3rd HR Philippines National Convention in October at the SMX Convention Center, Mall of Asia

"It’s back in Manila!"

The HR Philippines Convention will be coming to Manila again after the huge successful Convention in 2007 and in Davao in 2008 which attracted over 350 HR Professionals from leading companies.

Join the hundreds of HR Professionals
who participate in the Annual HR Philippines National Convention to enhance their core skills,competence and to stay ahead of evolving trends.

Convention Highlights:

Day 1: “HR’s Strategic Impact On Bottomline Results”

Session 1: Strategic Talent Planning & Acquisition: “Getting the Right People: How Do We Get SMARTER In Our Recruitment Habits?”

Session 2: Performance-Based Reward System: “Building a Performance-Driven Organization. Ensuring that People Contribute”

Session 3: Organization Development: “Managing Organizational Change: A Culture That Transforms Organizations”

Session 4: “How to Transition from Transactional to Strategic HR”

Session 5: “The Real Costs of Employee Investments: Balancing Variable and Fixed”

Session 6: Corporate Social Responsibility and HR Implications: “Advocacy Management: Enhancing Corporate Social Responsibility”


Day 2: “HR 2.0: HR Amidst New Technology”

Session 1: New Trends in Training and Technology

Session 2: Latest Trends in Recruitment and Sourcing

Session 3: HR Policies On Use of Social Media

Labor Jurisprudence

Meeting Global HR Standards

Embracing HR Values and Ethics

Gain a solid grasp of all aspects of human resources management and ensure your success by joining us at the

3rd HR Philippines National Convention
Theme: H.R. 2.0 Bringing HR to the Next Level

on October 21 - 22, 2009 (8:30AM - 5:30PM)
at the SMX Convention Center, Mall of Asia, Pasay City

"We are accepting payments via all major credit cards."

Your Learning Investment for the 2-Day Convention

Early Bird Rate: P3,388 + VAT per seat
(Pay on or before September 21, 2009)

Regular Rate: P3,888 + VAT per seat
(Starting September 22, 2009)

On-Site Rate: P4,088 + VAT per seat

LEARNING INVESTMENT INCLUDES:
A "Fun-filled" Learning Experience, complete with Convention Kits, Souvenir Programs, Certificates and Freebies!! plus... AM Snack, Sumptuous Lunch & PM Snacks!

MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS NOW! CALL US AT;

ARIVA! Seminar & Convention Organizers
895-8058 / 895-9527 / 890-9651
Call/Text: 0917-3257870

Email: SuccessSeminars@Ariva.com.ph

R E G I S T E R O N L I N E: www.Ariva.com.ph

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Become a sponsor for

3rd HR Philippines National Convention

Organized by: HR Philippines

in partnership with ARIVA! Events Management

500 to 800 HR Practitioners from top companies from different industries nationwide

For further details or to confirm your sponsorship spot in our advertising plan, please feel free to call us and
Look for JM Matienzo

ARIVA! Seminar & Convention Organizers

895-8058 / 895-9527 / 890-9651
Call/Text: 0917-3257870

Email: ArivaEvents@gmail.com

Is HR a Thankless Job?

I've heard it so many times that I believed it. At some point I accepted that people look at HR as some kind of a malevolent entity (just like Catbert). Employees suspect HR of being too pro-management. Managers suspect HR of being too pro-employees. I have resigned to the thought that people will have a hard time seeing that as an HR person, I am pro-the-right-thing-to-do-given-a-situation. I thought people have unrealistic expectations of HR and that no matter how I try, I will never measure up to that unrealistic expectation. Is frustration a natural part of the career I have chosen?

But as I grow older, I started learning or to put it more accurately, unlearning the mindsets I have developed over the years listening to fellow HR practitioners and proving them right. I saw what I was conditioned to see. HR was a thankless job, because that's what a lot of people around me say about it and I believed them. When I started questioning my own beliefs about this job, I realized that no, HR is not a thankless job, as a matter of fact, I could not count the times people appreciated what I did as an HR practitioner.

I could not count the number of people who thanked me for facilitating their employment.

I could not count the number of times a fellow manager thanked me for helping him/her find the right person for the job.

I could not count the number of times managers thanked me for helping them deal with a situation concerning their employees.

I could not count the number of times an employee thanked me for clarifying an issue or for helping them with what they need.

I could not count the number of times people thanked me for listening to them.

I could not count the number of times a training participant thanked me for sharing a part of myself.

I could not count the times I received thanks for helping an entire organization.

This job is not thankless. And knowing the kind of person that I am, I am still in this business because of the countless number of thanks I get for doing my job.

When I changed my belief, the frustrations went away and I was more energized to do my job. The more energized I am to do my job, the better I get at it and the more the rewards came my way. If you ask me though, I'd say that for me, the job is its own reward. I am thankful that I get to do what I do every chance I get.

Lastly, Any job can be a thankless job for as long as people don't see the reason why they should thank the one carrying out the job. At least, that's what I think.

