ as a mantra for the 21st century, organizations should focus on building their strength of change management capabilities. And who better to lead change management than the HR function?
There are dozens of books on managing change in business, and at least as many different models and variations. In my experience, most of the models, whether they work well or not, look complicated and can seem overwhelming to implement. In this article, I’ve simplified the best aspects of the core of these models — the 6C’s of Change Management.
1. Communication. This most critical of the C’s flows through all of the other aspects, and must be timely, factual, two-way, and ongoing. The type of media and delivery channels should be chosen to ensure that all constituent audiences are reached and given the opportunity to have their questions and concerns addressed.
2. Critical Need. Ensure that the underlying reason(s) for the change are supported by a critical business issue. These reasons then need to be communicated to all levels of the organization. Begin with the senior management team to create unified support at the top. The HR leader should facilitate these discussions to reach agreement on the project’s objectives and goals. The agreed upon, critical need for the change should then be communicated to all employees through group meetings (if possible) and/or printed and electronic communication.
It is recommended that group meetings are lead jointly by the CEO and HR Lead.
3. Contribution. Managers and employees should have the opportunity to offer suggestions that would help in meeting the project’s objectives and goals. The HR leader can facilitate this via an on-line survey to test the methods, tools and techniques being considered for use in the change initiative. Additional suggestions regarding the implementation of the change initiative should be sorted through open-ended questions or a comment section. This instills ownership in the project by the broadest base of employees.
4. Commitment. A by-product of contribution, you’ll gain commitment to the change process by sharing feedback from the survey, reviewing the project process, and demonstrating where employee participation was considered in the final plan. People are more committed to a plan when they feel they have participated in its design.
5. Completion. Each project milestone, as it’s completed, should be communicated to all employees. In order to keep the energy and enthusiasm alive, it’s important everyone witness the progress being made. This step is especially critical for projects that have a long implementation timeline.
6. Celebration. Maintain overall project motivation by celebrating after critical steps are completed. This could be something as simple as an email from the CEO thanking everyone for their participation, to a large party event for all employees.
It is important to know that these steps may need to be repeated as you move through the project. With any project, it is important to measure progress frequently and make adjustments along the way. This may mean a follow-up survey to address a new situation or obstacle. You can see why communication is critical and must be fluid throughout the entire initiative. You can’t over communicate.
The process of managing change is neither easy nor simple. The 6C’s are not intended to give that impression, but should be used by any HR leader to organize the key aspects of change management and create their own project plan around a firm foundation.
By: Diane Tuccito, SPHR,CCP, GRP
Director of HR Solutions for Kinetix, LLC
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