Training vs Hiring

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HR leaders from HRadvantage, State University of New York, and Finlay Fine Jewelry on:

Training Vs. Hiring: Developing Your Staff When

Hiring Is Not an OptionJanie Minkin

Senior Consultant, HRadvantage

Curtis L. LloydChief Human Resources Officer, Associate Vice Chancellor

for Finance and Administration and Chief of Staff — Office of the Chancellor, State University of New York

Joyce Manning MagriniExecutive Vice President, Administration, Finlay Fine Jewelry

In today’s down economy, employee retention and development may be the last thing on your company leaders’ minds. Fearful of the future, they feel reluctant to add more staff even if they

have the work, while your employees, also fearful, are hanging onto their jobs. You may have experienced, even, that your training bud-get has been reduced so that the company can fund more seemingly urgent areas. During this fallow period, however, one department needs to never lose sight of the critical role employee develop-ment plays for a company: HR. Eventually, the economy will rebound, at which point many, many people will leave their posi-tions. But, with the right planning and foresight, this does not need to happen to your company. This ExecBlueprint offers today’s HR manager some practical strategies for fostering continued employee morale, engagement, and growth for times good and bad. How? Deploy cross-functional teams to work on company problems. Enlist your frontline managers to spot promising leadership talent. Establish professional development plans. And treat everyone with respect and honesty. They won’t forget that. ■

Action Points

I. What Factors Are Currently Impacting Workforce Development?While most companies don’t need to worry about high turnover during the present down economy, they must still endeavor to grow the talent they want to retain. People will go a long way for a company that treats them with respect; therefore, what you do to nurture people’s careers and morale today will likely result in a lower turnover tomorrow.

II. The Bottom LineIn a tight economy, training budgets are often the first to go. However, you can still develop your employees by providing mentorship programs and team learning opportunities. Then, when the economy improves, you can measure the effectiveness of your efforts: when companies start hiring, will your employees stay?

III. Must-Have Strategies for On-boarding New EmployeesNew employees need a support team and ongoing communication so that they can become productive and comfortable as quickly as possible. Because you’ll find some managers are more attentive to this process than others, develop a new-hire checklist so that every employee receives the training and information they need to succeed.

IV. The Golden Rules for Conducting Effective Performance ReviewsA performance management system is only as good as your management team. While the reviews need to be conducted on a timely basis, their primary purpose should not be to give feedback, but rather to review the previous year and establish objectives for the next period that are based on company needs and the employee’s professional goals.

V. Essential Take-AwaysBecause HR managers in most industries realize that, very often, a company’s most loyal, productive, competent, and creative leaders are those who have worked their way up through the ranks, they can and should support the ascendance of promising employees through a combination of training, promotional, and succession-planning programs.

Contents

About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.2

Janie Minkin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.3

Curtis L. Lloyd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.7

Joyce Manning Magrini . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.10

Ideas to Build Upon & Action Points . . . p.12

© Books24x7, 2009 About the Authors ExecBlueprints 2

About the Authors

Joyce Manning Magrini began her career in HR at Bamberger’s, a divi-sion of Macy’s, while attending law

school at night. After completing her degree, she chose not to pursue law and continued her career at Macy’s, serving primarily in HR but also in a five-year assignment in customer service for the East division. In her last Macy’s position,

she had been promoted to the top-level corporate HR position just prior to the federated acquisition.

In 1995, Ms. Magrini came to Finlay where she was initially charged with establishing the corporate HR depart-ment (previously the function had been performed under a decentralized man-agement structure). About four years

ago, her responsibilities were expanded to include other operational areas as well as a key role in the evaluation of acqui-sition opportunities and the subsequent integration of three companies.

Joyce Manning MagriniExecutive Vice President, Administration , Finlay Fine Jewelry

Janie MinkinSenior Consultant , HRadvantage

Janie Minkin is a senior consul-tant with HRadvantage, a division of Gallagher Benefit Services Inc.,

and a former vice president of human resources.

