Why we call it people business

Why we call it people business

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Why we call it people business

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Human Resources Management is a business function developed in large organisations with large work forces where scale is important and, in most of those organisations,  policy, process and risk management are the priority. So does that work for SMBs? We don’t think so (in fact, we don’t think it works well in most organisations).      

A story from long ago

Early in my career as what was then called a Personnel Management practitioner, a very wise and loved boss of mine taught me a life lesson. Let’s call him Mike. It was that, if you are going to be successful in the field, you had to earn people’s trust. Mike spent a lot of time getting to know people and letting them get to know him. People came to Mike with all sorts of issues with confidence and he showed them that he was there for them by acting on them or advising them. They would even accept a “no” from him because it was Mike and they trusted him to be honest with them. From an organisational perspective, being informed about things happening out in the business equipped Mike to strategically deal with emerging issues before they became a problem and to lean in and provide support if someone was struggling with something at work or otherwise in life.

That is a lesson that I have used repeatedly in the work that I do.

When Mike moved on, the organisation’s first HR Manager replaced him and he liaised with senior management and issued instructions and policies from his office. People then came to me with their issues, saying “you’re not Mike but we trust you and you are all we’ve got”.

What is Human Resources Management?

According to Wikipedia:

  • “Human Resources Management is the strategic and coherent approach to the effective and efficient management of people in a company or organisation such that they help their business gain a competitive advantage”; and
  • HR professionals manage the human capital of an organisation and focus on implementing policies and processes.”

Not very inspiring, is it?

And the language is hardly engaging, is it?

And not very people focused either?

The concept that people are human resources to be managed is perhaps, in itself, dehumanising, don’t you think?

In too many organisations, HR is seen as the enforcer of corporate risk management via policies and procedures. That approach really sends a message that, rather than people being an organisation’s greatest assets in truth, they are seen as the organisation’s greatest risks.

And that is one of the reasons why HR doesn’t work as it was perhaps intended to – that, in the pursuit of risk management and legal compliance, organisations placed those above people.

What is people business?

In small to medium businesses, the primary driver of success is the quality of the people and the relationships between them and with other key stakeholders like customers and suppliers.

So, unlike traditional HRM, it is very human-centred and that is why we call it “PEOPLE BUSINESS” – it about how we get the right people in the right roles doing the right stuff in the right way so that they and the business flourish together.

Of course, we need some policy and procedures but they are designed to help people to perform and behave to the standards expected so that work is enjoyable and productive for everyone…..and of course there are legal compliance requirements that need to be dealt with and actions that need to occur in the event of non-compliances but they are the footnote rather than the headline.

We use our 4c model to help our clients with their PEOPLE BUSINESS:

  • Commitment – the fundamentals that deliver purpose and compliance
  • Capability – the tools and systems that enable good people practice
  • Competency – the skills and knowledge that deliver positive outcomes for businesses and people
  • Culture – the integration of all of that to deliver everyday employee engagement and high performance.

That is what PEOPLE BUSINESS looks like.

Conclusion

If you are an SMB, you need to assure your compliance with legal requirements but the way that you do that sends messages to your people and you want these to be the right ones.

It isn’t just about making people follow rules – it is about how you get them engaged and happy to follow the rules because they know that the rules are right and they want to be successful in their role and relationships at work.

If you would like to learn more about ways that we can help you with your PEOPLE BUSINESS, please call us on 1300 108 488 or email us at enquiries@ridgelinehr.com.au.

Has the penny dropped for you?

Has the penny dropped for you?

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Has the penny dropped for you?

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One of the most significant changes that has been introduced in the last few years is the new “positive duty” standard of compliance relative to sexual harassment, gender-based behaviour and psychosocial hazards. Current signs suggest that the “penny hasn’t dropped” with lots of organisations about what this really means. Has it dropped with you?

A positive duty means that we have to do things differently

Positive duties have been introduced for 3 reasons:

  1. We have real problems in our workplaces with mental health issues associated with psychosocial hazards and harm caused primarily to women by gender-based behaviour such as sexual harassment
  2. The existing “risk management” model of compliance commonly used by organisations doesn’t work and, in many cases, not only doesn’t help but aggravates the harm and
  3. It is not sustainable in terms of the harm caused to people and the associated costs in lost productivity and escalating health costs.