What If We Turn Training Departments to Performance Management Department? Part 3

As promised i'm giving you the third part of a series on the subject matter. If you haven't seen part 1 and part 2, i suggest that you read them first.
Today, we're going to look at how more effectively a department in charge of training can design and implement a training plan if they are in charge of performance management first and foremost.

A department in charge of seeing to it that employees' performance improve, should have a gamut of strategies to capacitate people, formal classroom training will just be one of them. Unlike a training department in charge of training delivery, a performance management department will be accountable for seeing to it that training interventions lead to behavioral and hence performance change.

Let me now go into how I imagine a performance management department should go into addressing performance issues related to competency gaps.

First, they would look at a slew of tools and pick one or two that should address the competency gap most effectively and efficiently. They could choose from formal training, coaching by the superiors, mentoring, better work manuals or instructions, readings, etc. The limit is the performance manager's imagination.

If the solution is formal classroom training. The course design should take into consideration the behavioral attributes described in the competency profiles of the employees. It helps therefore, to have accurately and clearly described competency models for them to be useful in training design.

If training is outsourced, it would definitely help to show the training service providers the competencies being addressed and then require them to present an effective training strategy for closing the gaps.

Because the performance manager would be more interested in seeing training translate to performance, he should include in the program a reentry plan where training participants will engage in projects or activities that will require them to use and test their new-found skills.

In case you're asking what the employee's manager's role in all these, I'd say that if the company's performance management system is designed in such a way that the managers' performance reflect the collective performance of the team they manage, then they should play a huge role in all these. Everything that the performance management department does is aimed at helping the line managers manage their teams' performance better. None of it would matter if the line managers refuse to use any of them. Line managers and the performance management department must work in partnership to help employees achieve their full performance potentials.

Let me conclude this series by reiterating the point I've been trying to make. Companies mobilize and fund their training departments to run programs in the hope that it would lead to improved performance. Many training departments however have a myopic view of their responsibilities. They look at training and performance management as separate boxes. Sadly too, they see performance management as a box outside their own silo. So, is there really a need to change the name of training departments? Not really, but if that's what it would take to make it clear to everyone that without a solid connection between training and performance management, they are just trying to fill a leaking drum then, I'm all for it. That's my opinion.

What If We Turn Training Departments to Performance Management Department? Part 2

I finally mustered enough energy to write the follow-up post to Part 1. This time, I'm talking about using performance appraisal results as a training needs analysis tool.

Many Training Departments in the Philippines don't have access to Performance Appraisal Results. Hence, they depend on Training Needs Analysis Surveys to help them identify the employees' training needs. I've had my fair share of doing these surveys and I often find the resulting data immensely unbelievable. I felt that asking people about what their training needs are is like asking a man, or a woman what their ideal woman or man is. They often end up going with the ones who are completely the opposite of what they described as ideal. My point? The identified training needs are often inconsistent with what they really need.

This should not happen if the training managers are using performance appraisal data which often go with individual developmental plans. This is provided that the performance appraisal tool is conceived and designed well. I've always found competency-based performance appraisal tools (again, those which are well conceived and designed) to be very useful in identifying training needs. All the training manager has to do is run some statistics on the performance appraisal results and they should be able to identify some trends that will pinpoint who will need to improve which competencies. The chart shown here is an example of an appraisal trend on "Customer Focus" competency.

Wow, it looks like there's going to be a Part 3. When It comes, I will write about using the same competency based performance management tool for designing and managing training. Watch out for it!

The Power to Hire and Fire and Everything in Between

When I started work as HR Director in a BPO company, I noticed that line managers depended on the HR Department to do most of the "people management" stuff. When managers encounter performance and behavior issues with their employees, they look to HR to clean up the mess. When difficult communications have to be made, HRD is expected to deliver it. I, however, refused to play the cannon fodder role. I clarified to the line managers that the role of HRD in d company should that of a strategic business partner and enabler. I went to work on playing this role by doing the following:
I leveled expectations on the role of HRD and the HR role of the line managers. I told the managers that their powers include the power to hire and fire. This meant that I will not do those things for them. I will send people their way to choose and hire from but won't choose for them. I will make sure that they are doing all the right things before firing an undeserving employee, but won't fire 'em for them.
A lot of HR work is necessary to help make this happen. HR has to familiarize managers with all the recruitment concepts and selection procedures. Line managers need to appreciate that they share accountability for employees' success and failures. Hence, managers need to be committed to performance management. They need to set performance goals, monitor, develop capacity and capability, evaluate, reward and recognize good performance. They should also weed the company out of employees with undesirable performance and behaviors by enforcing the company's code of ethics and adhering to the dictates of the labor laws on due process. Managers also needed to appreciate their role on identifying those who have the potentials to succeed them and prepare them for the eventuality. A lot of preparations made this possible. I and my HR team developed a management development plan for our company's managers and team leaders. They went through several training and workshops that include basic leadership and management, performance management, coaching, maintaining discipline in the workplace and others. Before I left the company, Managers were making final hiring decisions and were accountable for those decisions by making sure that they equip their employees with the right technical training, were coached about their performance so that they are able to meet performance expectations. Those who failed despite their managers' intervention were asked to leave the company.