She has over 25 years of HR expe-rience both as a practitioner and as a

consultant in such industries as food manufacturing and distribution, health care, and private equity.

She holds an M.B.A. in finance from Loyola University of Chicago and a B.A. in mathematics from Northeastern Illinois University.

In February 2008, the State University of New York (SUNY) Board of Trustees appointed Curtis Lloyd as

associate vice chancellor for finance and business and administration and chief of staff. Mr. Lloyd had been assistant vice chancellor and chief human resources officer since February 2000 and contin-ues in this capacity as part of his new appointment.

From 1990 to 2000, Mr. Lloyd served as assistant director of business affairs at SUNY System Administration. He was responsible for the day-to-day super-vision of the accounting, budgeting, purchasing, accounts payable, accounts receivable, contract administration, pay-roll, and travel functions of the Office of Business Affairs.

In 1992, he held the position of interim director of administration at the Martin Luther King Institute. From 1980 to 1990 he held several positions, including those of auditor and bursar, increasing in scope and responsibility, at SUNY Albany.

Curtis L. LloydChief Human Resources Officer, Associate Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration and Chief of Staff — Office of the Chancellor , State University of New York

☛ Read Joyce’s insights on Page 10

☛ Read Janie’s insights on Page 3

☛ Read Curtis’ insights on Page 7

Janie MinkinSenior Consultant , HRadvantage

© Books24x7, 2009 Janie Minkin ExecBlueprints 3

Managing the Hiring FreezeToday, most companies are under a hiring freeze while they weather the worst of the economic down-turn. Employees who are fortunate enough to have a job live in fear of losing it. Those less fortunate find themselves out of work, and see dismal prospects for securing new employment in the near term. As budgets have been reduced, the training budget is typically the first to go. This is not news, yet, smart employers should find ways to continue to grow the talent they want to retain when the economy rebounds.

This is good business from a number of perspectives. First, in the near term, companies do not pres-ently have the luxury of walking out the door and buying talent, yet they must continue to meet dead-lines and maintain a viable busi-ness. So, they need to use the talent they currently have in place. In the longer term, at some point, the economy will rebound and there will be a massive frenzy of people leaving positions they no longer want to be in. At that time, you will want to retain your key talent, so sow those seeds today. What you do and how you act today, during the bleak times, to respect people

and nurture morale will be your winning strategy for tomorrow. People will go a long way for a company they feel treats them with respect and honesty.

The Value of Cross-Functional Teams Next, the business will continue to have needs and, with a bit of cre-ative thinking, problems become opportunities to grow and develop internal candidates. This could be accomplished by assembling cross-functional teams to address an issue, concern, or project. While this strategy may require covering the employee’s time while off the floor (in the case of a hospital) or off the line (in the case of a manufacturing

plant), paying a bit of overtime (if the team transcends shifts), or com-bining routes for a day (in the case of field sales and/or distribution), the cost of working in this manner is really minimal.

In all of the above cases, the work product gleaned from the diverse perspectives and tal-ent of the group far outweighs the expense. The project, problem, or issue is solved and/or completed and the team owns the solution. This generates wonderful buy-in as the team members, who are regular employees (not management), solve the issue at the level where it resides (no one understands the day-to-day

What you do and how you act today, during the bleak times, to respect people and nurture morale will be your winning strategy for tomorrow.

Janie Minkin

Senior Consultant

HRadvantage

Expert Advice

Establishing Promotional Policies and Practices Establishing a clearly defined promotional policy is essential to consistent understanding and application of the salary administration program. Job changes can fall into three categories:

• promotion

• enlarged job

• lateral move

Managers can use these opportunities to develop staff and employees can understand how they can grow and progress within the department and/or across the company. Guidelines help shape expectations and bring consistency and fair-ness to policy administration.

