Decision Architecture: The Art of Strategy in an Age of “Analysis Paralysis”

<h2 class="ql-align-justify">Introduction: When More Insight Produces Less Clarity</h2>Organizations have never been richer in data. Business Intelligence platforms are real time stream dashboards. Reports slice performance by regional, product, channel, customer and time. Predictive models will provide anticipation and not hindsight.And yet, it is the opposite, decision-making is slowing down. Executive meetings stretch longer. Strategic calls are deferred for “one more analysis.” Consensus becomes harder to reach, not easier. Leaders feel informed, but not decisive. This is not a data problem. It is a decision architecture problem.In an age of abundance, leadership is no longer about accessing information. It is about designing environments where the right information stands out and having the discipline to ignore the rest. <h2 class="ql-align-justify">The Signal-to-Noise Crisis</h2>Most organizations believe their BI challenge is insufficient insight. In practice, the opposite is true. The real crisis is signal dilution.Contemporary BI reports tend to be comprehensive as opposed to selective. In case, they strive to provide a solution to all the questions that could be asked. The effect is a wall of charts true, marvellous and strategically devastating.Burial of critical trends is accompanied by marginal trends. Weak signals are competing with insignificant fluctuations. Decision-makers have to scan rather than see. And, ironically enough, the more detailed the report, the less action can be taken on it. Nothing is decisive when all the things appear to be important. Through this, analysis becomes paralysis not because the leaders cannot, but it is the system that does not prioritize them. <h2 class="ql-align-justify">Why “Interesting” Is Not the Same as “Useful”</h2>One of the most subtle failures of BI is the elevation of “interesting” insights to strategic relevance.A correlation may be statistically valid. A visualization may be elegant. A pattern may be novel. None of that guarantees it matters for the decision at hand. Strategic decision-making requires discrimination, not curiosity. Yet many reporting environments reward exploration over resolution. Dashboards expand over time, rarely contracting. Very few metrics ever die. The result is cognitive clutter: information that consumes attention without shaping action. Good decision architecture recognizes that usefulness is contextual. Data that does not change a decision even if accurate should not be central to the discussion.&nbsp;<h2 class="ql-align-justify">Cognitive Load in the C-Suite</h2>Executives operate under extreme cognitive constraints. Time is limited. Stakes are high. Decisions are interdependent.It leads to the quality of decisions decreasing and not improving when leaders are offered too many options, metrics, or scenarios to consider simultaneously. This is not an intelligence failure but a characteristic in human thinking. Based on the idea of behavioural economics, the choice architecture concept emphasizes the dramatic impact of options framing, ordering, and filtering on the decision. The concept of choice architecture, drawn from behavioural economics, highlights how the way options are framed, ordered, and filtered dramatically affects decisions. The same principle applies to strategic data. Poor decision architecture forces executives to do the work of sense-making under pressure. Good decision architecture does that work before the meeting begins. <h2 class="ql-align-justify">Decision Architecture as a Leadership Responsibility</h2>In many organizations, data teams see their role as providing information, not shaping decisions. Strategy teams define direction, but rarely control how choices are presented. The gap between insight and action widens. Decision architecture closes that gap. It asks disciplined questions:<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">What is the decision that this data is supposed to support?</li><li class="ql-align-justify">What is critical and what is informative only?</li><li class="ql-align-justify">What are the trade-offs that ought to be explicit as opposed to implied?</li></ul> When these questions are not answered, leaders default to caution. Delay becomes the rational choice. <h2 class="ql-align-justify">Strategy as a Filter, Not a Plan</h2>Conventional strategy is often presented as a map—a series of actions intended to lead to a desired future. This framing disintegrates very fast in complicated, rapidly evolving settings. A stronger perspective on strategy is as a filter: as a rule set which delineates what is not going to be pursued by the organization. Strong strategy reduces decision load by pre-deciding categories of choices. It narrows the field. It eliminates options before they reach the executive table. Without this filter, every decision feels existential. Every data point demands attention. The company is lost in optionality.Strategy in this context does not entail doing more. It is concerning saying no more decisively and steadfastly. <h2 class="ql-align-justify">The Courage to Ignore</h2>Avoiding data seems irresponsible in a society where hard work is synonymous with comprehensive work. As a matter of fact, selective attention is a leadership skill. High-performing decision environments make it socially acceptable to say:<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">“This metric is interesting, but not decisive.”</li><li class="ql-align-justify">“This variance does not change our direction.”</li><li class="ql-align-justify">“We have enough signal to act.”</li></ul> These statements require courage because they trade completeness for clarity. But without them, organizations default to endless analysis and deferred commitment. Top leaders are the ones who know what to think (consider), not the ones who know the most. <h2 class="ql-align-justify">Designing for Speed and Confidence</h2>Effective decision architecture does not eliminate uncertainty. It contains it. Organizations can make faster decisions with a sense of ground and not hurry because of reduced noise, trade-offs clarification, and data alignment with strategic intent. Increased confidence does not mean risk is non-existent, but rather that unpredictability is organized. This is more critical at the top of the ranks, where indecisiveness flows down. When heads procrastinate, the organization procrastinates. Even imperfectly chosen leaders regain momentum when they make a decision. <h2 class="ql-align-justify">In Conclusion: Clarity Is a Design Choice.</h2>The competitive advantage is no longer associated with possessing more data in the era of advanced analytics. It lies in having better decisions. Decision architecture recognizes that clarity does not emerge naturally from abundance. It must be designed. It must be protected. And, at times, it has to be imposed. The leadership in the modern world is not about finding answers but creating an environment where good answers can emerge within a short period. In a world overflowing with information, strategy begins with a simple, disciplined act: choosing what to ignore.

The Silent Tax: The Hidden Cost of Strategy Misalignment

Strategy seems ideal in the sterilized atmosphere of the boardroom. The slides are smoothed; the financial projections curve upwards and the pillars of strategy appear to make sense. Heads nod in agreement. The Board, committed to be delivered by the Executive Committee (EXCO), approves the plan and the meeting is adjourned. However, 6 months later, the outcomes are mediocre. The projects that were expected to be priorities are languishing. Resources are stuck in legacy initiatives. The organization feels heavy, sluggish, and reactive. This is not usually a failure of intellect or market positioning. It is a failure of translation. It is the hidden cost of misalignment a governance and execution gap that functions like a silent tax on every decision the organization makes. When the Board, EXCO, and Management are essentially operating in three different reality tunnels, the friction destroys value long before the market does. <h2>The Three Languages of the Organization.</h2>The real reason why this disconnect continues even with the endless town hall meetings and strategy retreats, we must look at the underlying lack of connection between how these three levels live their reality. Not only do they look at different data but also they are speaking different languages altogether. <h3>The language of Governance and Risk is that of the Board. </h3>Their horizon is multi-year. Their interests are to do with solvency, reputation and long-term shareholder value. They are requesting to know, when they inquire about cybersecurity strategy, whether they will receive a lawsuit or closure. <h3>The EXCO speaks the language of Growth and Allocation. </h3>Their horizon is the fiscal year. They are concerned with P&amp;L, market share, and competitive positioning. When they hear "cybersecurity strategy," they think, "How much budget does IT need, and will this slow down our digital transformation?" <h3>Middle Management speaks the language of Operations and Constraints. </h3>They worry about the KPIs, availability of resources and immediate deliverables. When they get the "cybersecurity strategy”, they perceive it as an addition of a new assortment of compliance forms that increase the difficulty in delivering items promptly. The misalignment is not due to the disagreement of these groups, but rather because they think, they are agreeing on something and this is not always the case. The Board approves a "Digital First" strategy assuming it is serious model innovation. EXCO interprets it as "Cost Reduction via Automation." Management executes it as "Buying New Software."The result is a strategy that exists in theory but is unrecognizable in practice. <h2>The Governance Gap: When Oversight Becomes Optical</h2>The genesis of misalignment often lies in the quality of information flowing upward. Boards have a duty to steer the ship, but they can only steer based on the map they are given. In many organizations, the "Board Pack" has become a tool of evasion rather than clarification.EXCOs, driven by a natural human desire to present competence, often sanitize the truth. They present "Green" status updates on red projects. They aggregate data until the nuance is lost. Consequently, the Board governs a fiction. They ratify strategies based on a theoretical capacity to execute that does not actually exist. This creates a governance void. The Board believes it has signed off on a transformation. In reality, they have signed off on a hallucination. The hidden cost here is capital misallocation. The Board authorizes capital expenditure for initiatives that the operational layer knows are doomed to fail because the requisite skills or infrastructure aren't there but that reality never traveled up the chain. <h2>The Execution Gap: The "Frozen Middle" Defense</h2>If the Board-EXCO relationship suffers from optical governance, the EXCO-Management relationship suffers from strategic incoherence.We often blame the "frozen middle" for killing strategy. We characterize middle management as resistant to change. This is a lazy and dangerous diagnosis. Most middle managers are not resistant; they are rational. They are often placed in an impossible bind where the stated strategy contradicts the incentive structure. Consider a retail bank where the Board and EXCO announce a new strategy focused on "Customer Intimacy and Advisory Services." They want branch staff to spend time consulting with clients. However, the EXCO has not changed the underlying performance management system. Branch managers are still incentivized on transaction volume and queue processing speed.A manager in this situation has two choices:<ol><li>Follow the strategy, miss their volume targets, and are penalized.</li><li>Ignore the strategy, hit their volume targets, and get a bonus.</li></ol> They will choose option two every time. The strategy dies not because of resistance, but because the execution architecture (incentives, KPIs, resource allocation) was never aligned with the strategic intent. The cost here is profoundly expensive: it is the cost of paying for a strategy that you are actively incentivizing your people to ignore. <h2>The Quantitative Cost of Friction</h2>While "alignment" sounds like a soft, cultural issue, the costs are hard and quantifiable. 1. The Cost of Decision LatencyIn a misaligned organization, decision rights are unclear. When Management runs into a conflict between the new strategy and old rules, they have to escalate. There is a ping-pong decision-making along the chain of command. What is to take two days turns out to be a two months argument? In dynamic markets, this latency is lethal. Aligned competitors are fast-paced (speed of trust); misaligned organizations are slow-paced (speed of bureaucracy).2. The Cost of "Zombie Projects"Misalignment prevents the organization from killing bad ideas. Because the Board and EXCO are not looking at the same reality, projects that should be terminated linger on. The Board thinks the project is strategic; EXCO thinks it’s operational; Management knows it’s dead but is afraid to say so. These "zombie projects" eat up CAPEX and OPEX, crowding out genuine innovation.3. Talent ErosionHigh performers despise ambiguity. They would like to know that their efforts help in greater triumph. They disengage when they think that there is a difference between what the leaders say and what the company is doing. The replacement price of a senior manager who has achieved can be 200 percent of his salary in a year but the higher cost is brain drain of institutional knowledge. <h3>Diagnostic: The Misalignment Symptoms Checklist</h3>How do you know if your organization is suffering from this governance and execution gap? It rarely announces itself rather it manifests itself in symptoms that are usually treated as isolated symptoms instead of being treated as a system failure. When you observe (or answer) more than three of the following, you are probably experiencing a serious structural mismatch:Governance &amp; Board Level<ul><li>The Phenomenon of The Parking Lot: The strategic risks that are raised during the Board meetings are constantly pushed to the next meeting and never solved.</li><li>Sanitized Reporting: even in a flat market, board packs will include 90 good news, and 10 manageable challenges.</li><li>Metric Drift: Metric measures of EBITDA and Share Price are monitored by the Board, and Activity Metrics (e.g. number of sales calls) are monitored by the EXCO. No causal association is created between the two.</li></ul> <h3>EXCO &amp; Strategy Level</h3><ul><li>Priority Overload: There are 15 top priorities of the organization. (You are to have not more than 3-5, you see).</li><li>Budgetary Disconnect The strategy is redefined, but the budget allocation continues to be historical (i.e., we are a digital company now, but 80 of the budget is still going to retail branches).</li><li>Siloed KPIs: marketing is being motivated to create leads and Sales is being motivated to close high-margin deals, which results in Sales discarding leads made by marketing.</li></ul> <h3>Management &amp; Execution Level</h3><ul><li>The Culture of Workaround: The managers are praised as breaking the rules to get things done. This does not mean that the managers are heroes; rather it shows that the rules (governance) is violated.</li><li>Resource Hoarding: Managers are not willing to share talent or budget due to the belief that they do not have the assurance that the organization will take care of them in case they do.</li><li>Shadow IT and Shadow HR: The departments begin to purchase their own software or recruit their own contractors due to the inability of the central functions to meet their requirements or because those functions are too slow.</li></ul>&nbsp;<h2>Bridging: Between Alignment and Synchrony.</h2>This needs to be changed fundamentally. The way out of a structural problem is not through communication, but through engineering.True strategic dominance is rarely born from a standard boardroom retreat; it is engineered through a forensic understanding of where execution previously fractured. It requires the abandonment of a static approach to planning in favor of a dynamic approach of the After Action Review that places callousness in isolating the causes of previous occurrences then proceeding to plot the future. As aspirations are pinned to a disciplined Situational Summary of internal strengths and enforcement through an executive Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, leadership turns strategy into a tangible, responsible driver of growth it takes an interlocutor who values precision of evidence over generality of facilitation. In order to accomplish this synchrony three disciplines have to be embraced by organizations:<ol><li>Anchor Strategy in Capabilities, Not Ambitions the Board must demand that every strategic proposal includes a "Capability Audit" or gap analysis. Do not just tell us what we will achieve; tell us what we currently lack to achieve it. If the strategy requires data science agility but the IT systems are twenty years old, the Board must know that the first year of strategy is just plumbing, not profit.</li><li>Unify the Metrics (The Golden Thread) there must be a mathematical logic connecting the Board’s goals to the shop floor’s KPIs. When the Board desires Customer Loyalty and the call center is gauged by “Average Handle Time" (speed) then you have a broken link. The incentive structure and the functional scorecards must be audited by the Board to make sure that they support, and not hurt the strategy.</li><li>Extreme Openness in Reporting. The EXCO needs to stop protecting the Board from reality. "Red" status on a project is not a failure; it is data. A culture where bad news travels fast is a culture that can correct course quickly. The Board must reward transparency rather than punishing problems, changing the dynamic from "Performance Theater" to "Problem Solving."</li></ol> Ultimately, the cost of misalignment is the cost of wasted energy. It is the friction of an engine where the gears are grinding against each other. When you align the Board’s governance with EXCO’s strategy and Management’s execution, you remove that friction. The result is not just a happier workplace; it is an organization that can turn capital into value with terrifying efficiency.&nbsp;

