Job redesign is about redesigning the tasks in a job so that it fits staff and business needs. For instance, tasks that can be done in isolation can be assigned to a telecommuter, duplicative tasks may be eliminated. One full-time job may become appropriate for two part-timers. Two employees may split a job, but work independently of each other. Looking at the tasks of a job in a new way helps employees to better fit their skills to the tasks to be performed. It may eliminate unnecessary work, permit better use of employees’ skills, enable higher flexibility and more effective work distribution. It attracts and retains quality employees. And it promotes a dual agenda – making work more inspiring and motivating to employees while achieving business goals. Continue reading →
Posts Tagged ‘workforce planning’
Workforce Planning Strategically Aligns Human Capital with Business Direction
An uncertain labour market coupled with a rapidly changing marketplace creates the need for organisations to proactively plan for expected and unexpected shifts in business demand and talent supply. Furthermore, the business implications of the aging workforce position human capital planning as an essential element of comprehensive business planning. However, many organisations are only beginning to see the value of such planning and may be at a disadvantage in the coming years without building a structured planning process that ties human capital strategies to business goals.
Workforce planning allows organisations to better meet the challenges of a rapidly changing economy. By using business strategy to align shifts in demand with the existing and future supply of human capital, organisations optimise the workforce to meet business goals, increase market share, and improve employee engagement.
Continue reading →
Excuse Me, Why Should HR Know About Six Sigma?
A friend recently spoke at an HR Conference on a competency development roadmap for Six Sigma professionals. During the break, a few participants went up to him and asked him what Six Sigma is. Only then it occurred to him that not every HR person is familiar with well known basic principles and management practices contributing to business performance and leadership development.
Given today’s need for HR professionals to be Strategic Business Partners, to be a ‘Voice of Conscience’ to the CEOs as well as Champion for the Employees, those with background in proven management methodologies and tools such as Lean, Six Sigma or Kaizen have a great advantage. An HR Professional who can present his business case for HR strategies and interventions with a compelling return on investment will be respected and regarded. Having the knowledge and exposure in cost and time estimates, in analytical thinking processes as well as fact-based strategies and decision making will open doors.
Continue reading →
Balancing Customer Satisfaction and Productivity
Your staff members complain about having too much work, the proportion of people on short-term sick-leave is consistently above average and the turnover rate is disturbingly high. Do these symptoms indicate that you need to increase your staffing? However, the average number of daily transactions processed shows that your staff should be able to easily handle the volume. So, what is the problem? Continue reading →
Recruiting the Right Mindset
There are several invaluable lessons learnt during the different phases of YOG. A significant task has been the recruitment, preparation and motivation of more than five hundred staff and of more than twenty thousand volunteers within a timeframe of less than two years.
It is not new that recruiting people means evaluating, finding skills and experience that make up the eligibility – the aptitude – on the one hand and the suitability – the attitude – on the other hand. However, it is commonly much easier to evaluate the former in detail whilst neglecting the latter. Continue reading →
My Opinion: It’s About the Process
Discussing workforce planning with an HR professional of a government entity in Singapore we explained our approach that starts from customer and strategy, goes via processes and concludes in workforce needs, in short. The answer I got from my client was “Why do you look into operations in order to do workforce planning. We want to do this without dealing too much with processes.”
I was surprised to get this reaction from an HR professional. Continue reading →
Take Care of Your Talent – Or Someone Else Will
Your Lean Six Sigma initiative has taken off well, project teams led by Belts have done a nice work and results are in. Good job so far! However, this is the rather easy part of your journey. The more difficult part is about retaining and accelerating the trained Black Belts and Green Belts (Belts).
Talking to both, Lean Six Sigma consultants as well as their clients, paints a surprisingly consistent picture: Nearly half of the companies who kick-off a Lean Six Sigma initiative lose some of their Belts shortly after certification. Another tendency which is alarming: we are not talking about one or two Belts who resign at that point in time, a considerable 20 – 30% of the first batch of trainees may decide to leave.
People Development – The Smart Way
A couple of years ago, I was meeting the President of an Asian multi-national mid-sized service company for a Six Sigma Training on Saipan, a nice sunny pacific island south-east of Japan. Together with a colleague we were sitting at the beach, wearing swimming suits and preparing the next days session whilst getting sun-tanned. When the President arrived – he was in shorts and ugly slippers! – we had a casual briefing for the Leadership Team session and the Staff Awareness Sessions we were about to run during that week.