Janie MinkinSenior Consultant

HRadvantage

“When given an opportunity to address a special issue, concern, or project, employees will own the solution and remember the investment and vote of confidence that a manager and employer made in him or her when times were tough.”

• Over 25 years of HR experience

• B.A., Mathematics, Northeastern Illinois University

• M.B.A., Finance, Loyala University

Ms. Minkin can be e-mailed at [email protected]

Janie MinkinSenior Consultant , HRadvantage (continued)


challenges better than those doing the day-to-day work), and build camaraderie across functions and/or departments. These employees will be proud of their contribution, and they will remember this experi-ence when an opportunity presents itself to jump to a new employer for a nominal increase, or because a friend begins working somewhere else. A loyalty-investment bond has now been established, and it was accomplished at little to no cost.

Supporting New EmployeesNew employees need a support team and ongoing communica-tion to help them through the learning curve to become produc-tive and comfortable as quickly as

possible. These supports help them feel that they have assimilated into the team, and they can be set up in either a formal or informal manner through an “on-boarding” process. The extent to which new employ-ees feel helped, guided, less con-fused, and more connected in their first few weeks will prove critical in the long term as these memories will remain with them long after they are a fully functional mem-ber of the team. Time is always spent on new hire paperwork, but someone should also be assigned as a buddy so that the new per-son feels that it is ok to approach his/her buddy with questions they may feel are mundane: “Where is the restroom?” “How do I fill out an expense report?” “Do people

go out to lunch?” “What do I do when I need to leave the floor to use the restroom?” “Who do I con-tact when my computer freezes?” “What is the culture like?” “Where are the supplies?”

The shorter the learning curve, the faster an employee feels com-fortable performing the work, the greater and faster the produc-tivity. Simultaneous to the buddy system, the new employee’s man-ager or supervisor should check in with the new person regularly. In the first few days, this should be done a couple of times a day. Then a schedule should be set for the end of the first week, the end of the first two weeks, the end of the first month, the end of the first

Frequency: annually, with ongoing dialogue throughout the year.

Potential outcomes:• Productive conversation• Dismal failure: productive

employee disengaged

Avoid: discussing petty things that have not yet been addressed

On the basis of this conversation, set up a development plan.

A time when:• Managers should ask

employees how they can be of help

• Employees share their development plans for the next year to three years.

A time to:• Determine resource

requirements and/or constraints

• Brainstorm what it will take to meet commitments

A time to:• Set objectives• Determine timelines and

metrics• Define success

Employee and manager both write appraisals.

Anatomy of an Effective

Performance Review Process

Overview: No major surprises at the formal review, but rather a “Monday-morning quarterbacking” look at the year



three months, and again at six months. That’s not to say there shouldn’t be dialogue between those times, but these check-in points are dedicated times where the employee feels that he/she can expect and receive feedback, con-firm and reaffirm that they are pro-gressing well, and ask questions. It also gives the manager and sub-ordinate time to build a trusting relationship.

Ongoing communication is also key. As new employees find their rhythm within their new role and department, ongoing communica-tion dispels any misinformation, fills gaps caused by no informa-tion, and sets the right expec tation levels.

Leadership and Management: Ideas and AppraisalsA performance management sys-tem and the annual process of writ-ing and conducting performance reviews is only as good as the strength of your management team. Strong, solid managers understand that feedback should not be given only once a year, but rather should be an ongoing dialogue through-out the year.

Appraisal time should not be a time of major surprises, but rather a final review of the year (Monday-morning quarterbacking, if you will), and then should encompass forward planning and goal setting for the new year. It is a time to set objectives, determine timelines and metrics, and define success. It is a time to deter-mine resource requirements and/or constraints and brainstorm what it will take to meet commitments. It is also a time when managers should ask employees how they can be of

help — and about their development plans for the next year to three years. Then, on the basis of this conversa-tion, set up a development plan.

Each of these areas is part of the performance management process and has the potential to be handled well or become a dismal failure.