The Metric Trap: Why High-Performance Cultures Are Dying by Degrees

<h2 class="ql-align-justify">Introduction: When Measurement Becomes the Mission</h2>During the last 20 years, organizations have spent a great deal in performance measurement. Dashboards are illuminated with live displays. Targets flow down strategically into individual scorecards. The promise is powerful: what gets measured gets managed, and what gets managed gets improved. But there is a corrosion of something more subdued and silent going on under this seemingly precise surface. Many organizations that pride themselves on being “high performance” are experiencing a slow erosion of trust, creativity, and long-term capability. Results are achieved, but often narrowly. Metrics are hit, but meaning is lost. This is the metric trap: the point at which measurement stops serving performance and starts redefining it too tightly, too simplistically, and too dangerously. At the heart of this problem lies Goodhart’s Law: when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. In modern performance management, this is no longer a cautionary principle. It is an operating condition. <h2 class="ql-align-justify">Goodhart’s Law in the Modern Organization</h2>Metrics were originally designed as signals imperfect but useful proxies for complex realities. Sales numbers approximated market traction. Utilization rates hinted at efficiency. Engagement scores attempted to capture morale. The trouble begins when these proxies harden into targets tied to rewards, sanctions, and reputations. At that point, behaviour adapts not toward the underlying goal, but toward the number itself. Employees learn, quickly and rationally, what the system truly values. If performance is defined by a narrow set of indicators, effort flows toward those indicators, regardless of whether they still represent genuine value creation. The organization may look productive on paper while becoming brittle in practice.This is not a failure of employees. It is a predictable outcome of incentive design. <h2 class="ql-align-justify">Performance Lives in the Gaps</h2>One of the most damaging assumptions of metric-obsessed cultures is that performance is fully visible that everything important can be captured, tracked, and compared. In reality, much of what sustains organizational effectiveness happens in the spaces between KPIs.These gaps are where people:<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Prevent problems before they escalate</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Coach underperforming colleagues without recognition</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Share tacit knowledge that never makes it into documentation</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Take reputational risks to challenge flawed decisions</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Maintain emotional stability during periods of pressure</li></ul> None of this work maps cleanly onto a dashboard. Yet without it, formal performance collapses.When success is reduced to what can be measured, employees begin to deprioritize what cannot. Over time, the organization optimizes for visibility rather than value.&nbsp;<h2 class="ql-align-justify">The Qualitative Gap and the Vanishing of the Invisible Labour.</h2>One of the earliest casualties of dogmatic performance management is what is termed as Invisible labour the unacknowledged, uncompensated labour that is keeping systems running. A typical example is mentorship. It takes time and patience to build people and tends to slow down one own performance. When individual metrics dominate, mentoring becomes a liability rather than a contribution. Culture-building work suffers the same fate. So does proactive problem prevention, which paradoxically looks like “nothing happened” when done well. As this labour disappears, organizations become more transactional and less resilient. New hires struggle longer. Mistakes multiply. Knowledge silos harden. Leadership responds not by questioning the system, but by adding more metrics further accelerating the problem.The result is an organization that appears efficient while quietly losing its capacity to regenerate itself. <h2 class="ql-align-justify">Gaming the System Is a Rational Response</h2>In metric-heavy environments, “gaming” is often framed as an ethical failure. In reality, it is frequently a rational adaptation to poorly designed incentives. When employees are judged primarily by numbers, they learn to shape those numbers. Sales teams pull demand forward to hit quarterly targets. Managers avoid high-risk innovation because failure would register more clearly than learning. Support teams prioritize ticket closure speed over problem resolution quality.None of these behaviours violate the metric. They violate the intent behind it. This distinction matters. When leadership considers gaming as a character problem and not a system problem, then it becomes even more surveillance instead of system redesign. Mistrust grows more, and the incidence of defensive behaviour is the order of the day. <h2 class="ql-align-justify">The Incentive Paradox: Winning Now, Paying Later</h2>Aggressive performance targets often deliver exactly what they promise short-term gains. Revenue spikes. Costs drop. Output increases. On paper, the strategy works.The paradox is that these gains are frequently financed by what might be called organizational debt. This debt accumulates in many forms:<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Burnout that leads to attrition months later</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Technical shortcuts that increase future maintenance costs</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Customer dissatisfaction that does not immediately surface</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Erosion of psychological safety, reducing long-term innovation</li></ul> Because performance systems focus on near-term indicators, this debt remains invisible until it becomes unavoidable. By then, leadership is often surprised, despite having “strong metrics” for years. The larger problem is the inappropriateness of time: the performance management systems are immediate-rewarding systems, whereas the organizational health is a progress with time. <h2 class="ql-align-justify">Measurement as Control vs. Measurement as Learning.</h2>At the core of the metric trap is an unspoken assumption: that data’s primary role is to control behaviour. Metrics become tools of compliance, comparison, and enforcement. Another model is that data are viewed as a learning tool and not a policing tool. In this method, the measures are suggestions to ask, rather than a judgment. Discipline is an issue of discussion rather than sanctions. Numbers pose questions instead of arguments. This is the reversal of control to curiosity, which transforms the relationship of people with measurement. Employees do not enquire as to how they can hit this target but rather they say, what is this result telling us about the system?The disparity is not very clear but deep. <h2 class="ql-align-justify">The “Trust over Tracking” Model</h2>High-performing organizations are not measurement-free. They are measurement-wise. They recognize that trust and autonomy are not the absence of accountability, but its precondition.In a trust-centred model:<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Metrics are fewer, broader, and revisited regularly</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Qualitative judgment is explicitly valued alongside quantitative data</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Managers are trained to interpret numbers contextually, not mechanically</li><li class="ql-align-justify">The employees are engaged in the process of determining what constitutes good performance.</li></ul> That is not to remove misuse, but makes it less desirable to hide, misrepresent, or manipulate. When individuals perceive that they are being treated fairly and intelligently by the system, they will not defend themselves with the system.In this meaning, trust is not a cultural slogan. It is a design choice.&nbsp;<h2 class="ql-align-justify">Reframing Performance Itself</h2>Perhaps the most radical implication of escaping the metric trap is redefining performance away from static outcomes and toward adaptive capacity. In complex environments, the highest form of performance is not hitting a number, but responding effectively when the number stops making sense. It is the ability to learn faster than conditions change. That capacity cannot be fully specified in advance, nor reduced to a single indicator. Organizations that survive disruption tend to measure less obsessively and reflect more deeply. They accept ambiguity where false precision would be comforting but misleading. They understand that not everything that counts can be counted—and that insisting otherwise carries real costs. <h2 class="ql-align-justify">From Measurement to Meaning</h2>As a company (IPC), we help organizations escape the metric trap by bringing clarity and alignment to what performance truly means. The way we document and align our KPIs, makes sure that measures are indicative of strategic intent not only activity by correlating goals of the organisation with the actual initiatives and behaviours that an organisation takes to achieve results. To enhance the top-line measures, our performance management system links formal targets to the work, which often goes unnoticed, like collaboration, capacity building, and problem prevention. The result is a performance model that promotes learning, responsibility and long-term goal accomplishment, as opposed to temporary number-chasing. <h2 class="ql-align-justify">Conclusion: What the Numbers Cannot Tell You</h2>Metrics are not the enemy. Misplaced faith in them is.When performance management becomes an end in itself, organizations lose sight of why they measure in the first place. The most valuable work retreats into the shadows. Creativity narrows. People comply rather than commit. In its purest meaning, performance occurs between pointers, outside dashboards, and within human judgment. And when leaders learn how to see those gaps, and create systems that honour them, they do not then drop rigor.And in doing so, they build cultures that perform not just visibly, but sustainably.&nbsp;

Every CEO has experienced it: the gut punch of losing a star performer to a competitor. The exit interview reveals what you suspected but hoped wasn't true—they're leaving for a 20% pay increase.