You see, putting out policies, telling people that they have to follow them and running education sessions on respect at work just isn’t enough.

We have been doing that for decades with issues like bullying and sexual harassment but have they made any real difference where it matters ie in changing behaviour so that they don’t happen in the first place? 

The simple answer to that is “no” as evidenced by the fact that these positive duties have been imposed because we need to do things differently. 

A timely reality check

Former Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Kate Jenkins, conducted the national enquiry into sexual harassment which resulted in the Respect@Work Report,  introduction of the positive duty to prevent sexual harassment, victimisation and gender-based behaviours.

In an article on HR Daily, Ms Jenkins is reported as saying that:

  • many workplace managers told the inquiry that they were tackling sexual harassment through a policy, some training and a complaint procedure
  • organisational processes were primarily a defence mechanism
  • the focus of workplace leaders wasn’t on preventing sexual harassment but preventing complaints
  • for those who are trying to make people more comfortable complaining, her message was “if your focus is on asking people to complain about psychosocial hazard concerns, then your focus is not on preventing them”
  • Leaders should be asking why harassment is occurring and what can we do to change this
  • Of the 7 compliance standards in the Respect@Work Guidelines, leadership is the most important.

What she is essentially saying is that it is about action to change behaviour and that starts with commitment and action from the top. It is about making it real in your workplace culture and not just words in a policy or training session.

Has the penny dropped?

What should you do

Unfortunately, what we are seeing is a “risk management response” from most organisations and HR/WHS Consultants – they are writing new policies, running education sessions and telling people to behave which just perpetuates the problems that the positive duty is intended to address. Clearly, the penny hasn’t dropped.

As with any matter around people and culture, we encourage you to look at these things on 3 levels – organisational, team and individual – and please do that by engaging with your people in determining what the realities for your business and people are and covering off all of the bases. 

Remember it is about your business and your people so don’t just borrow or buy a policy statement from someone else and remember our 4C compliance model because unless you do all 4Cs, you are not truly compliant:

  • Commitment – the fundamentals that deliver purpose and compliance
  • Capability – the tools and systems that enable good people practice
  • Competency – the skills and knowledge that deliver positive outcomes for businesses and people
  • Culture – the integration of all of that to deliver everyday employee engagement and high performance.

We can help

We developed our 4C compliance model 20 years ago and that is how long we have been practising to that standard so it isn’t new for us. We could say that the law has caught up now but the truth is that, while positive duties have brought the flaws in the existing compliance models into sharp focus, we have known that they have been there all along.  

And that is because what we are dealing with is PEOPLE BUSINESS – it is about people and relationships.

We have put together blogs and accompanying explainer videos on each of the 14 psychosocial hazards in the Model code for managing psychosocial hazards at work published by Safe Work Australia. One of those covers sexual harassment. They are designed to give businesses an understanding of the sorts of questions you should be asking in your workplace to identify any issues that you might need to address. You can access them for free on the News Events page on our website and we encourage you to use them to do a preliminary risk assessment.

If you would like to learn more about ways that we help with this or any other HR issue, please call us on 1300 108 488 or email us at enquiries@ridgelinehr.com.au.

Opportunity knocks!

Opportunity knocks!

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Opportunity knocks!

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So you have new positive duties to eliminate sexual harassment and to eliminate or control psychosocial hazards, right?

And people are telling you that this is another layer of compliance and risk that you have to negotiate as a business owner or manager or find yourself in hot water, right?

What if I told you that, if you really do value and want to care for your people, this is a great opportunity…..to validate what you are doing right as well as to identify ways that you can do it better?

Like most “compliance questions”, it is about your mindset – are your people assets to be cared for or risks to be managed?

What would it look like if we flipped it?

Let’s revisit a few of the psychosocial hazards in Safe Work Australia’s “Model code for managing psychosocial hazards” and picture them as strengths:

  1. The work demands on our people are reasonable physically, psychologically and emotionally
  2. Our people have reasonable control over their jobs
  3. Our people are well supported.
  4. Our people are clear about the roles that they play in our organisation.
  5. People believe that we manage and communicate change effectively.
  6. People believe that they are properly and appropriately recognised and rewarded for the contributions that they make.

And so on for the rest of the psychosocial hazards. 

When you look at them in that way, how many of those statements do you think might be true in your organisation?

Where do you see that there might be opportunities for improvement?

