Here are a few HR resolutions you might still make for the year ahead…
Clear out the deadwood
Now is a good time to take a long cool look at those who may be holding your business back. Is the resistance due to their shortcomings or yours? What are you going to do about it? Training, yours or theirs, may hold the key. Wellbeing, yours or theirs, might be another accelerator. Alternatively it could be time to think about letting one or more individuals go. There are lawful ways in which this can be done.
Address long term absentee problems
Any employee who has been off-sick for 12 weeks or more is unlikely to return, except in very obvious circumstances. You will need to “grasp the nettle” at some time. Why not now?
Get talent into the business
Talent is the lifeblood of your business. Yet time and again we see selection decisions that could be improved upon. Good employer branding, painstaking care over selection and real attention to induction can lead to employees who are life-changing for a business. Consider Google’s assertion that the best employee is worth 300 times more than the average employee.
Gain performance from wellbeing
It’s been talked about for years. Early in my career it was called “participation”, then “involvement”, latterly followed by “engagement” and “wellbeing”. Whatever the terminology, the evidence supports the huge value of the concept. Is it time to get on board?
Train
Death and taxes may be two certainties. I submit that change is the third. If you are not continually training your people then you will lose competitive edge and slide back. January is a good time to review your training plans for the year.
Plan succession
Who is going the run the business when you retire? Only one in three family businesses survives from one generation to the next. If you are a career manager then having someone to take your place can free you for promotion. Who will you train up? How will they get the experience they need?
Good luck for 2019!
Malcolm Martin FCIPD
Author Human Resource Practice