Tag: Human Capital Management

First Time Managers

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Newly minted first-time managers and new leaders are usually part of the biggest population of leaders in any organization: frontline, first-line, and entry-level managers, supervisors, and directors. They directly manage more people than any other managerial level. The stats show first-time managers and new leaders rarely get the training they need to be effective in their new position.

For at least the past five years employee engagement has been has been a major topic for HR professionals and thought leaders around the world. You can find conferences, panel discussions, articles, blogs, tweets, etc. about employee engagement. With the dismal numbers of first-time managers and new leaders receiving inadequate training employee engagement will continue to be a major topic for HR professionals and thought leaders around the world.

In my blog post Managers Need Training Too I talked about the importance of managers receiving the proper training to be successful. If first-time managers and new leaders aren’t receiving the training necessary to be successful employee engagement will decrease. If employee engagement decreases the quality of the service being provided or the product being produced will also decrease.

Upper management needs to invest in training so first-time managers and new leaders can be successful. The success of the organization is directly or indirectly tied to the success of first-time managers and new leaders.

Employee Disengagement

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Employee engagement has been a hot topic in HR world-wide for the past few years. Employers across the globe are trying to figure out how to get and keep their employees engaged.  For the most part engaged employees are happy employees.  Engaged employees stay at their jobs longer than disengaged employees and engaged employees provide an emotionally stable work environment.

While upper management and HR are trying to figure out how to get and keep their employees engaged, employees continue to focus on obtaining a work-life balance. Many HR professionals believe providing a work-life balance for employees will facilitate engagement (I’m one of them).  In the past few years I have read only a few articles and participated in a limited number of conversations that focused on making sure employees did have a work-life balance.

If upper management and HR truly want what’s best for their employees they would recommend employees go home on time. Gemma Dale is an HR professional that resides in London, in her blog post Go Home On Time she provides a good case why employees should “go home on time”.  Upper management and HR professionals should seriously consider Gemma’s suggestion.  As an employee of any organization you’ll agree that Gemma’s assessment is accurate.

If you have questions about this blog post or anything else please contact me at corjoejen@yahoo.com and www.linkedin.com/pub/cornell-jenkins/11/476/897/

Management and Unions Can Get Along

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Contrary to popular belief it is possible for management and unions to get along. The relationship between the two doesn’t always have to be contentious. The most important thing in this relationship is respect. If management and union leaders have respect for each other the rest is downhill, theoretically.

Management and unions don’t innately distrust each other. However there is always a level of distrust until one side earns the trust of the other. The only way the management-union relationship can be healthy is if everyone in leadership is willing to listen to what the other side has to say. Regardless of how important an issue may be if you’re not willing to listen then there’s no use in the other person talking.

This is where respect comes in. No one is going to take you seriously if they don’t respect you. In the workplace respect is the only collateral you have. Once you’ve lost the respect of someone it’s difficult to regain it. The management-union relationship is one of those relationships where a lack of respect can have long-lasting repercussions.

If management doesn’t respect union leadership the day-to-day issues of rank-and-file union members could be very difficult. Simple things like taking lunch, using leave, working overtime etc. can be problematic. On the other hand union leadership needs to be clear that obtaining the trust of management should be one of their top priorities. Many union members don’t understand or care that their actions can affect the management-union relationship.

Over the years I’ve watched management make decisions that were not favorable to unions. When union representatives clamored about the decision, management cited the actions of certain union members. I’ve talked to union representatives and they’ve said some of their members don’t care how management views them.

This attitude is fine if these employees weren’t affecting the lives of others. As with any group of people you always have those that only care about themselves. Likewise, management has to deal with some managers putting a strain on the management-union relationship. There are some managers that don’t care if the management-union is contentious or not.

Trying to obtain or maintain a good management-union relationship and keeping selfish employees in line is a balancing act. This balancing act can be accomplished when both sides respect each other and keep the lines of communication open.

If you have questions about this post and more please contact me at corjoejen@yahoo.com and www.linkedin.com/pub/cornell-jenkins/11/476/897/

Labor Relations

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Many people believe the management-employee relationship is difficult to navigate. This relationship can be easy to navigate but it depends on the willingness, of management and the employee(s), to get along.

It’s the beginning of the second month of the New Year and what have you done for management thus far? I’m not talking about the management on your job. I’m talking about the manager of your life.

For those of you who set goals or made New Year’s resolutions did you take into account the manager of your life might have different goals for you? Everyone may not be religious or believe in God. However, I end every year and start the New Year by finding out “What does God want me to do this year?” It’s not rhetorical I honesty seek an answer. I have my goals and dreams for 2015 but if my goals and dreams don’t line up with what management has for me I could be disappointed during or at the end of the year.

This particular management-employee relationship isn’t easy to navigate. Like any other management-employee relationship the employee(s) have to spend time talking to management to find out what their expectations are. Once management has communicated their expectations it’s up to the employee to execute the plan. The difficult part of the management-employee relationship is executing the plan. You may not agree with some of the goals management has set for you however here’s something to consider, Romans 8:28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

Even though you may not agree with some of the goals it’s still going to work for your good. The goals this manager has for you could change your current situation or alter the rest of your life? Is your dislike for the goals so strong that you’re willing to forfeit any good that would come your way? Before you answer that question consider this, Proverbs 16:18 First pride, then the crash the bigger the ego, the harder the fall. There are some management-employee relationships that regardless of the expectation(s) the end result is it works out for the employee’s good. Before we get too far into the year find out what expectations management has for you and then execute the plan.

The management-employee relationship can be easy to navigate. In this type of management-employee relationship are the employees willing to follow the plan management has laid out for them?

If you have questions about this and more please contact me at <a href=”corjoejen@yahoo.com” title=”corjoejen@yahoo.com”>corjoejen@yahoo.com</a> and www.linkedin.com/pub/cornell-jenkins/11/476/897/

Jessup, MD 301-466-6411 corjoejen@yahoo.com By appointment only.