Poor management staff can poten-tially disengage a high- performing employee by mishandl ing the per-formance management process. This time should never be seen as an opportunity to discuss the lit-tle petty things that a manager may have been meaning to address, but never did. Performance against goals should be consistently measured and employees should complete a self-appraisal simultaneous to the one the manager writes. Both should be shared and discussed at the review meeting. This gives the employee a chance to showcase his/her accom-plishments and to bring to light last-minute changes to goals or projects that may have derailed other goal commitments but took priority due to business needs. It also helps pres-ent a full assessment of the year, as employees may remember areas that managers forgot or neglected. Managers must remember to listen as much as they speak, as this is a two-way dialogue.

Training should be conducted for all new management staff before they conduct performance reviews, and should be available for any management staff mem-ber that would like to refresh their skills. Role playing is a key component to these training ses-sions and gives the manager a chance to “think on his/her feet” as appraisal sessions are dynamic. Such training also allows managers to become familiar and comfort-able with the process before they

actually have to perform the task with a subordinate.

Succession Planning and Grooming EmployeesSuccession planning is a process that begins at the executive level and cascades down to depart-ment heads. It is driven by the identification of key success factors employees need to be successful in the organization. These elements are derived from the company’s mission, vision, and values and serve as the building blocks of the organization.

The process can be structured to allow for input from first-line management, the people who have the most interaction with newer staff members who may have the potential to be tomorrow’s rising stars. This annual exercise allows management to identify future key staff (high potentials), develops plans to broaden these candidates, and commits the company and the management team to executing these plans.

Without such a formal succes-sion planning process, growing and grooming the next generation of key management and techni-cal talent can easily be derailed by day-to-day operations. Identifying, growing, and grooming talent takes conscious planning, commitment, resources, and execution, yet with-out this critical process, companies can find themselves at a loss for key and/or unique talent at critical times in the company’s life cycle.

The process should also iden-tify solid management talent, those who will keep the company running day-to-day. Although not the rising stars, these solid players would be sorely missed if they chose to leave



the organization and should also be groomed for future positions.

Management must commit to supporting the growth and develop-ment of employees for the greater good of the organization. At times, this can present a hardship to an individual manager who may not want to lose a gifted employee to another department. However, for the growth and development of the employee and the good of the orga-nization, it is expected that the manager be a good team player.

Choosing, Developing, and Communicating Training ProgramsThe process for choosing and developing training programs for an organization should be based

in the mission, vision, and values of the organization. Once a com-pany defines who it is, what it will be known for, and how it wants to operate, training programs can be identified and developed that will support these values and skill sets. Assuming the company designs an easy way to access these resources, employees can take responsibil-ity for their own development. An example of this would be to develop an employee portal where open jobs are posted. Key informa-tion may include:

• Short job description of each open position

• Minimum qualifications for each open position

• Department

• Salary grade and range of the job

• Hiring manager

• An easy way to apply for the position (self-nomination)

Employee development can also be assigned as a joint responsibility of the employee and the manager. This can be accomplished through the employee development compo-nent of the performance manage-ment system. In this section, both the employee and the manager jointly agree on the areas where the employee will focus for the next 12 months and what vehicles and/or opportunities may be log-ical avenues for the employee to explore. ■

Curtis L. LloydChief Human Resources Officer, Associate Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration and Chief of Staff — Office of the Chancellor , State University of New York

© Books24x7, 2009 Curtis L. Lloyd ExecBlueprints 7

Chancellor’s Initiative for Leadership DevelopmentAt SUNY, we’ve taken both local and system-wide approaches to professional development, espe-cially as it relates to leadership training and succession planning.

For example, in collaboration with the Cornell School of Labor and Industrial Relations, we devel-oped a very high-level, intensive five-day professional training pro-gram that was focused on leadership development across the 64-campus SUNY system. Designed to run twice during the summer months (in June and August), an advisory council composed of members from

the various campuses was charged with selecting content and partic-ipants. The council received over 100 nominees from campus pres-idents and approved 30 employ-ees for each five-day program. The first programs ran in the summer of 2007. They were so well received that, in June 2008, 30 campus vice presidents were recommended for the program.