Every CEO has experienced it: the gut punch of losing a star performer to a competitor. The exit interview reveals what you suspected but hoped wasn't true—they're leaving for a 20% pay increase. What started as a single resignation becomes a talent exodus, as word spreads that the market pays more. Meanwhile, in another department, you're unknowingly overpaying average performers by 30%, burning budget that could fund your <a href="https://www.thehumancapitalhub.com/articles/hr-digital-transformation-a-step-by-step-guide-to-hr-digital-transformation" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">digital transformation</a>. This is the reality when organizations treat salary benchmarking as an annual checkbox exercise rather than a strategic imperative. In today's hypercompetitive talent market, the gap between those who benchmark strategically and those who don't has never been wider—or more expensive. <h2>The True Cost of Flying Blind</h2>Consider this scenario: A technology company in Harare decided to "save money" by skipping salary benchmarking for two years. By year three, they faced a 40% turnover rate in engineering, spent millions on <a href="https://www.ipcconsultants.com/blog/how-to-make-the-recruitment-process-safer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">recruitment fees</a>, and watched three major product launches fail due to knowledge loss. The irony? The total cost of their talent crisis exceeded their entire salary budget increase by 300%. This isn't an outlier story. It's happening across industries as the pace of market change accelerates and pay transparency becomes the norm. When employees can check their market value on their phones during lunch, outdated compensation strategies don't just fail—they catastrophically backfire. <h2>Why Traditional Benchmarking Falls Short</h2>Most organizations still approach benchmarking like it's 2010: annual surveys, generic job matching, and spreadsheets gathering dust until the next review cycle. But today's talent market moves at internet speed. Skills that commanded premium pay six months ago might be commoditized today, while emerging capabilities create sudden salary spikes that catch unprepared companies flat-footed. In Zimbabwe's dynamic economy, where currency fluctuations and economic shifts can dramatically impact purchasing power, this outdated approach is particularly dangerous. The companies winning the talent war understand that benchmarking isn't about copying competitor pay scales. It's about creating a dynamic intelligence system that informs every <a href="https://www.ipcconsultants.com/blog/is-talent-and-performance-portable" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">talent decision</a>, from individual offers to workforce planning strategies. <h2>The Ten Pillars of Strategic Salary Benchmarking</h2> <h3>1. Retain Your Irreplaceable Talent</h3>Your competitors know exactly what your best people are worth—and they're actively recruiting them. When a key employee discovers they're underpaid by 20%, trust erodes instantly. They don't just question their salary; they question their future with your organization. Regular benchmarking identifies these gaps before headhunters do, allowing you to make proactive adjustments that demonstrate you value their contribution. The cost of a retention adjustment is always less than the cost of replacement—especially when you factor in lost productivity, institutional knowledge, and team morale. <h3>2. Stop Bleeding Money on Mediocrity</h3>Here's an uncomfortable truth: without current market data, you're probably overpaying for some roles while underpaying for others. That administrative position priced at $800 per month might command only $600 in today's market, while your cybersecurity analyst making $2,500 per month could earn $3,200 elsewhere. This misalignment doesn't just waste money—it creates internal equity disasters that poison culture and productivity. Smart benchmarking reveals these disparities, allowing you to reallocate resources where they create real value. <h3>3. Win the War for Scarce Skills</h3>In the race for specialized talent, showing up with yesterday's salary data is like bringing a knife to a gunfight. Critical roles in AI, data science, and cybersecurity see salary movements of 15-25% annually. If your compensation data is even six months old, you're not just uncompetitive—you're invisible to top talent. These professionals know their worth and won't waste time with companies that don't. Current benchmarking ensures your offers actually reach the negotiation table instead of being dismissed outright. <h3>4. Build Budgets That Survive Contact with Reality</h3>Finance leaders lose credibility fast when salary budgets explode mid-year. Without accurate benchmarking, your carefully planned 3% merit increase budget collides with a market demanding 8% adjustments. This forces painful choices: freeze hiring when you need to grow, defer critical projects, or blow through reserves meant for strategic investments. Regular benchmarking transforms budgeting from guesswork to science, providing the predictability that enables long-term planning and sustainable growth. <h3>5. Make Workforce Decisions with Confidence</h3>Should you build a team in-house or partner with an outsourcer? Hire locally or tap remote talent? These decisions shape your competitive advantage, but without current market rates, you're strategizing blindfolded. True cost comparisons require understanding not just base salaries but total compensation, geographic differentials, and skill availability. Strategic benchmarking provides this intelligence, turning gut-feel decisions into data-driven strategies that deliver measurable ROI. <h3>6. Transform Pay from Mystery to Strategy</h3>In the age of salary surveys, WhatsApp groups, and pay transparency laws, salary secrecy is dead. Employees share compensation information whether you like it or not—especially in Zimbabwe's tight-knit professional networks where everyone knows everyone. The question isn't whether they'll discuss pay—it's whether those discussions build or destroy trust. When you ground compensation decisions in current market data and communicate your philosophy clearly, you change the narrative. Employees see fairness, not favoritism. They understand positioning, not politics. Transparency backed by data builds the trust that retains talent. <h3>7. Slash Time-to-Fill and Vacancy Costs</h3>Every day a critical role remains empty costs more than most leaders realize. Direct productivity loss, team burnout, delayed projects, missed revenue opportunities—vacancy costs compound quickly. When your first offer aligns with market expectations, acceptance rates soar and negotiation cycles shrink. Positions fill in weeks instead of months. The savings in recruitment costs alone often fund the entire benchmarking investment, while faster hiring preserves team momentum and morale. <h3>8. Turn Managers into Compensation Champions</h3>Few things damage a manager's credibility faster than fumbling through pay conversations. Without data, they resort to vague promises or corporate speak that employees see through immediately. Armed with current benchmarking intelligence, managers transform from apologists to advisors. They explain positioning with facts, discuss career progression with clarity, and handle tough conversations with confidence. This empowerment cascades through the organization, turning every manager into a retention asset. <h3>9. Prevent the Compound Interest of Pay Mistakes</h3>Compensation errors compound like credit card debt. Give 15% raises when the market moves 5%, and within three years, your cost structure becomes unsustainable. The inevitable correction—layoffs, freezes, or benefit cuts—destroys the very culture you tried to protect. Regular benchmarking acts as a governor, keeping pay evolution aligned with market reality. This protects both employee job security and organizational sustainability through economic cycles. <h3>10. Create Competitive Advantage Through Compensation Intelligence</h3>The most successful companies don't just benchmark—they create compensation intelligence systems that inform every talent decision. They know which roles to premium-price for competitive advantage and which to standardize for efficiency. They spot talent trends before competitors and adjust strategies proactively. This intelligence transforms compensation from a cost center to a strategic weapon that attracts top talent, optimizes resources, and drives business results. <h2>The Choice Is Yours</h2>The talent market won't slow down. Pay transparency won't reverse. Your competitors won't stop recruiting your best people. The only question is whether you'll build the intelligence systems to thrive in this reality or continue flying blind until the next crisis forces your hand. Strategic salary benchmarking isn't about paying more—it's about paying smart. It's about transforming compensation from a necessary evil into a competitive advantage. Most importantly, it's about building organizations where great people want to stay, grow, and do their best work. The companies that understand this will win the talent wars of the next decade. The others will wonder why their best people keep walking out the door, taking their potential—and their profits—with them. The hidden cost of ignoring market pay isn't hidden anymore. The only question is: what are you going to do about it?

The Hidden Cost of Ignoring Market Pay: Why Your Best People Leave and Your Budgets Explode

Picture this: Margaret, an HR manager at a growing tech company in Harare, stares at her computer screen at 11 PM, wrestling with a familiar dilemma.

Picture this: Margaret, an <a href="https://www.ipcconsultants.com/blog/every-manager-hr-manager" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">HR manager</a> at a growing tech company in Harare, stares at her computer screen at 11 PM, wrestling with a familiar dilemma. Her best software developer just handed in his resignation, citing better compensation elsewhere. This is the third resignation this quarter, and each departure feels like a punch to the company's productivity and morale. The irony? Her company has been generous with salaries, or so she thought. Margaret's story mirrors that of countless HR professionals across Zimbabwe who are navigating talent retention in an increasingly competitive market. Once upon a time, compensation decisions were largely intuitive. But in today's saturated labour market, with global <a href="https://www.thehumancapitalhub.com/articles/how-to-manage-remote-and-hybrid-workforces" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">remote work opportunities</a> and heightened competition for skilled professionals, such approaches are not just outdated – they're business suicide. The transformation has been dramatic. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, companies operated in information silos, making pay decisions based on limited internal perspectives and rough industry guesstimates. Fast-forward to today, and we have access to sophisticated salary benchmarking tools, comprehensive market data, and analytics that can predict talent flight before it happens. According to recent global HR studies, 78% of organizations now use salary surveys as their primary source for <a href="https://www.ipcconsultants.com/blog/global-ceo-compensation-trends" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">compensation benchmarking</a>, compared to just 34% two decades ago. This shift isn't coincidental – it's strategic necessity. In Zimbabwe's unique economic context, where businesses navigate multi-currency challenges and the lingering effects of hyperinflation, a robust pay strategy built on reliable market data is non-negotiable for attracting and retaining top talent. Consider the stark reality: companies that use data-driven compensation strategies report 23% lower voluntary turnover and 15% higher employee satisfaction scores compared to those relying on intuition alone. The benefits extend far beyond retention. When employees perceive their compensation as fair and market-aligned, productivity increases by an average of 12%, according to research by the Society for Human Resource Management. More critically, companies with transparent, data-backed pay structures experience 40% fewer salary-related grievances and disputes. But here's where it gets interesting for Zimbabwean employers, the cost of getting compensation wrong has never been higher. With the rise of remote work and regional talent mobility, your best engineer in Harare can now work for a company in Cape Town, Nairobi, or even Silicon Valley without leaving their living room. In fact, they can even be head hunted by a company with a better offer right here in Zimbabwe. The competition for talent has gone global, while many compensation strategies remain frustratingly local.&nbsp; Local surveys, such as those conducted by established Zimbabwean firms like IPC Consultants, reflect the nuanced realities of operating in Zimbabwe They account for factors like USD vs. ZWL payment preferences, local benefit structures, and economic volatility that international surveys miss entirely. If your talent consistently moves to specific sectors, target your survey selection accordingly. Engineers departing for mining companies? Invest in a mining industry survey. Professionals leaving for various sectors? A comprehensive national survey provides broader insights. Many roles such as accountants, HR professionals, IT specialists, transcend industry boundaries, making cross-sector benchmarking essential. Not all salary surveys are created equal, and choosing the wrong one is like using a map of London to navigate Harare. Simply put - disastrous. Remember that surveys guide decisions rather than dictate them. Balance market data with internal equity considerations and individual performance metrics. Data provides the foundation, but human judgment shapes the final structure. Perhaps your survey reveals that IT specialists in your industry earn 20% more elsewhere. This is a clear retention risk signal. This insight enables proactive salary adjustments or enhanced benefit packages before resignations occur. Incorporate survey insights into annual budget planning for salary reviews. When proposing a 15% increase for software developers, survey data provides objective justification rather than subjective pleading. Understanding the power of salary surveys is one thing; accessing quality data and expertise is another. This is where specialized providers like IPC Consultants become invaluable partners for Zimbabwean employers. IPC publishes both national and industry-specific salary surveys tailored for Zimbabwe's market realities. These reports provide critical insights for designing competitive compensation packages across sectors including NGOs, banking, mining, manufacturing, agro-processing and insurance. Data without context can also be dangerous. IPC's consulting team helps interpret survey findings and translate them into company-specific strategies. Whether you're crafting a comprehensive pay structure or developing targeted retention plans, expert guidance ensures survey insights translate into business results. In conclusion, Margaret's story had a happy ending. Armed with comprehensive salary survey data, she discovered that her company's base salaries were competitive, but their benefits package and career development opportunities were significantly below market standards. Rather than expensive across-the-board salary increases, she implemented targeted improvements: flexible working arrangements, professional development budgets, and performance bonuses. Six months later, voluntary turnover dropped by 45%, and employee satisfaction scores reached an all-time high. Who needs a prophet when you have data? In the matrix of modern business, those who control information control their destiny. Don't fly blind on compensation decisions – leverage solid market intelligence to guide your strategy. Ready to turn data into decisions? Reach out to <a href="https://www.ipcconsultants.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">IPC Consultants</a> for expert guidance on developing a compensation strategy that attracts, retains, and motivates top talent in Zimbabwe's competitive market. Because in the end, the best talent goes where they feel valued – and feeling valued starts with being fairly compensated.

Turning Market Data into Fair Pay: A Guide for Zimbabwean Employers

Explore key performance indicators (KPIs) for Accounts Receivable teams, including DSO, Aging of Receivables, ADD, CEI, and Write-off Rate. Learn how these metrics can improve financial performance and optimize AR processes.

