Resolution
for a revolution
A CHANGE FOR 2018
Looking to make a real change in
2018? We asked Jane Vivier from the
Rewarding Company to come up with
some suggestions. Beware – she pulls
no punches! defines their career by rigid ratings,
segments them based on outdated
perceptions and reduces all of our
dealings to a ‘one size fits nobody’
approach.
Human Resources, it’s a terrible name.
Impersonal, lacking in recognition and
transactional. So how do we start to make Human
Resources more humane?
My friends delight in telling me the only
HR joke they know – you know the one
where the employee turns up on their
first day to a very different experience
to their interview with the punchline
being ‘last week we were trying to
impress you, this week you are staff’ –
but they often have a point.
Once in an organisation, we tie
people up with long-winded policies,
procedures, processes and rules. We
take great people and reduce them to
a number, rating their performance on
a scale which rarely reflects their input
or achievement, offering them the
golden carrot of a pay increase if they
can conform but being stumped when
we have someone who doesn’t fit in
our box...
From recruitment to onboarding,
through performance management
and pay reviews to retirement, there is
often so very little that is human about
our processes. We talk a good talk
but often that’s where it ends – how
great would it be if all organisations
had a strategy to engage employees
throughout their lifecycle rather than
one which puts people in boxes,
Let’s empower our line managers
to manage their people in a human
way. No more rulebooks which dwarf
the iTunes terms of service (because
we all read those from start to finish
when we signed up didn’t we). The
workplace shouldn’t be there to
teach people right from wrong, Line
Managers are not parents or teachers,
they should be mentors, coaches and
most importantly champions. We
need to talk less about processes and
more about the skill of managing and
understanding people. That includes
the challenge of managing multiple
generations within a workforce – the
latest ‘segmentation’ issue and one
which isn’t going away.
Let’s treat our people like people.
Our workplaces will not turn into
Lord of the Flies if we relax the rules
a little. Let’s allow our people to be
themselves and assist them in being
the very best they can be. Let’s not
look for conformity but look for great
individuals who together can do great
things for our organisations. The
starting point should be flexibility – be
that in working patterns, locations or
even job design. Allow employees to
shape the workplace and its operation
– if there is one thing I have learnt
from my obsession with ‘Undercover
Boss USA’ it’s that employees want
companies to succeed and often have
the ideas and solutions to make that
happen.
Let’s step away from the rigid
mechanisms of the past.
Make reward more than money, offer
people a work experience that is
engaging, get to know your people so
that you can do this, don’t put them in
boxes based on age, gender, seniority
or salary – you won’t get it right. Talk
to people, you’ll be amazed at what
they tell you. I ran a recognition focus
group with a team recently where
someone said ‘if you really want to
thank me then get me a taxi to work
– just for a week, it will be such a treat
as I normally have to get the bus’. Be
upfront with people about what they
can expect, how they can advance and
what their career plan with you looks
like.
And the great thing about all of this?
There’s no great training programme
required – it’s just about being more
‘human’ and less ‘resources’.
Come join the revolution!
@TheRewardingCo
www.incentiveandmotivation.com
www.incentiveandmotivation.com | | 17
17