Aging WorkforceFor years, the State University of New York has been one of the most stable employers in the state of New York. At our 29 state-operated campuses and the System

Administration Office, we employ 25 percent of all public work-ers in New York. Unfortunately, we are now faced with an aging workforce.

An aging workforce brings many challenges: more absences, resis-tance to change, and, often, lower productivity. Consequently, we have performed job assessments resulting in the re-training and/or the transition of some employ-ees to positions in other divisions. When our aging workforce begins to retire, we will need to compete in a very competitive market to attract skilled workers that fit our needs.

Internal Development However, as it is in our best inter-est to develop our skills internally, we established a two-year certifi-cate leadership development pro-gram to prepare certain employees to step into very high-level posi-tions. (One program specifically addressed the role of vice presi-dent.) We were really looking for C-level management training to prepare for short-term succession planning or continuity of business operations.

The Cornell School also worked as our partner in developing this program where employees spent as much as five days at a time going

through an intensive training several times throughout the year. We put three separate classes through this certificate program. Participants receive their certificates at a formal ceremony attended by their senior manager and the Chancellor.

Although this program was ini-tially designed for employees at the System Administration Office, it was so well received that it was made available to employees from

Curtis L. LloydChief Human Resources Officer,

Associate Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration and Chief of Staff —

Office of the ChancellorState University of New York

“Although we have many employ-ees who are retirement age and had planned to be retired by now, the current economic situation has virtu-ally eliminated retirements, especially those in our Defined Contribution Retirement Plan.”

• With SUNY since 1980; in current position since February 2008

• Previously assistant vice chancellor and chief HR officer

• B.S., Business Administration, SUNY Albany

• M.B.A., SUNY Albany

Mr. Lloyd can be e-mailed at [email protected]

When our aging workforce begins to retire, we will need to compete in a very competitive market to attract skilled workers that fit our needs.

Curtis L. Lloyd

Chief Human Resources Officer, Associate Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration and Chief of Staff – Office of the Chancellor

State University of New York


Curtis L. LloydChief Human Resources Officer, Associate Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration and Chief of Staff — Office of the Chancellor , State University of New York (continued)

campuses in close proximity to System Administration. Ultimately, because our contract also allowed multiple campuses to participate, we established a regional program. Some campuses used the contract to design course offerings that were specific to their needs. We received a lot of praise for that program from campus presidents.

Performance Evaluation ProceduresNew York is a unionized state and, as part of the contract with our unions, performance evaluations are mandatory. The union repre-senting professionals and faculty has collaborated with management to conduct performance evalua-tion training for all supervisors, including management confiden-tial employees. Since both admin-istrative professionals and faculty can obtain tenure, performance evaluations are a critical compo-nent in the review and decision to grant tenure.

We typically achieve approxi-mately a 90 percent completion rate for these performance eval-uations. Our classified service employees (support staff) are under the jurisdiction of the New York State Department of Civil Service, who is statutorily responsible for administering the merit system in New York State. We are required to perform annual performance evaluations for these employees and our completion rate is nearly 100 percent.

However, the completion rate for our management confiden-tial employees is not nearly as good. For a number of years, with reduced budgetary support from

the state, these employees do not see a direct correlation between performance and compensation. We are, therefore, lucky if we receive 50 percent of our manage-ment confidential employees’ per-formance evaluations at the end of the year. Although not directly linked to compensation, we do stress the importance of using the performance evaluation tool to develop staff and achieve the uni-versity’s mission.