&nbsp;Running a business with the intention of growing it and making it a success is like embarking on an ambitious but exciting journey. Like every other journey you will start in life, you will need milestones to help you keep track of the progress you are making as you travel. In a real-life business, we use <a href="https://www.ipcconsultants.com/blog/kpi-manual-the-ultimate-tool-to-align-and-standardize-your-performance-measures" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)</a> to track the progress we make in our journey. The journey is in the form of a strategic plan that contains a set of goals, performance indicators, targets, and initiatives that enable the achievement of the targets. As the title rightfully indicates, this article will focus on KPIs for the Accounts Receivable (AR) team in the Finance department of an organization. The AR function is a crucial element of the finance team in any organization, be it a Profit or Non-Profit as it directly affects cash flow and overall profitability. Failure to effectively manage the AR function can lead to liquidity issues and hinder a company's ability to invest in growth and operations. The common metrics for this function focus on indicating the <a href="https://blog.nexusglobal.com/efficiency-and-effectiveness-know-the-difference" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Efficiency and Effectiveness</a> of your receivable collection process. Efficiency metrics aim to measure how well AR processes are executed and optimized; hence, they focus on minimizing costs and maximizing resource utilization. On the other hand, Effectiveness metrics measure how well AR processes contribute to the overall business objectives. There are quite a lot of performance indicators to discuss under the AR function, depending on the size of the organization and its chosen business model. However, this article will only focus on key global ones that apply to diverse businesses and industries. &nbsp;<h2 class="ql-align-justify">1. Average Days Sales Outstanding (DSO)</h2>This measure is a financial ratio that measures the average number of days it takes for the AR team to collect payment for its credit sales. It indicates how long it takes for customers to pay the outstanding invoices. When analyzing the <a href="https://www.celonis.com/blog/days-sales-outstanding-dso-understanding-key-business-metrics/#:~:text=Days%20sales%20outstanding%20or%20DSO,credit%20over%20a%20given%20period." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">DSO KPI trend</a>, a lower DSO signals that customers are paying their invoices promptly, which is generally a positive sign for the company's financial health, while the opposite is true for a higher DSO. &nbsp;<h2 class="ql-align-justify">2.&nbsp;Aging of Receivables</h2>This KPI indicates the length of time client invoices have remained unpaid and categorizes the invoices into standard aging buckets spaced by 15 days to 30 days, depending on the credit policy of the organisation. <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/aging.asp#:~:text=Key%20Takeaways-,Aging%20is%20a%20method%20used%20by%20accountants%20and%20investors%20to,a%20bill%20has%20gone%20unpaid." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The aging analysis</a> is very important as it provides insights into the quality of a company's accounts receivable and helps identify potential risks associated with uncollected payments. Invoices that are way beyond the acceptable payment due date signal a higher risk for bad debts. In AR weekly meetings, the aging analysis can guide collection efforts by highlighting which customers need immediate attention. RELATED: <a href="https://www.ipcconsultants.com/blog/right-way-set-performance-goals-kpis-targets-employees" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The right way to set performance goals KPIs and targets for employees</a> &nbsp;<h2 class="ql-align-justify">3.&nbsp;Average Days Delinquent (ADD)</h2>This is a financial ratio that indicates the average number of days that customer invoices remain beyond the agreed payment deadline before payment is received. It provides insights into the effectiveness of a company's credit and collection policies. A high ADD indicates that customers are taking longer to settle their invoices after they are due, and this potentially affects a company's cash flow and profitability negatively. The opposite is true for a low ADD. &nbsp;<h2 class="ql-align-justify">4.&nbsp;Collections Effectiveness Index (CEI)</h2>This KPI tracks the efficiency of a company's collections efforts. It compares the amount of cash collected to the total amount of outstanding receivables. When analyzing the trended KPI data, a high <a href="https://www.highradius.com/resources/Blog/collections-effectiveness-index-how-to-act-on-it/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CEI</a> suggests that the business is effectively collecting its outstanding receivables, which is a positive sign for its financial health. In contrast, the opposite is true for a low CEI.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h2 class="ql-align-justify">5.&nbsp;Write off rate</h2>This is a financial ratio that measures the percentage of total credit sales that become uncollectible and must be written off as bad debts. It indicates the effectiveness of a company's credit granting and collection processes. When analyzing trended KPI data for this measure, a low write-off rate indicates suggests that the company is effectively managing its credit risk and collecting its outstanding receivables, which is a positive sign for its financial health. RELATED: <a href="https://www.ipcconsultants.com/blog/the-importance-of-automating-kpis-from-data-warehousing-power-bi-reporting-with-power-automate" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Importance of Automating KPIs: From Data Warehousing Power BI Reporting with Power Automate</a> &nbsp;When you track and analyze these KPIs, businesses can identify potential areas for improvement, optimize their AR processes, and enhance their overall financial performance. It is important to set specific targets for each KPI, regularly monitor trends, and benchmark to ensure that AR management is aligned with the 'organisation's strategic goals. &nbsp;To learn more about developing, automating, and analyzing KPIs, sign up for our several in-house and open workshops. Email <a href="mailto:fspi@ipcconsultants.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">fspi@ipcconsultants.com</a> to get detailed course content on Business strategy, Balanced Scorecard, KPI Report Automation, and Business Analytics workshops. &nbsp;David Shambare is a Strategy and Performance Management enthusiast; he is a consultant at IPC. He enjoys researching topics related to business strategy, financial planning, and analysis as well as performance improvement. He is reachable via email at <a href="mailto:david@ipcconsultants.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">david@ipcconsultants.com</a> or on our general lines 0242481946-10.

5 Key Performance Indicators for Measuring AR Efficiency and Effectiveness

The corporate environment today is evolving quickly. Companies desire to use data already in their records (databases) to operate more efficiently and make better decisions. KPIs, or key performance indicators, are really significant! They enable us to assess an organization's performance in relation to its primary objectives. By automating how we make and share KPI reports, a business can be quicker and more responsive.

<h2 class="ql-align-justify">Introduction</h2>The corporate environment today is evolving quickly. Companies desire to use data already in their records (databases) to operate more efficiently and make better decisions. KPIs, or key performance indicators, are really significant! They enable us to assess an organization's performance in relation to its primary objectives. By automating how we make and share KPI reports, a business can be quicker and more responsive. &nbsp;This article discusses why automating KPIs matters. We'll examine how data warehousing goes into making KPI reports in Power BI and how Power Automate helps make everything easier, including alerting users when reports change! In the end, you'll discover that automating data-driven KPI reports saves time, cuts down errors, and gives companies a leg up by sharing information quickly and accurately. <h2 class="ql-align-justify">The Role of KPIs in Business&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</h2><h3 class="ql-align-justify">Understanding KPIs</h3><a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/k/kpi.asp" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">KPIs</a> are quantifiable measures indicating how well an organization is achieving its important goals. Different parts of a company use them to check success at meeting targets. <h3 class="ql-align-justify">What are good KPIs?</h3>A good KPI is a measure that provides or shows clear insights into business performance and influences the company's decision-making.&nbsp; <h4 class="ql-align-justify">Some common examples of good KPIs are:</h4><ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Financial KPIs: Such as revenue growth, profit margins, &amp; return on investment (ROI).</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Customer KPIs: Like customer satisfaction, net promoter score (NPS), &amp; customer retention rate.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Operational KPIs: For example, efficiency metrics, average handle time, &amp; production costs.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Employee KPIs: Including turnover rates, training success, &amp; employee engagement.</li></ul>&nbsp; <h2 class="ql-align-justify">The Importance of KPIs</h2><a href="https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/importance-of-kpi" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">KPIs have several great benefits:</a>Measurements of Performance: They give a clear way to see how different parts of the company are doing.Alignment of Goals: They help everyone in the organization work towards the same goals.Better Decisions: They provide the data needed for smart business decisions!Continuous Improvement: Tracking them usually allows businesses to find ways to get better quickly. &nbsp;<h2 class="ql-align-justify">The Challenges of Manual KPI Reporting</h2>KPI reporting has many manual steps:<ol><li class="ql-align-justify">Data Collection: This means getting data from many sources.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Data Cleaning: Making sure all that data is right &amp; looks good.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Data Analysis: Figuring out what the data is telling us.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Report Creation: Putting all that analyzed data into reports.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Distribution: Sharing those reports with the right people.</li></ol> These steps can take a lot of time and can easily lead to mistakes. Waiting for reports might mean losing chances or taking too long to act. Plus, handling data manually raises the possibility of making errors that could harm the trust in reports and decisions made by them.&nbsp; <h2 class="ql-align-justify">Automating KPI Reporting: An Overview</h2>Automating KPI reporting can solve many problems. By using modern technology like data warehousing, analytics, and automation software, businesses can ensure their KPI reports are correct and given out on time while being efficient!&nbsp; <h3 class="ql-align-justify">Why Automate KPI Reporting?</h3>Automating KPI reports brings a range of benefits to businesses regardless of their size. Let's dive into the advantages.1.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Efficiency and Productivity<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Time-Saving: Automating data collection, analysis, and report creation allows employees to dedicate time to initiatives.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Less Manual Work: By eliminating repetitive tasks, the risk of human errors is reduced.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Enhanced Productivity: Employees can focus on analyzing data and making well-informed decisions.</li></ul>&nbsp;2.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Improved Data Accuracy and Consistency<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Data Integrity: Ensures that data sources and calculations remain consistent, lowering the chances of errors.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Real-Time Updates: Provides information for decision-making.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Standardized Reporting: Maintains uniform formatting and presentation of KPIs throughout the organization.</li></ul>&nbsp;3.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Better Decision Making<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Quick Insights: Offers information to facilitate decision-making processes.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Data-Informed Decisions: Cultivates a culture centered on accessible data.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Enhanced Forecasting: Enables anticipation of future trends and performance based on more accurate and valid insights.</li></ul>&nbsp;4.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Cost Savings<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Resource Optimization: Decreases the need for reporting staff.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Error Reduction: Cuts down on expenses related to rectifying mistakes in reports.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Enhanced Efficiency: Streamlines operations, resulting in cost reductions.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Enhanced Stakeholder Contentment</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Punctual Delivery: Ensures reports are provided promptly, meeting the expectations of stakeholders.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Uniform Layout: Offers a structure for effortless comprehension.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Heightened Trust: Establishes credibility through the delivery of dependable information.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Through the automation of KPI reporting, companies can attain an edge by facilitating more precise and consistent data-informed decision-making.</li></ul>&nbsp;&nbsp;<h2 class="ql-align-justify">Key Components of KPI Automation</h2><a href="https://www.ibm.com/topics/data-warehouse" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Data Warehouse:</a> This is where all company data lives, so it's easy to store &amp; find stuff.<a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/products/power-bi?msockid=283f7c638cea66b80ca1687d8d4967cb" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Power BI:</a> This tool offers neat visualizations and business intelligence features that help with understanding data better (get more insights).<a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/products/power-automate?msockid=283f7c638cea66b80ca1687d8d4967cb" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Power Automate:</a> A service that helps automate workflows across different apps and makes everything run smoother!&nbsp; <h2 class="ql-align-justify">The Role of Data Warehousing</h2>What is a Data Warehouse?A data warehouse is like a big storage space for all sorts of structured &amp; unstructured data. It helps businesses do things like analytics and reporting by giving a complete view of their information. &nbsp;<h2 class="ql-align-justify">Benefits of a Data Warehouse</h2>This approach has great perks:<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Centralized Data: It pulls together info from many places, so there's one reliable source.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Quality Data: Keeps everything accurate through ETL (Extract, Transform, and Load) processes.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Fast Performance: Designed for speedy queries, which means quick access to info!</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Scalable: Grows with your business needs; can handle more data over time!</li></ul>&nbsp;<h2 class="ql-align-justify">Creating KPI Reports in Power BI</h2>Introduction to Power BI:Power BI is an awesome Microsoft service! It lets people create cool visualizations and meaningful business intelligence reports easily.&nbsp;<h3 class="ql-align-justify">Benefits of Power BI</h3>Why do users love it?<ol><li class="ql-align-justify">They get interactive visualizations: Explore their data in fun ways!</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Real-time Data: Always keeps reports fresh with current info!</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Easy to Use: The drag-and-drop makes it pretty simple for anyone to use.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Integration: Works well with other Microsoft tools, too!</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Collaboration: Easily share and work together on reports with fellow team members!</li></ol>&nbsp;<h3 class="ql-align-justify"><a href="https://dashthis.com/blog/how-to-create-the-perfect-kpi-report/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Creating KPI Reports</a></h3>To whip up KPI reports in Power BI:<ol><li class="ql-align-justify">Connect to Data Sources: Link Power BI with your main warehouse.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Data Preparation: Clean up the info using Power Query as needed.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Data Modeling: Set relationships between tables; create columns or measures needed.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Design Visualizations: Bring charts &amp; graphs alive using Power BI!</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Build Reports: Put these visualizations together into great-looking reports that show valuable insights!</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Publish &amp; Share: Get those reports sent to the Power BI service so everyone can check them out!</li></ol> &nbsp;<h2 class="ql-align-justify">Using Power Automate to Streamline Processes</h2><h3 class="ql-align-justify"><a href="https://alison.com/course/power-automate-for-beginners?utm_source=bing&amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;utm_campaign=530823753&amp;utm_content=1358998875744490&amp;utm_term=kwd-84938561434313:loc-169&amp;msclkid=e82935a4bed21de750cd5306b0faf7a5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Introduction to Power Automate:</a></h3>Here comes Power Automate (which used to be called Microsoft Flow). It's perfect for smoother workflows between apps and services. This helps automate tasks, making work less tedious and easier!&nbsp; <h3 class="ql-align-justify">Benefits of Power Automate</h3>Why should you use it?<ol><li class="ql-align-justify">Efficiency: Cuts down repetitive tasks, giving you more time for important stuff!</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Consistency: Ensures things always get done exactly as planned every single time!</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Integration: Links all kinds of applications together for seamless working!</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Flexibility: Handles all sorts, from easy tasks to complex workflows!</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Scalability: Fits any growth need just like your organization does!</li></ol>&nbsp; <h3 class="ql-align-justify"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWnj7E3oKjI" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Automating Email Notifications</a></h3>Notifications matter because they ensure everyone stays up-to-date! Automating emails guarantees the smooth sharing of updates, too. Email notifications for updated Key Performance Indicator (KPI) reports serve as a means of communication, ensuring that stakeholders remain informed and equipped to make data-based decisions.&nbsp; <h3 class="ql-align-justify">To set up email alerts using Power Automate:</h3><ol><li class="ql-align-justify">Set Up Email Templates: Create emails ready for notifications, including key details like report name or update date!</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Configure Email Actions: In your workflow flow, set up actions that send pre-made emails when necessary, using dynamic content where possible.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Define Recipients: Choose who gets these alerts based on roles or lists; for instance, everyone subscribed to those reports!</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Test &amp; Deploy! : Before launching, notify stakeholders. Tests will keep things rolling smoothly!</li></ol>&nbsp; <h3 class="ql-align-justify">Real World Example – Automating Key Performance Metrics Reporting</h3>Let's pretend we have a retail firm trying hard to automate its sales performance reporting system. Since they'll store sales info wisely, what is their goal? Making monthly sales KPI reports zippy for every manager involved!Their Plan?<ol><li class="ql-align-justify">Data Warehouse! Sales datasets stay neatly organized inside their brand-new warehouse—with ETL setups ensuring correctness every day.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Power BI! Crafting neat visuals is next – showcasing total sales growth alongside top achievers.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Power Automate role? To shine brightly by connecting dots across processes through creating specific flows involving whatever needs doing.</li></ol>Things like:<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Pulling fresh sales numbers each month.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Refreshing those visuals regularly.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Producing dynamically updated documents.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Pinging managerial staff who'll appreciate handy links sent straight over email.</li></ul> As <a href="https://www.ipcconsultants.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">IPC (Industrial Psychology Consultants Pvt)</a>, we offer training on Automating KPI Reports and Developing integrated insights that greatly influence decision-making and show the company's overall performance according to its goals (objectives). Check out our post on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/industrial-psychology-consultants-pvt-ltd_hrdashboard-performancereporting-hranalytics-activity-7119683546402676738-KqcO?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_android" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a>.