Changing the language can make a real difference to how you look at the subject matter can’t it? 

And guess what – when you see this as an opportunity knocking, you will find it is actually the best way to manage the risks.

How can we help 

We have been encouraging and helping organisations to adopt a positive mindset to improving workplace culture, communications and people practices for many years so, for us, the new positive duty stuff just adds some context to what we have already been doing with our clients. It is nothing new for us and it needn’t be especially challenging for you with the right guidance and support. 

So for us it is just business as usual with a few more tools in the toolkit. 

Need help?

  • Give us a call on 1300 108 488 or email enquiries@ridgelinehr.com.au to arrange your free first consultation to see how we can help with advice and support on this or any other HR matter

Because it is PEOPLE BUSINESS

Because it is PEOPLE BUSINESS

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Because it is PEOPLE BUSINESS

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A few months ago, I attended a business breakfast where the owner of a HR consulting business was presenting on the HR essentials that she believed every business needs to nail the HR stuff.

What was put forward was a holy triumvirate consisting of an employee handbook, position descriptions and employment contracts – put them in place and you are covered was the message that she gave. Could it really be that simple?

These are all useful tools and they are all in my toolkit but they are just tools – they aren’t solutions.

So my answer to that question is a resounding “no, it is far from that simple!”.

Over the years, I have spoken with lots of HR practitioners who told me that they can write policies and procedures and employment contracts and job descriptions. When I put on my SMB owner’s hat and ask them why I would want more paperwork, many struggle to answer the question.

You see the problem is that, in the corporate world, these types of document are often seen as solutions rather than what they really are – just tools. The thinking is that we just do a new policy, run an education program to tell people what the new rules are and we have covered things off – problem solved! No it isn’t and this is one of the reasons why the new positive duties to eliminate sexual harassment and psychosocial hazards have been introduced.

SMBs are all about people and relationships – sure you need some process but it is mostly about how a small team works together (provided of course that you give them the right tools to work with).

SMB owners aren’t commonly experts on employment law or relationship management or mental health and well-being or neuroscience and this is the stuff that they really need help with ie it is PEOPLE BUSINESS and quite a range of it.

What should you as an SMB owner be looking for in a HR consultant?

Here are my thoughts – someone who:

  • Knows their stuff when it comes to Fair Work and other employment laws and modern awards and legal due process and
  • Exercises curiosity with emotional intelligence and excellent listening skills to really understand issues and perspectives and
  • Is creative in tailoring the right solutions for the situation, the team and the business and
  • Has the flexibility to wear different hats (eg as a coach or consultant or contractor or counsellor) as appropriate to the situation and
  • Acts with integrity and earns the trust of the business owner and team members and
  • Acts with kindness and compassion to help and support people and
  • Has an established network of quality employment lawyers and other specialists to help with specific issues and
  • Has a sense of humour and enjoys a bit of fun along the way. 

If your HR Consultant ticks all of those boxes, you have a good one.

If they don’t, perhaps you should give us a call on 1300 108 488 to see how we might be able to help you better with your PEOPLE BUSINESS. 

 

 

Is it time to revive “the e2 initiative”?

Is it time to revive “the e2 initiative”?

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Is it time to revive “the e2 initiative”?

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The “e2 initiative” was a project undertaken by Ridgeline HR Practice Leader, Peter Maguire in association with two quite different organisations that he worked with over a decade ago.

Investors in People Australia was the Australian licensee for Investors in People, a standard of excellence in leadership and development of people originally developed in the UK in the early 1990s. Investors in People is still going strong in the UK and in some other parts of the world albeit that it has never really taken off in Australia.  For further information on Investors in People, see https://www.investorsinpeople.com/. Peter was an accredited Investors in People Specialist who advised and assessed organisations using the Investors in People Standard.

The Australian Institute of Employment Rights (which was created in the WorkChoices era) works to promote the recognition and implementation of employment rights in a cooperative industrial relations framework based on the principles of. the International Labour Organisation.  In 2007, the Institute released The Australian Charter of Employment Rights which sets out 10 fundamental principles on which fair and balanced workplace laws and relationships should be based. There is an accompanying Australian Standard of Employment Rights which provides more detail on how organisations can implement those 10 principles in their workplaces. For further information on The Australian Institute of Employment Rights and its work and publications, go to https://www.aierights.com.au/. Peter was one of the leads for advising and assessing organisations against the Australian Standard of Employment Rights.