Communicating Training OpportunitiesDue to the size and the com-plexity of SUNY, we try to centralize training as much as

Expert Advice

The Year Ahead In the next 12 months, owing to the state of the economy, we plan to make changes to our current training programs. As our funding is reduced, we must make difficult choices. We prefer not to cut the leadership development program but, considering the number of employees who have attended the train-ing, that program will not be offered in the coming year. It will not be reinstated until the budgetary situation improves in New York.

Best Practices:• Perform job assessments• Re-train• Transition people to

positions in other divisions

Challenges:• More absences• Resistance to change• Often, lower productivity

Working with an Aging Workforce


Curtis L. LloydChief Human Resources Officer, Associate Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration and Chief of Staff — Office of the Chancellor , State University of New York (continued)

possible for efficiency as well as cost-effectiveness. We have developed a number of contracts centrally and the contract services are made available to our campuses.

We identified hundreds of dif-ferent online courses that are avail-able to all of our employees at the campuses. In addition, some

campuses added courses specific to their needs. We also expect our employees to take advantage of courses offered by the New York State Governor’s Office of Employee Relations, which is the entity respon-sible for negotiating benefits for the state. There are certain online train-ing programs that employees must

complete as a term and condition of employment, including ethics train-ing, sexual harassment training, and a module on drugs and alcohol in the workplace, all of which must be completed as part of the employee orientation program. ■

Joyce Manning MagriniExecutive Vice President, Administration , Finlay Fine Jewelry

Joyce Manning MagriniExecutive Vice President, Administration

© Books24x7, 2009 Joyce Manning Magrini ExecBlueprints 10

Retention RateOutside the retail environment, our retention statistics would prob-ably look high. At the store level our annual turnover is between 30 and 40 percent. This historical turnover rate is closely related to macro economic conditions: when the economy is good and oppor-tunities are plentiful, our turnover

tends to be higher. The oppo-site is true whenever there is a downturn.

We always say that when busi-ness is good and we are achieving success in sales, HR is under the most pressure to keep open posi-tions low and be constantly on the hunt for good talent to fill the open positions. When the economy is weak and sales are depressed, turn-over goes down. This trend makes our job much more complicated.

Through many years of experi-ence, I have learned that developing

internal talent is a much better investment than hiring outside peo-ple. Over the years we have carefully measured the long-term success of internal promotions versus external hires. Tracking results over a five-year period, we have looked at ten-ure and performance ratings. With no question, those who came up in the ranks with an understanding of the culture and a thorough

foundation in the operational basics were far more successful than those who came from outside the com-pany and were forced to adjust to a new culture and operation. To ensure a much better success rate, we therefore strive to fill our jobs with internal candidates 80 to 90 percent of the time.

Standards for PromotionWhen selecting internal candidates for sales management promotions, we look at their sales performance, their understanding of operational

tasks, and, most importantly, their leadership skills. If someone has excelled in these areas and is will-ing to relocate, many possibilities are open.

We have had various programs over the years. In better times, we had programs where candidates were designated as managers-in-training, and they had their own e-learning system. Each month, they tackled a different topic and completed a training module. They worked closely with managers, and when an appropriate opportunity opened, they moved into it.

Joyce Manning MagriniExecutive Vice President, Administration

Finlay Fine Jewelry

“The more time that our HR team is with the company and gets to know individuals, the more our perspec-tive becomes enhanced. We do not simply have a discussion challenging what the executive point of view may be; HR’s perspective brings another dimension to the discussion.”

• With company since 1995

• Previously, the top corporate HR position at Macy’s

• Established corporate HR depart-ment at Finlay

Ms. Magrini can be e-mailed at [email protected]

With no question, those who came up in the ranks with an understanding of the culture and a thorough foundation in the operational basics were far more successful than those who came from outside the company and were forced to adjust to a new culture and operation.

Joyce Manning Magrini

Executive Vice President, Administration

Finlay Fine Jewelry

Expert Advice

Employee Communication Being in a decentralized environment, we rely heav-ily on e-mail communication and communication through our e-learning tools. We post opportunities at certain levels and encourage people to relocate.