The Importance of Automating KPIs: From Data Warehousing Power BI Reporting with Power Automate

Role clarity in any organization is crucial for optimizing performance and ensuring that employees focus on the duties they are meant to perform.

<a href="https://www.15five.com/blog/employee-engagement-focus-on-role-clarity/#:~:text=When%20an%20employee%20has%20role,will%20be%20evaluated%20and%20measured." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Role clarity</a> in any organization is crucial for optimizing performance and ensuring that employees focus on the duties they are meant to perform. This case study examines how a structured <a href="https://www.ipcconsultants.com/blog/job-evaluation-every-organisation-needs" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">job evaluation</a> exercise was implemented for our client in the manufacturing sector to achieve this. The process emphasized the critical role of <a href="https://www.ipcconsultants.com/blog/how-to-develop-good-job-descriptions" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">job description</a> development in establishing role clarity, ultimately leading to improved organizational performance.<h3 class="ql-align-center"> </h3><h3 class="ql-align-center"> Key Takeaways</h3> <ul><li>Enhanced Role Clarity: Clear job descriptions eliminated uncertainties in duties and decision-making levels for roles.</li><li>Reduced Role Duplication: Systematic role analysis minimized overlaps, optimizing resource utilization.</li><li>Increased Performance and Employee Satisfaction: Involving employees in job description creation boosted their satisfaction and engagement.</li></ul> <h2>Case Study: Manufacturing Sector</h2>This sector generally undergoes the burden of realigning roles according to organizational goals as technologies and market demands change at lightning speed. Our client felt the need for a systematic process to redefine roles that ensure employees are engaged in functions aligned to strategic objectives.&nbsp;<h2>Objectives</h2>The main objectives of the job evaluation exercise included:<ol><li>Writing clear and concise job descriptions and requirements pertaining to the job.</li><li>To minimize role duplication and ambiguities in job responsibilities.</li><li>Improving organizational performance by structuring roles to fit business strategic intentions.</li></ol> <h2>Methodology</h2>The approach we used to achieve this is broken down into the following main stages:<ol><li>Sensitization of Employees: Employees underwent a brief regarding the job evaluation exercise and its significance, as well as cooperation and participation in the said exercise. This also enabled them to understand their role as key stakeholders in the exercise.</li><li>Job Analysis Questionnaire: This is a structured questionnaire developed and administered to all the incumbents to achieve detailed information about their current jobs. This would help provide a comprehensive view of each position in the organization.</li><li>Job Analysis Interviews: These were conducted to provide more details on the roles and to help the incumbents frame the questionnaire properly. Additional insights regarding the scope and responsibilities of the position were drawn with the help of these interviews.</li><li>Development of Job Descriptions: The filled in questionnaires were reviewed by IPC, and all weak areas where information was not sufficient were identified and corrected. This allowed us an opportunity to prepare what we now call the 'results-based job descriptions' or third-generation job descriptions that project the information on what the concerned roles are expected to deliver.</li><li>Validation and Approval: Draft job descriptions were reviewed and approved by several stakeholders, including the incumbents, their immediate supervisors, and the HR sub-function. Such <a href="https://support.okta.com/help/s/article/Using-Multi-Level-Reviews-in-Access-Certification?language=en_US" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">multi-level reviews</a> and respective approvals helped make sure that all job descriptions were reflective of the jobs and were mutually agreed upon by all at the table.</li><li>Grading and Sharing Results: As soon as the job descriptions were finalized and signed off, the roles were graded using these documents. The results were then shared with the client, in which all the jobs had a clearly set structure within the organization.</li></ol> <h2>The Outcome</h2>The exercise of job evaluation and regrading brought out the following dramatic improvements:<ol><li>Established Role Clarity: Since each role had a precise definition and accompanying documentation, there was no longer any uncertainty about duties and decision-making levels. The process also allowed us to identify duties that did not apply to some roles and were otherwise a function of another job in the organization.</li><li>Reduced Role Duplication: The process also enabled us to see and eliminate overlaps in job functions to mitigate role duplication, make the best use of resources, and avoid confusion.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Enhanced Performance: The presence of clear roles enabled employees to accomplish their objectives more easily, so the total <a href="https://www.betterup.com/blog/organizational-performance#:~:text=that%20drives%20success.-,What%20is%20organizational%20performance%3F,a%20state%20of%20constant%20change." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">organizational performance</a> was enhanced.</li><li>Employee Satisfaction: The open and inclusive job description creation approach improved the job satisfaction levels of employees since they would be directly involved in the definition of their functions. </li></ol>&nbsp;<h2>Conclusion</h2>The importance of job evaluation is that it focuses attention on the job requirements in the development of the job description. This, in turn, not only helps in role clarity but also makes the efforts of the employees accordant to organizational goals, thereby increasing performance and efficiency. This case makes it evident that with clearly defined and understood roles, organizations can do much better toward their alignment and productivity.&nbsp;

Role Clarity and Performance Improvement through Job Evaluation A Case Study

Human Resources (HR) policies and procedures serve as the backbone of an organization's workplace culture and employee relations. They provide a framework for consistent decision-making, ensuring fair treatment of employees and compliance with legal requirements. This guide goes into the key components of HR policies and procedures, outlining a step-by-step approach to developing these critical documents.