What was the “e2 initiative”?

The initiative brought together the two standards – the Investors in People Standard as the measure of “effectiveness” of an organisation and The Australian Standard of Employment Rights as the measure of the “ethics” of an organisation.

The equation:                      ethics x effectiveness (e2) = employee engagement (e2)

The premise for developing the program was that there was a clear disconnect between what we knew then to be best practices in leadership and management of people and what was happening with workplace laws and organisational behaviours and cultures in our workplaces.

The concept was that by bringing the two instruments together we could influence the development of more harmonious workplace relations environments which would also have the dual benefits of improving employee engagement and productivity.

There was also the potential for organisations which implemented the two standards effectively in their workplaces to achieve accreditations as an Investor in People and as an Ethical Employer. 

Are things different today?

In some ways, yes and, in others, no.

LIke then when we were not long into the Fair Work era, we are going through a period of significant legislative change in workplace relations pursuant to the election of a Labor government after years under conservative governments.

Like then, we still have regular reports of large organisations underpaying wages and entitlements and in many cases they are simultaneously harvesting record profits.

We have had inquiry after inquiry making findings of culpable corporate misconduct in so many different jurisdictions.

We also still have peak bodies for unions and employers being openly combative when it comes to any proposed changes to employment rights and workplace relations laws. 

Like today, leadership experts were urging our managers to be accountable, be compassionate, be engaging, be vulnerable and be collaborative. On the other hand, they were being told to  manage risk, reduce costs and maximise profits and they were being rewarded for that. It was the latter that provided organisations’ policy settings.

So there is a lot that really hasn’t changed much at all.

The advent of positive duties

The penny has dropped that the traditional compliance/risk management model as applied by most organisations doesn’t work. 

The positive duties that organisations must now meet in relation to elimination of sexual harassment and psychosocial hazards have been introduced for that reason – it isn’t just about changing policies, it is about bringing about real changes in behaviour – by individuals and work groups and organisations and everyone whom we interact with in the course of the work that each of us do. We all have a role to play in that.

That was exactly what the “e2 initiative” was about – changing workplace behaviours in partnership with all of the people in a workplace.

Need help?

Interested in exploring ways in which we might be able to help you to deal with your new positive duties? Give us a call on 1300 108 488 to arrange your free first consultation to see how we can help with advice and support on this or any other HR matter. 

 

Psychosocial hazard #14 – Conflict or poor workplace relationships and interactions

Psychosocial hazard #14 – Conflict or poor workplace relationships and interactions

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Psychosocial hazard #14 – Conflict or poor workplace relationships and interactions

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The final psychosocial hazard that is listed in Safe Work Australia’s Model Code of Practice on Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work is “conflict or poor workplace relationships or interactions”.

Why is conflict or poor workplace relationships or interactions a psychosocial hazard?

This hazard involves poor workplace relationships or interpersonal conflict between colleagues or with other businesses, clients or customers.

It may involve frequent disagreements, disparaging or rude comments, from one person or multiple people. A worker can be both the subject and the source of the behaviour. It could also be inappropriately excluding a worker from work-related activities. 

Some questions that you might ask to assess whether there are any  psychosocial hazards related to conflict or poor workplace relationships and interactions in your workplace include:

  • Is the workplace one where staff are encouraged to compete with each other and so they don’t support each other?
  • Is there a culture where swearing, name calling, being rude or spreading rumours are commonplace and not addressed appropriately?
  • Are there managers or customers who make unreasonable demands on workers and who are critical or complain when they don’t get what they want?
  • Is the leadership team dysfunctional and not respected by the workers?
  • Does the workplace lack the policies and procedures and the training that are needed to set appropriate standards of behaviour and to effectively deal with any incidences of disrespectful or unsatisfactory conduct?
  • Are changes made to work processes, systems or resources without consulting the affected workers?
  • Do you have managers who micro manage people who don’t need that level of supervision to do their jobs?
  • Is there a lack of defined work processes and clarity of roles and interdependencies between workers?

This list is not exhaustive and while we have based these posts on the model code produced by Safe Work Australia, there can be differences in the specific details for each State or Territory. So you need to check that in the jurisdiction in which your workplace lies.

Need help?

Give us a call on 1300 108 488 to arrange your free first consultation to see how we can help with advice and support on this or any other HR matter.