We try to make communication as punchy as we possibly can, because we want to get people’s attention. We keep our messages short and get the facts out.

© Books24x7, 2009 Joyce Manning Magrini ExecBlueprints 11

Joyce Manning MagriniExecutive Vice President, Administration , Finlay Fine Jewelry (continued)

We have an informal mentor-ing program. We team experienced managers with newly hired or pro-moted managers to provide an experienced peer as a resource. We need to do more to train those with strong leadership skills who can manage their own business but still have time to assist others.

Performance EvaluationAt every level, we are goal-driven, and accountability is clear and defined. Each individual is assigned specific statistical goals at the begin-ning of the fiscal year. We strive to ensure that these goals are mean-ingful to the business, as well as fair and motivating to the individual. In a sales-focused environment it is easy to be overly optimistic about goals. We frequently have discus-sions about setting goals to ensure they are realistic.

When performance reviews are done, a significant part of the review is a detailed assessment on goal achievement; how were they achieved and which managerial skills were demonstrated in the process?

The process of drilling down to each position, understanding the functions, and identifying the best parameters to measure success is complicated. HR needs to bring the whole process together. We ensure that there is a consistent approach across departments and flawless execution.

HR also plays a primary role in establishing policies related to promotions. We lay out the guide-lines and confer with managers to understand their reasons for rec-ommendations. We help them think through what they are recommend-ing and ask challenging questions.

The Associate’s RoleWe want to make sure our new associates are prepared in the proper way. However, when bring-ing on new sales associates, we found that some of our managers were very good at on-boarding new people and some weren’t. In order to give the process more structure, we developed a new-hire checklist that spanned an eight-week period. We made sure that each manager was covering materials to educate new associates in the right time frame and not overloading them with too much information at once. We worked with a group of manag-ers who were very good at the pro-cess, and the checklist in turn gets reported back to the next level of supervision.

Measuring ROILike many HR professionals, we struggle to find a good method to measure ROI for educational activ-ities. We measure the feel-good part by asking for survey feedback on our training programs. We gen-erally get a lot of positive feed-back and some interesting ideas about how to approach things in the future. We have not, however, made it a priority to put an eco-nomic value on this investment.

Regardless, training is a neces-sity. We owe our people the basic knowledge necessary to be success-ful in their positions. We strive to continuously improve our process and are never satisfied that the job is done. ■

✓ Sales performance✓ Understanding of operational tasks✓ Most importantly, their leadership skills

3 Essential Criteria forPromoting Sales Managers

© Books24x7, 2009 Ideas to Build Upon & Action Points ExecBlueprints 12

Ideas to Build Upon & Action Points I. What Factors Are Currently Impacting Workforce Development?Fewer employees may be leaving their jobs in today’s recessionary economy, but smart companies must still not disregard devel-opment efforts, owing to their importance in helping to retain the best talent once the economy begins to rebound. However, in formulating and sustaining such efforts during these leaner times, HR depart-ments may need to address the following situations:

• Reduced or eliminated training budgets

• Low turnover of unproductive employees

• An aging workforce that is prone to more absences and less flexibility

• The imperative to maintain business operations with fewer staff, thereby requiring re-training and transitioning employees into new roles

II. The Bottom LineDuring more prosperous times, many HR professionals struggle to find a suitable method for measuring the ROI of their development efforts. However, this tight economy with its elevated retention rates might present an unexpected opportunity to determine an accurate “baseline” against which to measure a company’s actual abil-ity to retain employees once the job market opens up. In the meantime, you can save money on costly trainings, orientations, and assessments while still developing your company’s people by:

• Partnering with local institutions of higher learning to develop profes-sional training programs

• Creating mentorship programs and/or cross-functional teams to work on particular issues or projects

• Asking frontline managers to identify potential new leaders among their staffs

• Ascertaining which past hiring and development initiatives yielded the most successful employees