Human Resources (HR) policies and procedures serve as the backbone of an <a href="https://www.ipcconsultants.com/blog/organisational-culture-and-why-you-should-never-ignore-it" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="text-align: justify; font-size: 1rem; font-weight: 400;">organization's workplace culture</a> and employee relations. They provide a framework for consistent decision-making, ensuring fair treatment of employees and compliance with legal requirements. This guide goes into the key components of HR policies and procedures, outlining a step-by-step approach to developing these critical documents. <h2 class="ql-align-justify">What are HR Policies and Procedures&nbsp;?</h2>A policy is a formal statement outlining a principle or rule that all members of an organization must adhere to. Each policy addresses a specific issue relevant to the organization's mission or operations. A procedure details how to implement or carry out a policy. In essence, the policy is the "what," and the procedure is the "how." Policies are written as concise statements or rules, while procedures are written as step-by-step instructions. Together, they form a comprehensive guide for managers and employees, ensuring that HR practices are applied consistently and fairly across the organization. <h2 class="ql-align-justify">The difference between an HR Policy and Procedures Manual and a Staff/Employee Handbook </h2>HR Policy and Procedures Manuals and <a href="https://www.thehumancapitalhub.com/articles/employee-handbook-a-step-by-step-guide-to-preparing-your-staff-handbook" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Staff/Employee Handbooks</a> are distinct yet complementary documents serving different audiences and purposes. The Policy and Procedures Manual acts as the manager's compass, providing a comprehensive reference guide for HR professionals and supervisors. It includes detailed policy statements, in-depth procedures, rationales, legal considerations, and examples for consistent and legally sound decision-making. Its tone is formal and precise, often using legal terminology, and distribution is limited to management due to sensitive content. In contrast, the Staff/Employee Handbook serves as the employee's welcome guide, offering a high-level overview of the company's culture, values, and expectations. It summarizes key policies, employee rights, benefits, and contact information in a welcoming and easy-to-understand style, using plain language and avoiding jargon. This handbook is distributed to all employees for reference throughout their employment. While the Policy and Procedures Manual ensures compliance with policy implementation, the handbook provides that all employees understand the company's culture and expectations. Together, these documents create a framework for effective HR management and a positive employee experience. &nbsp;In-Depth Guide to Developing Comprehensive HR Policies and Procedures Phase 1: Planning and Preparation<ol><li>Establish a Clear Purpose and Scope:</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Define the overall goals of your HR policies and procedures. What do you hope to achieve? Are you aiming to improve employee relations, ensure legal compliance, enhance productivity, or all of the above?</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Determine the scope of the manual. Will it cover all aspects of HR, or will it focus on specific areas like recruitment, compensation, or employee conduct?</li><li>Assemble a Cross-Functional Team:</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Include representatives from various departments (HR, legal, finance, operations) and levels of management to ensure a well-rounded perspective.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Consider appointing a project leader to oversee the development process and keep the team on track.</li><li>Conduct Thorough Research:</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Review existing policies and procedures to identify gaps and areas for improvement.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Research relevant laws and regulations to ensure compliance.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Benchmark against industry best practices to identify trends and innovative approaches.</li><li>Gather Employee Feedback:</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Conduct surveys or focus groups to understand employee needs and concerns.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Involve employees in the development process to foster a sense of ownership and engagement.</li></ol> Phase 2: Policy and Procedure Development<ol><li>Prioritize Policy Areas:</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Start with the most critical policies, such as those related to legal compliance, employee safety, and core HR functions.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Develop a timeline for addressing other policy areas based on their priority and complexity.</li><li>Draft Clear and Concise Policies:</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Use plain language that is easy for employees to understand.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Avoid jargon and legalistic language whenever possible.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">State the purpose of each policy clearly and concisely.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Outline the specific rules and expectations associated with each policy.</li><li>Develop Detailed Procedures:</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Break down each policy into a series of step-by-step instructions.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Include flowcharts or diagrams to illustrate complex processes.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Specify who is responsible for carrying out each step of the procedure.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Outline timelines and deadlines for completing tasks.</li><li>Ensure Legal Compliance:</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Consult with legal counsel to ensure that all policies and procedures comply with applicable laws and regulations.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Pay particular attention to laws related to employment discrimination, harassment, wage and hour regulations, and leave entitlements.</li><li>Review and Revise:</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Have the team review the draft policies and procedures thoroughly.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Seek feedback from legal counsel, management, and employees.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Make necessary revisions based on feedback and ensure consistency throughout the manual.</li></ol> &nbsp;RELATED: <a href="https://www.ipcconsultants.com/blog/crafting-right-human-resources-policies-organisation" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Crafting the Right Human Resources Policies for Your Organisation</a> Phase 3: Implementation and Communication <ol><li>Obtain Final Approval:</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Present the final draft of the manual to senior management for approval.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Address any concerns or questions they may have.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Ensure that the manual has the full support of the organization's leadership.</li><li>Communicate the Manual to Employees:</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Distribute the manual to all employees, either in print or electronically.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Hold training sessions or workshops to educate employees about the new policies and procedures.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Encourage questions and feedback from employees to ensure understanding and buy-in.</li><li>Monitor and Enforce Compliance:</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Establish mechanisms for monitoring compliance with policies and procedures.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Address any violations promptly and consistently.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Provide ongoing training and support to managers and employees to ensure understanding and adherence.</li></ol> Phase 4: Review and Update<ol><li>Regularly Review and Update:</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Schedule periodic reviews of the manual to ensure it remains up-to-date and relevant.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Incorporate changes in laws, regulations, or company practices as needed.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Seek feedback from employees and managers on the effectiveness of the policies and procedures.</li><li>Adapt to Changing Needs:</li><li class="ql-indent-1">As the organization grows and evolves, be prepared to revise the manual to meet changing needs.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Consider new technologies, workplace trends, and employee expectations when updating the manual.</li></ol> By following this comprehensive guide, you can develop a robust set of HR policies and procedures that will support your organization's goals, foster a positive workplace culture, and ensure compliance with legal requirements.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h2 class="ql-align-justify">Developing a Staff/Employee Handbook from the HR Policies and Procedures Manual </h2> <h3 class="ql-align-justify">What is a Staff/Employee Handbook?</h3>A staff/employee handbook is a document that communicates to employees the organization's policies, culture, and values. It typically includes information such as work hours, dress code, benefits, and leave policies. The handbook is designed to give new hires a clear understanding of what to expect and what is expected of them. It's a more accessible document that should be consistent with the <a href="https://smarthrsolutions.co.zw/hr-tools/hr-policy-and-procedures-manuals" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">HR policies manual</a> but does not include exhaustive details or the reasoning behind each policy. &nbsp;<h3>Developing a Staff Handbook</h3> <h4>Step 1: Using the Human Resources Policy and Procedures Manual as a Guide</h4><ul><li>Review the Human Resources Policy and Procedures Manual to identify key policies and procedures</li><li>Summarize the key policies and procedures in a clear and concise manner</li></ul><h4>Step 2: Identifying the Audience for the Staff Handbook</h4><ul><li>Determine which employees will be using the handbook (e.g. all employees, new employees, managers)</li><li>Tailor the content and style accordingly</li></ul><h4>Step 3: Summarizing Key Policies and Benefits</h4><ul><li>Provide an overview of the organization's major employee benefits (e.g. health insurance, retirement plan)</li><li>Summarize key personnel policies (e.g. leave policies, employee conduct)</li><li>Include information on employee rights and responsibilities</li><li>Include any relevant forms or documents</li></ul><h4>Step 4: Writing the Staff Handbook in an Informal Style</h4><ul><li>Use a friendly and approachable tone</li><li>Avoid technical jargon and complex terminology</li><li>Ensure the handbook is easy to read and understand</li><li>Use headings, subheadings, and bullet points to make the content clear and concise</li></ul><h4>Step 5: Reviewing and Revising the Staff Handbook</h4><ul><li>Seek feedback from employees, managers, and other stakeholders</li><li>Make any necessary changes to ensure the handbook is effective and relevant</li><li>Ensure consistency with the organization's overall mission and values and compliance with relevant laws and regulations</li><li>Review and revise the handbook on a regular basis (e.g. every 2-3 years)</li></ul> <h2>Legal Compliance </h2>The most important thing when developing HR policies is that they must comply with legal requirements in the country in which you are operating. Legal compliance is a critical cross-cutting issue in the development of Human Resources policies and procedures. Adhering to labour laws and regulations is essential to prevent legal repercussions, uphold fair employment practices, and ensure consistent treatment of employees. It protects employee rights, enhances the organization's reputation, and supports ethical business conduct. &nbsp; <h2 class="ql-align-justify">Conclusion </h2>Developing a Human Resources Policy and Procedures Manual and a Staff Handbook is a crucial step for any organization seeking to establish a clear and comprehensive guide for managing human resources. By following the steps outlined in this article, organizations can create a manual and handbook tailored to their specific needs and goals. A well-developed Human Resources Policy and Procedures Manual and Staff Handbook can provide numerous benefits, including: <ul><li>Ensuring consistency and fairness in the application of policies and procedures</li><li>Providing a clear and comprehensive guide for managing human resources</li><li>Helping to ensure compliance with relevant laws and regulations</li><li>Improving communication and understanding among employees, managers, and other stakeholders</li></ul> By investing time and effort into developing a Human Resources Policy and Procedures Manual and Staff Handbook, organizations can create a valuable resource that will support their success and growth for years to come.&nbsp;

Developing Effective Human Resources Policies and Procedures: A Comprehensive Guide

A KPI manual is more than just a document - it's a strategic investment in your company's success. Promoting alignment, objectivity, and data-driven decision-making to empower your team to work smarter, not harder. With a KPI manual, you can unlock the full potential of your team and drive business growth.

Like clockwork, most organizations start the year by setting <a href="https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/management/smart-goal/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">SMART goals</a> with the hope of achieving them throughout the year. Once these goals are formulated, they are not going to accomplish themselves hey! This is why you've likely heard that you need to translate your goals into actionable metrics. And that's what we do by utilizing <a href="https://www.thehumancapitalhub.com/articles/kpis-and-metrics-everything-you-need-to-know" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(28, 43, 51);">Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)</a>. KPIs are the quantifiable measures that indicate if you're on track to achieve your goals. They provide a clear and objective way to evaluate progress and make data-driven decisions. &nbsp;Tracking KPIs is a practice that has been around for a while in Zimbabwe, and organizations seem to experience more challenges than gains when dealing with KPIs. Some of the challenges I have come across in several client projects that I have handled include but are not limited to; <ol><li class="ql-align-justify">Lack of clarity of expectations: Some employees have shared with me that they are not sure what exactly is expected of them. They sometimes encounter KPIs that have similar names but are calculated using different formulae. Ambiguous performance expectations will confuse and frustrate your people, leaving them feeling that performance goals are arbitrary. </li><li class="ql-align-justify">Lack of goal alignment: In some performance management implementation projects, I have worked with individuals who understood their performance goals but were not clear on how these contributed to their departmental and organizational goals. This was a challenge because they failed to understand what to prioritize as sometimes they would complete some initiatives only for their managers to appraise them based on totally different initiatives that were deemed to be more important at that point in time.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Inconsistent evaluations: A significant concern is the perceived unfairness and bias in employee evaluations. Many employees feel that the assessments they receive are subjective and unjust. Furthermore, they believe that the rating processes are arbitrary, and if they were to be evaluated by two different managers who are equally familiar with their work, they would likely receive vastly different scores, highlighting the inconsistencies in the evaluation process.</li></ol> As seen in the few challenges mentioned above, simply identifying KPIs isn't enough. To truly harness their power, you will need a well-defined KPI manual. This document will serve as the central nervous system of your performance management process, ensuring everyone is aligned and working towards the same goals. Because of several innovations in information technology, our clients can now collect huge amounts of data to support their KPIs. These clients must be clear on what performance measures are crucial to track as part of understanding strategy implementation progress. "If everything becomes important, then nothing will remain important." Without a shared understanding of what "winning" means, the team is unlikely to succeed. This is precisely the problem a KPI manual solves. &nbsp;RELATED: <a href="https://www.ipcconsultants.com/blog/right-way-set-performance-goals-kpis-targets-employees" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The right way to set performance goals KPIs and targets for employees</a> &nbsp;<h2 class="ql-align-justify">Key contents of a KPI Manual</h2>A KPI manual should contain, at a minimum, the following items that help us better understand the KPI: <ul><li class="ql-align-justify">KPI Definition: defines and explains what the KPI is all about</li><li class="ql-align-justify">KPI Purpose: explains why it's important for the organization to track the KPI</li><li class="ql-align-justify">KPI Formula: share the mathematical function for quantifying the KPI</li><li class="ql-align-justify">KPI Owner: States the person responsible for ensuring that the KPI is achieved</li><li class="ql-align-justify">KPI Data Collection and Reporting: Displays the KPI data custodian, frequency of data collection on the KPI, and data sources.</li></ul> <h2 class="ql-align-justify">The key benefits of a KPI manual:</h2> <ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Clarity and Alignment: A KPI manual maintains a commonly shared language around performance. Everyone, from top executives to front-line employees, shares a common understanding of what success looks like in the organization and how their work contributes to the bigger picture.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Fair and Objective Evaluations: &nbsp;With clear KPIs and defined measurement methods, performance reviews become more objective and data-driven, reducing the risk of bias. </li><li class="ql-align-justify">Data-Driven Decisions: A KPI manual provides a solid foundation for making strategic decisions based on concrete performance data. It acts as an excellent enabler for activating KPI data collection and enhances KPI reporting.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Improved Efficiency: &nbsp;A standardized approach to measuring performance saves time and resources, freeing up more time for people to work on actual initiatives that will enable them to meet performance targets. Performance management should never turn into a full-time job for your team because people will have less time to do the actual work they were hired to do. </li></ul> &nbsp;<h2 class="ql-align-justify">Investing in Your Success</h2>Developing a comprehensive KPI manual can seem like an involving task, but the good news is that you don't have to go for it alone. At <a href="https://www.ipcconsultants.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Industrial Psychology Consultants (IPC)</a>, we have expertise in performance management, and we can help you design a customized manual tailored to your organization's specific needs and industry practice. I am actually working on developing a sample KPI Manual for a manufacturing organization. If you are interested in taking a look at this example document, inbox me on my email (david@ipcconsultants.com).&nbsp; A KPI manual is more than just a document - it's a strategic investment in your company's success. Promoting alignment, objectivity, and data-driven decision-making to empower your team to work smarter, not harder. With a KPI manual, you can unlock the full potential of your team and drive business growth. ﻿David Shambare is a Strategy and Performance Management enthusiast, he is a consultant at IPC. He enjoys researching topics related to business strategy and performance improvement. He is reachable via email at <a href="mailto:david@ipcconsultants.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">david@ipcconsultants.com</a> or on our general lines 0242481946-10.

KPI Manual: The Ultimate tool to Align and Standardize your Performance Measures

Job evaluation is a systematic process that assesses the relative worth of jobs within an organization. It helps establish a fair and equitable pay structure by determining the value of each position based on factors such as skills required, responsibilities, decision making, and job complexity.