Continue reading →
The Future Challenges for the HR Practitioner
The role of HR is changing as a result of many influences. These include: globalisation resulting in increased competition; a change to the service- and consultative-approach; demographic trends evidenced by falling birth rates and extended life expectancy. These trends affect the labour market and have resulted in skill shortages in specific areas. The HR practitioner needs to understand the impact of these factors on his/her organisation.
Continue reading →
Workforce Planning Strategically Aligns Human Capital with Business Direction
An uncertain labour market coupled with a rapidly changing marketplace creates the need for organisations to proactively plan for expected and unexpected shifts in business demand and talent supply. Furthermore, the business implications of the aging workforce position human capital planning as an essential element of comprehensive business planning. However, many organisations are only beginning to see the value of such planning and may be at a disadvantage in the coming years without building a structured planning process that ties human capital strategies to business goals.
Workforce planning allows organisations to better meet the challenges of a rapidly changing economy. By using business strategy to align shifts in demand with the existing and future supply of human capital, organisations optimise the workforce to meet business goals, increase market share, and improve employee engagement.
Continue reading →
Excuse Me, Why Should HR Know About Six Sigma?
A friend recently spoke at an HR Conference on a competency development roadmap for Six Sigma professionals. During the break, a few participants went up to him and asked him what Six Sigma is. Only then it occurred to him that not every HR person is familiar with well known basic principles and management practices contributing to business performance and leadership development.
Given today’s need for HR professionals to be Strategic Business Partners, to be a ‘Voice of Conscience’ to the CEOs as well as Champion for the Employees, those with background in proven management methodologies and tools such as Lean, Six Sigma or Kaizen have a great advantage. An HR Professional who can present his business case for HR strategies and interventions with a compelling return on investment will be respected and regarded. Having the knowledge and exposure in cost and time estimates, in analytical thinking processes as well as fact-based strategies and decision making will open doors.
Continue reading →
Balancing Customer Satisfaction and Productivity
Your staff members complain about having too much work, the proportion of people on short-term sick-leave is consistently above average and the turnover rate is disturbingly high. Do these symptoms indicate that you need to increase your staffing? However, the average number of daily transactions processed shows that your staff should be able to easily handle the volume. So, what is the problem? Continue reading →
Recruiting the Right Mindset
There are several invaluable lessons learnt during the different phases of YOG. A significant task has been the recruitment, preparation and motivation of more than five hundred staff and of more than twenty thousand volunteers within a timeframe of less than two years.
It is not new that recruiting people means evaluating, finding skills and experience that make up the eligibility – the aptitude – on the one hand and the suitability – the attitude – on the other hand. However, it is commonly much easier to evaluate the former in detail whilst neglecting the latter. Continue reading →
My Opinion: It’s About the Process
Discussing workforce planning with an HR professional of a government entity in Singapore we explained our approach that starts from customer and strategy, goes via processes and concludes in workforce needs, in short. The answer I got from my client was “Why do you look into operations in order to do workforce planning. We want to do this without dealing too much with processes.”
I was surprised to get this reaction from an HR professional. Continue reading →
Take Care of Your Talent – Or Someone Else Will
Your Lean Six Sigma initiative has taken off well, project teams led by Belts have done a nice work and results are in. Good job so far! However, this is the rather easy part of your journey. The more difficult part is about retaining and accelerating the trained Black Belts and Green Belts (Belts).
Talking to both, Lean Six Sigma consultants as well as their clients, paints a surprisingly consistent picture: Nearly half of the companies who kick-off a Lean Six Sigma initiative lose some of their Belts shortly after certification. Another tendency which is alarming: we are not talking about one or two Belts who resign at that point in time, a considerable 20 – 30% of the first batch of trainees may decide to leave.
People Development – The Smart Way
A couple of years ago, I was meeting the President of an Asian multi-national mid-sized service company for a Six Sigma Training on Saipan, a nice sunny pacific island south-east of Japan. Together with a colleague we were sitting at the beach, wearing swimming suits and preparing the next days session whilst getting sun-tanned. When the President arrived – he was in shorts and ugly slippers! – we had a casual briefing for the Leadership Team session and the Staff Awareness Sessions we were about to run during that week.
Continue reading →
The Future Challenges for the HR Practitioner
The role of HR is changing as a result of many influences. These include: globalisation resulting in increased competition; a change to the service- and consultative-approach; demographic trends evidenced by falling birth rates and extended life expectancy. These trends affect the labour market and have resulted in skill shortages in specific areas. The HR practitioner needs to understand the impact of these factors on his/her organisation.
Continue reading →