• Soliciting employee feedback on your efforts through simple satisfaction surveys

III. Must-Have Strategies for On-boarding New EmployeesMemories of how a person is greeted into their new job will remain long after they are a fully functional member of the team, and could even influence the length of their tenure at your company. Although many new employees may not be entering the company at the present time, you still need to help each one become productive and comfortable as quickly as possible by:

• Providing all managers with a new-hire checklist to ensure that all orien-tation topics are covered within pre-scribed time frames

• Assigning “buddies” to help with mundane and culture-related ques-tions, such as the location of company facilities, procedures for filling out paperwork, and policies for breaks

• Ensuring that they receive honest feedback from their managers and other team members at regular inter-vals regarding their progress and the company’s expectations

• Delivering all required orientation programs (such as for ethics, sexual harassment, and drug-and-alcohol policy) in a timely manner

IV. The Golden Rules for Conducting Effective Performance ReviewsThe annual performance review can be one of your best tools for employee development; however, if the process is not thoughtfully executed, it can be a dismal failure that dis-engages even high- performing employees. The first requirements are to train all new managers in your company’s performance review process and ensure that the reviews happen on a regular schedule (such as once per year), even if they’re not directly linked to compensation. Other important guide-lines for managers include:

• Ask the employee to write a self-appraisal that will supplement your report.

• Measure the period’s performance against previously established goals.

• Allow the employee to showcase his or her accomplishments.

• Query employees about their develop-ment plans for the next one to three years, and elicit the employee’s opin-ion on how you can aid in his or her professional development

• Discuss your company’s resource requirements and/or constraints, and brainstorm what it will take to meet commitments during the coming period.

• Together with the employee, establish objectives, determine timelines and metrics, and define success for the coming period.

• Don’t use the time to surprise the employee with new feedback or petty concerns that should be part of your ongoing dialogue.

• Listen as much as you speak; the review is a two-way dialogue.

V. Essential Take-AwaysFor the greater good of the company and its people, your managers need to commit to supporting the growth and development of their staffs, even if such support could mean that they occasionally lose a person to another department (or company). HR can — and must — continue to foster this development by engaging many informal and formal strategies, including:

• Encouraging the formation of cross-functional teams that can apply their unique expertise to solve or com-plete designated issues, concerns, or projects

• Choosing and developing online, classroom, and off-site training pro-grams that are based on the mission, vision, and values of the organization

• Posting descriptions of open positions at the company, and allowing employ-ees to take responsibility for their own development by fulfilling the neces-sary qualification and application requirements

• Establishing guidelines and policy for employee promotions and other job changes

• Formulating succession-planning pro-cesses to identify and develop employ-ees who show especial promise to fill future leadership and management roles ■

© Books24x7, 2009 Ideas to Build Upon & Action Points ExecBlueprints 13

Ideas to Build Upon & Action Points (continued)

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10 KEY QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION POINTS

1 What is your current employee retention rate? How has it changed over the past five years?

2 When assessing which employees to train for new roles and responsibilities, what standards do you use?

3 What performance evaluation procedures do you follow? Who is generally responsible for these evaluations?

4 At your company, what role does HR play in establishing policies and practices related to promotion?

5 How are training opportunities communicated to your company’s employees? What are the advantages and disadvantages to using meetings, e-mail announcements, and the company intranet as channels for communication?

6 What are your company’s best practices for choosing and developing training programs and educational opportunities? In what ways do you use e-learning technology?

7 In the next 12 months, do you plan to make any changes in these training programs and educational opportunities?

8 What are your top three approaches for supporting newly-trained employees to take on new roles and responsibilities?

9 In the next 12 months, how many employees do you expect to train for new roles or responsibilities? Is this number the same or different from previous years?

10 How do you measure the ROI for your training and educational activities? How have the contributions of employees who have undergone training specifically contributed to company profits? How much have your training programs saved in hiring costs?

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Documents

Training vs Hiring