<h2>Introduction</h2> Job evaluation is a systematic process that assesses the relative worth of jobs within an organization. It helps establish a fair and equitable pay structure by determining the value of each position based on factors such as skills required, responsibilities, decision making, and job complexity. <h3 class="ql-align-center">Key Takeaways</h3>_________________________________________________<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Grading inconsistencies may arise from a discrepancy between perceived and actual job demands caused by job descriptions that do not effectively represent the essential features.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Vague or ambiguous language in job descriptions can contribute to inconsistent grading decisions.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Organizations must regularly review and update job descriptions to ensure alignment with current job demands. Clear and thorough job descriptions improve the accuracy and reliability of job evaluation results.</li></ul>____________________________________________________ <h2>The Impact of Inadequate Job Descriptions on Accuracy in Job Evaluation</h2> A <a href="https://www.fin.gov.nt.ca/en/services/postes-et-salaires/about-job-descriptions-and-job-evaluation-process#:~:text=A%20job%20description%20(JD)%20is,are%20inherent%20to%20the%20job." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(5, 99, 193);">job description</a> (JD) is a document that contains information about the requirements, duties, and scope of a position. In a job evaluation exercise, the job description is the main ingredient. It provides the exercise with essential information about duties, responsibilities, required skills, supervision, and decision-making levels. These elements are used to evaluate the value that the role brings to the organization, and as such, its role in the exercise is vital. Grading inconsistencies may arise from a discrepancy between perceived and actual job demands caused by job descriptions that do not effectively represent the essential features. Common issues arise from outdated or incomplete job descriptions that no longer reflect the actual nature of the role.&nbsp; Additionally, vague or exaggerated language in job descriptions can contribute to inconsistent grading decisions. Failure to capture critical aspects such as decision-making authority and impact on organizational outcomes can lead to undervaluation or overvaluation of positions. <h2>Case Study: Non Profit Organization&nbsp;</h2> At IPC, a consultancy firm specializing in human resources and business management, we recently conducted a comprehensive job evaluation exercise for an NGO operating. During the evaluation process, we utilized the Paterson Job Evaluation method, which is a widely recognized and commonly used approach in job evaluation. The Paterson method assesses jobs based on various factors or sub-bands, including complexity, accountability, and skills required. These factors are used to assign a grade or score to each job, which then informs decisions regarding pay and organizational structure. <h3>Challenges Faced</h3> During the job description development stage, concerns were raised by the consultant about the content inadequacy of some of the job descriptions submitted for grading. The problems were partly addressed, and the exercise proceeded to the job grading stage using the Paterson system.&nbsp;Our initial job grading review revealed several discrepancies in the assigned grades for both senior and lower-level positions within the organization. These discrepancies indicated a misalignment between the perceived and actual responsibilities of these roles. Some of the roles also changed in scope during the exercise, and as such, the grade did not align with the new duties. <h3>Solutions Implemented</h3> To address these challenges, we adopted a collaborative approach with the NGO's executive team. This involved convening joint meetings to discuss feedback and provide context on positions, allowing for a deeper understanding of the discrepancies. Structured action items were agreed upon, including revising job descriptions, reassessing grades, and ensuring compliance with established evaluation criteria. 1. Comprehensive Job Description Review We conducted a thorough review of existing job descriptions to identify gaps and ensure they accurately reflected the roles' duties, decision-making levels, and required skill sets. 2. Transparent Grading Process We implemented transparent grading processes, providing detailed scoring sheets outlining individual scores awarded for each Paterson sub-banding factor. This facilitated a transparent analysis and ensured credibility in the grading outcomes. <h2>How to Avoid the Above Challenges</h2> Organizations must implement a structured and collaborative approach to job description development. It is essential for avoiding grading discrepancies. This approach involves engaging both HR professionals and incumbents who are in the roles in question to ensure that job descriptions accurately reflect the day-to-day responsibilities and requirements of each position.&nbsp; Regular feedback sessions and consultations can help identify any discrepancies or areas for improvement in job descriptions, ensuring that they remain relevant and up-to-date. Additionally, providing training and resources to managers and employees on writing effective job descriptions can enhance the quality and clarity of the documents. Clear and comprehensive job descriptions enhance the accuracy and reliability of job evaluation results, facilitating fair and equitable grading outcomes. Click <a href="https://www.thehumancapitalhub.com/articles/What-Is-Job-Evaluation-And-How-To-Do-It-Well#Job%20Descriptions" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(5, 99, 193);">here</a> if you are interested in learning more about Job Evaluation and how to do it well. <h2>Conclusion</h2> Through collaborative efforts and systematic approaches, we successfully addressed the identified discrepancies and established a credible rank order of positions within the NGO. Organizations can avoid these challenges during a job evaluation exercise by allocating time to make sure that job descriptions are up-to-date and are truly reflective of all the roles. This ensures that the job evaluation process is accurate. This case study serves as a blueprint for organizations highlighting the importance of comprehensive job evaluation practices in fostering fairness and equity within the workforce.

How to Address Job Grade Inconsistencies in Job Evaluation: A Case Study

One of our clients in the technology sector experienced some challenges that emanated from low employee engagement.

<h2 class="ql-align-justify">Background</h2>One of our clients in the technology sector experienced some challenges that emanated from low employee engagement. The company's primary goal is to enhance operational efficiency and client satisfaction through cutting-edge technologies and exceptional service. However, in the early 2010s, the company faced challenges with employee morale and productivity, which prompted the initiation of strategic interventions to enhance workplace culture and employee engagement. In response to the observed decline in employee morale and productivity, the company partnered with us at IPC. IPC's expertise was instrumental in diagnosing the underlying issues and developing tailored strategies that aligned with the company's goals. <h2 class="ql-align-justify">Challenges</h2>The client faced several pressing challenges that spurred the need for strategic intervention in employee engagement and organizational culture. The primary challenge was a noticeable decline in employee morale and productivity, which had begun to impact the overall operational efficiency of the company. This was evidenced by stagnant revenue growth, which hovered around 5%, and feedback from employee surveys indicating dissatisfaction and disengagement among staff. Another significant challenge was the retention of top talent. Our client noticed an increasing trend in turnover rates, especially among their high-performing employees, which posed a threat to maintaining competitive advantage in the fast-paced technology sector. The company realized that without a focused effort to enhance the workplace environment and actively engage its employees, it would continue to face difficulties in attracting and retaining skilled professionals. <h2 class="ql-align-justify">Solution</h2>To address the challenges of declining employee morale and high turnover rates, in partnership with Industrial Psychology Consultants (IPC), the client implemented a comprehensive employee engagement initiative. The solution comprised three key interventions: <ol><li class="ql-align-justify">Leadership Training Program - Recognizing the impact of leadership on employee morale, the client launched an extensive training program aimed at enhancing managerial skills and communication. The program focused on developing empathetic, transparent, and motivating leadership styles across all management levels.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Work-Life Balance Program - To address employee burnout and improve retention, the client introduced a work-life balance program that included flexible working hours, mental health days, and support for personal commitments. This program was designed to show the company's commitment to the well-being of its employees.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Remote Working Options - With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the client quickly adapted by implementing remote working options. This not only ensured the safety of its workforce but also demonstrated the company's agility and consideration for employee preferences and changing global work trends.</li></ol> Each of these strategies was rolled out with clear communication about their purposes and benefits, ensuring employee buy-in and participation. IPC provided ongoing support and monitoring to adjust the initiatives based on employee feedback and changing organizational needs. <h2 class="ql-align-justify">Results</h2>The implementation of these strategic solutions yielded significant positive results: <h3 class="ql-align-justify">Employee Engagement</h3>By 2024, the employee engagement index increased from an initial 70% to 85%. The enhanced engagement was reflected in improved employee satisfaction and lower turnover rates. <h3 class="ql-align-justify">Revenue Growth</h3>Alongside improvements in employee engagement, the client experienced a marked increase in revenue growth, which peaked at 11% by 2024. This was a significant improvement from the stable but unremarkable 5% growth rate observed before the interventions. <img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/DKgBBCzClXzgpjwTMee79jZgW0buxYfTJ9j8ncyNXIFPH1HYDTxrje4nXrEUQfCqF11ukley126sNXHRxLsxYnwV60oZn_c5D7zZFApaUj9hfTyxoUbg0JjRogNBnsqAO6NE_gXgYcvtEzoEEO7-oWj_qyBUYY1u"> <h3 class="ql-align-justify">Employee Retention</h3>The introduction of the work-life balance program and flexible working options contributed to a notable reduction in turnover rates, particularly among high-performing employees. The client was able to retain critical talent, which was crucial for maintaining competitive advantage and driving innovation. <h3 class="ql-align-justify">Cultural Shift</h3>The initiatives also fostered a cultural shift within the company, creating a more open, supportive, and inclusive workplace. This shift not only improved current employee satisfaction but also enhanced the company's reputation in the tech industry, making it a more attractive employer. These results highlight the effectiveness of the strategic interventions implemented by the client and IPC, demonstrating that a well-rounded approach to employee engagement can lead to significant improvements in both employee well-being and business performance.﻿ <h2 class="ql-align-justify">Summary</h2>Over the past decade, the client has successfully implemented a series of strategic interventions, including leadership training, work-life balance initiatives, and remote working options, which have dramatically improved employee engagement. Enhanced communication and regular feedback have been pivotal, encouraging greater participation in surveys and a higher uptake of offered initiatives. These efforts have not only boosted employee morale but have also led to significant revenue growth, illustrating the vital connection between thoughtful organizational policies and robust financial outcomes. The consistent application of these targeted strategies has proven effective in cultivating a workforce that is both productive and deeply satisfied, affirming the value of timely and well-executed interventions in achieving organizational success.

How One Of Our Clients Increased Overall Company Performance Through Employee Engagement

Workforce management techniques are still evolving as a result of the strategic use of data.

Workforce management techniques are still evolving as a result of the strategic use of data. HR teams frequently find themselves surrounded by employee data in today's information-rich world, but they typically struggle to turn that data into insightful knowledge. HR professionals can use Workforce data analytics, a vital tool that helps them make sense of the deluge of data. With global data and business analytics revenues soaring by 36% in just four years, the message is clear: harnessing data is key to successful HR practices. <a href="https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/artificial-intelligence-ai-market" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193); background-color: transparent;">Grand View Research</a> projects that the worldwide workforce analytics industry, driven by the deployment of AI, will reach an astounding $8.0 billion by 2028. AI can find hidden patterns in large datasets and automate repetitive processes. According to a recent <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/the-economic-potential-of-generative-ai-the-next-productivity-frontier#key-insights" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193); background-color: transparent;">McKinsey report</a>, HR departments that use AI can cut the amount of time they spend on administrative duties by 50%.&nbsp; Come along as we dissect Workforce analytics trends to look for in 2024 and beyond. <h2 class="ql-align-justify">1. Prioritization of Employee Experience (EX)</h2>A notable trend that surfaced in 2023 was the increased focus on employee experience analytics, a field that examines how to understand better and elevate the employee journey using data analytics. A significant 47% of HR Directors designated employee experience as their main area of focus for this year, according to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/hr-statistics-trends/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193); background-color: transparent;">Forbes research</a>. The study also showed that 53% of workers were feeling worn out as a result of the organization's constant pace of change, highlighting the need and urgency of employee experience analytics. Employee experience analytics is a methodology that intricately collects and analyses data across various facets of the employee journey, encompassing engagement levels, satisfaction, and overall well-being. The use of complex technologies like sentiment analysis and reliable feedback mechanisms is at the heart of this trend. These tools empower HR professionals with real-time, nuanced insights into the employee experience, deciphering sentiments and perceptions expressed through interactions with workplace elements such as colleagues, work processes, and the influence of company culture on overall well-being. Studies show a strong correlation between positive employee experience and retention. According to Gallup's "<a href="https://www.gallup.com/workplace/236366/right-culture-not-employee-satisfaction.aspx" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193); background-color: transparent;">State of the American Workplace</a>" study, businesses with engaged employees enjoy a 41% reduction in absenteeism and a 17% boost in employee productivity.&nbsp; Through <a href="https://ipcinsights.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193); background-color: transparent;">time management systems</a>, Workforce analytics can monitor workload, measure recognition through performance reviews, and track sentiment analysis from surveys. You can utilize this data to pinpoint areas where the employee lifecycle needs to be improved. <h2 class="ql-align-justify">2. The broad adoption of Predictive workforce analytics</h2>The broad use of predictive workforce analytics in the past year demonstrated a noteworthy move toward a forward-thinking technique, in contrast to traditional HR analytics, which mostly dug into historical data. As more and more companies adopt this progressive strategy, it fits in well with the wider picture of the future of work and workforce planning. A significant 49% of HR leaders ranked the future of work as their top priority in the future, with 46% indicating that they will be investing more in future work initiatives, according to a <a href="https://www.gartner.com/en/articles/9-future-of-work-trends-for-2023" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193); background-color: transparent;">Gartner survey</a>. As a result, HR data analytics has become a vital tool for influencing how work and workforce planning are done in the future. <h2 class="ql-align-justify">3. The focus on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)&nbsp;</h2>One notable development that emerged in 2023 was the growing use of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Analytics into HR procedures. <a href="https://www.sage.com/en-us/blog/hr-diversity-inclusion/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193); background-color: transparent;">In a Sage research</a>, 41% of HR directors stated that DEI would be a major area of attention this year, and 36% said they would be investing more in DEI programs. Organizations have realized the critical role Workforce analytics plays in guiding their diversity and inclusion (DEI) activities towards increased efficacy in response to the growing significance of creating diverse and inclusive workplaces. DEI analytics, as observed in 2023, involved the strategic utilization of analytics tools to measure and assess the impact of DEI programs. This involves a thorough analysis of worker demographics and the methodical monitoring of diversity measures, which enable HR experts to identify certain areas in need of development. <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/featured%20insights/diversity%20and%20inclusion/diversity%20wins%20how%20inclusion%20matters/diversity-wins-how-inclusion-matters-vf.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193); background-color: transparent;">According to a McKinsey study</a>, businesses with diverse leadership teams had 25% better profitability. This illustrates the financial benefits of diversity and inclusion. Unconscious bias in hiring procedures, promotion choices, and pay scales can be found and addressed via HR analytics. Demographic analysis of the workforce can also highlight areas in which the company can concentrate its efforts to hire diverse candidates. <h2 class="ql-align-justify">4. More care on Skills Gap Analysis and Development</h2><a href="https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Future_of_Jobs_2023.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193); background-color: transparent;">The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2023</a> states that changes in the next five years are predicted to affect 44% of workers' abilities. According to forecasts by the World Economic Forum, half of workers will require retraining by 2030.&nbsp; Organizations have turned to Workforce analytics for a systematic approach to skills mapping and development to navigate this tsunami of change proactively. This tactical strategy entails the methodical assessment of the workforce's present skill set and the detection of any possible deficiencies. HR practitioners can obtain a thorough grasp of the skill sets that are currently present inside the organization through the use of skills mapping, which is made possible by HR data analytics. Beyond simple evaluation, skills mapping acts as a predictive tool for future skill requirements. Organizations can proactively create training and development programs that are specifically targeted by predicting the abilities that will be essential in the changing business landscape. In-demand capabilities in your business can be found using advanced analytics, and their skill sets can be compared to those of your current staff. This makes it possible to implement focused training initiatives to close skill gaps and get staff ready for new chances. <h2 class="ql-align-justify">5. Ethical and Responsible AI</h2>Over the past ten years, artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms have been used more and more in human resources (HR). AI is being incorporated into HR in several important areas, including hiring, applicant screening and interviews, task and schedule management, performance reviews, and individual career counseling. Advanced AI-driven tools, such as an&nbsp;<a href="https://undetectable.ai/ai-essay-writer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">AI Essay Writer</a>, demonstrate how automation can enhance various aspects of professional and academic work, including HR-related documentation and reports. According to a <a href="https://www.ajl.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193); background-color: transparent;">2023 Algorithmic Justice League</a> paper titled "The State of AI in 2023," biased AI algorithms may result in unequal employment practices. To preserve employee trust and stay out of trouble with the law, businesses using AI in HR must provide explainability in decision-making processes and openness in algorithms. In conclusion, HR professionals can make well-informed decisions that optimize personnel acquisition, development, and retention, resulting in a workforce that is more successful and future-ready by adopting these trends and utilizing data.

Workforce Analytics Trends to Look for in 2024 and Beyond

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Top 5 Skill Matrix Tools for HR Professionals

Traditionally, board performance evaluations have relied on self-assessment.

In the echelons of<a href="https://www.ipcconsultants.com/blog/public-entities-corporate-governance-bill-can-improved" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> corporate governance</a>, the board of directors is entrusted with steering organizations toward success and accountability. Traditionally, board performance evaluations have relied on self-assessment. However, the limitations of self-evaluation are becoming increasingly apparent, necessitating a shift towards more comprehensive evaluation methods. These methods include external reviews, data analytics-driven reviews, and stakeholder feedback, providing a more objective and expanded understanding of board performance. &nbsp;<h2>The Limitations of Self-Evaluation</h2>Self-evaluations are a common starting point for board assessments, providing a reflective view of performance and areas for improvement. However, reliance on self-evaluation alone can lead to a lack of objectivity, with <a href="https://www.ipcconsultants.com/blog/board-performance-evaluation" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">board members</a> potentially overestimating their strengths or failing to recognize areas of weakness. For instance, a study exploring academic program board self-evaluation found that small group evaluations could potentially influence the objectivity of the reports (Irish Journal of Academic Practice). &nbsp;The risk with self-evaluation lies in its inherent subjectivity. Board members may unconsciously exhibit bias, overestimating their strengths and underreporting weaknesses. For instance, a survey by <a href="https://www.pwc.com/gx/en.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">PwC</a> found that despite 49% of directors believing at least one board member should be replaced, very few take action, suggesting a disconnect between self-perceived performance and actual effectiveness.More importantly, most board evaluations focus on how the board members work in various committees, especially the composition, structure of meetings, and assessment of the chairman. The critical question you must ask yourself is: Can all these factors function well, and still, the board fails to deliver? Yes, it is possible. I think board evaluations must go beyond traditional self-evaluations, where board members assess the board's effectiveness and focus more on how it fulfills its board charter and the strategies set for the organization. What is the point of having a well-structured board that fails to deliver on its mandate? &nbsp;One study examined 250 publicly traded firms in the UK and found no significant correlation between traditional board structure elements (like director affiliation, ownership, and committee composition) and a firm's financial performance. These findings align with similar studies conducted in the US and remained consistent even when different performance measures were applied. Ultimately, these results imply that effective board structures may need to be tailored to individual companies rather than following a mandated, uniform approach as is currently happening with board evaluations.To show you how this area has been neglected, in the research literature, very few studies have investigated the relationship between board evaluation scores and actual business performance. &nbsp;<h2>Recommendations</h2>Boards of directors play a critical role in the success of an organization. Here's how to refine their effectiveness through focused performance assessments: <ul><li>Prioritize Strategy-Driven Performance Evaluation: Instead of relying exclusively on generic competencies, create performance metrics intimately linked with the board-approved organizational strategy. These might include financial targets, market expansion, innovation goals, risk mitigation, or stakeholder engagement. Regularly measure progress against these metrics to gain insight into the board's direct impact on the company's direction.</li><li>Assess Alignment with Board Charter: The board charter defines the board's purpose, responsibilities, and authority. Conduct an annual or bi-annual evaluation against the charter. This must be done by an independent person or consultant who should base their assessments on documented evidence of what the board would have done. Questions for consideration include:</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Did the board effectively oversee strategy development and execution?</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Was the board engaged in key risk management decisions?</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Did the board ensure compliance with regulations and ethical standards?</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Were board composition and committee structures adequate to meet the organization's evolving needs?</li></ul> <ul><li>Reframe the Role of Self-Evaluation: Self-evaluations offer value primarily for individual growth. Consider the following:</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Focus self-evaluations on alignment with the established strategy-driven metrics.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Use anonymized self-evaluations to identify knowledge gaps and inform director development plans.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">While individual improvement is essential, the correlation between high self-evaluation scores and company performance requires further research, as no study has indicated any connection between the two. </li></ul> <ul><li>Supplement with External Evaluation (Recommended): To gain an unbiased, broader perspective, consider periodic external evaluations conducted by an independent governance expert or consultant. This provides the following benefits:</li></ul> <ul><li class="ql-indent-1">A deep dive into board dynamics and decision-making processes.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Identification of blind spots or biases that may be hindering the board.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Benchmarking against industry best practices.</li></ul> <h2>Conclusion:</h2>Aligning board performance assessments with the strategy, board charter, and focused self-evaluation will enhance the board's value contribution. Combined with carefully considered external evaluations, this multi-pronged approach drives boards towards continuous improvement and ultimately contributes to long-term organizational success. Remember, impactful board performance assessment isn't just about compliance; it's a catalyst for sustained high performance.This shift from self-assessment to a more comprehensive and strategic evaluation will better equip boards to fulfill their mandate and drive their organization's performance forward.

Board Performance Evaluation - Going beyond self-evaluation

In today's competitive business landscape, organizations are constantly seeking ways to attract and retain top talent.

In today's competitive business landscape, organizations are constantly seeking ways to attract and retain top talent. A crucial factor in achieving this goal is offering competitive remuneration packages. Benchmarking salaries with the market is an essential practice that enables organizations to establish fair and attractive pay structures. This article explores the importance of benchmarking salaries and their benefits for employers and employees. <h2 class="ql-align-justify">Understanding Salary Benchmarking</h2> Salary benchmarking compares an organization's salary levels with those of its competitors in the market. This process involves analyzing remuneration data from similar organizations within the same industry, size, and geographic location. Salary benchmarking aims to ensure an organization's pay structure is aligned with the market, enabling it to compete for talent. Benefits of Benchmarking Salaries for Organizations <ol><li class="ql-align-justify">Attracting Top Talent: In a competitive job market, organizations must offer attractive compensation packages to entice skilled professionals. Benchmarking salaries ensure that organizations offer salaries that align with or exceed market rates, making it easier to attract top talent.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Retaining Employees: Employees who feel they are fairly compensated are more likely to remain with the organization. Benchmarking salaries helps organizations retain employees by ensuring their compensation remains competitive.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Enhancing Employer Brand: A strong <a href="https://www.ipcconsultants.com/blog/managing-employer-brand-properly" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">employer brand</a> is vital for attracting and retaining employees. Organizations committed to fair and competitive pay strengthen their employer brand, making them more attractive to potential employees.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Informed Decision-Making: Benchmarking salaries provide organizations with valuable data for making informed compensation decisions. This information can help organizations adjust their <a href="https://www.ipcconsultants.com/blog/designing-a-sustainable-pay-structure-for-your-organisation" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">pay structures</a> to respond to market changes, ensuring they remain competitive.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Fostering Fairness and Equity: Salary benchmarking promotes fairness and equity within an organization by ensuring that employees are compensated based on market rates rather than arbitrary factors. This practice helps to minimize pay disparities and reduce the risk of employee dissatisfaction.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Mitigating Risks of Under or Overpaying: Without a clear understanding of the salary market rates, an organization risks underpaying or overpaying its employees. Underpaying can lead to high turnover rates, losing talent to competitors, and potential damage to the company's reputation. Overpaying, on the other hand, can inflate the company's operational costs and reduce its competitive edge. Benchmarking helps organizations find the right balance and manage their payroll effectively.</li></ol> Related: <a href="https://www.ipcconsultants.com/blog/it-is-time-to-rethink-how-we-are-setting-salaries" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">It is time to rethink how we are setting salaries</a> <h2 class="ql-align-justify">Benefits of Benchmarking Salaries for Employees</h2> <ol><li class="ql-align-justify">Fair Compensation: Employees benefit from salary benchmarking because it ensures they receive fair compensation for their skills and experience. This practice fosters a sense of fairness and job satisfaction, contributing to increased employee engagement and productivity.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Career Growth: Benchmarking salaries gives employees insights into the market value of their skills and experience. This information can help employees negotiate better compensation packages or identify opportunities for career advancement.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Job Security: Employees who know their organization is committed to offering competitive salaries are more likely to feel secure in their roles. This job security can lead to higher levels of employee loyalty and commitment.</li></ol> &nbsp;<h2 class="ql-align-justify">Conclusion</h2> Benchmarking salaries with the market is essential for organizations that want to attract and retain top talent. This process provides valuable insights into the market value of various roles and skill sets, enabling organizations to establish fair and competitive pay structures. By committing to salary benchmarking, organizations can enhance their employer brand, foster fairness and equity, and ensure they remain competitive in a rapidly changing job market. Employees, in turn, benefit from fair compensation, increased job security, and opportunities for career growth.

Why Every Organization Needs to Benchmark Salaries with the Market

Job evaluation is a systematic process used to determine the relative worth of jobs within an organization.

<a href="https://www.thehumancapitalhub.com/articles/job-evaluation-committees-how-to-make-them-effective" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(13, 13, 13);">Job evaluation</a> is a systematic process used to determine the relative worth of jobs within an organization. This process is essential for creating a fair and equitable pay structure, which in turn helps in attracting, retaining, and motivating employees. By accurately evaluating job roles, HR professionals can ensure that compensation is aligned with the job's responsibilities, complexity, and the skills required to perform it. <h2>Step 1: Define the Purpose and Scope&nbsp;</h2>The first step in managing a job evaluation project is to clearly define its purpose and scope. This involves identifying the goals of the evaluation, the jobs to be evaluated, and the system to be used. It is essential to align the job evaluation with the organization's strategic objectives and to secure top management's support for the project. Most specifically what do you hope to achieve with this project? Common goals include establishing a fair <a href="https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/pay-salary/compensation-structures" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(13, 13, 13);">compensation structure</a>, identifying opportunities for career progression, or reorganizing the company's job hierarchy for better efficiency. Having specific objectives will guide the entire project and help in measuring its success. <h2>Step 2: Select a Job Evaluation Method&nbsp;</h2>Various job evaluation methods are available, such as the ranking method, classification method, point factor method, and factor comparison method. HR professionals must select a method that best fits the organization's needs and culture. This selection should be based on the method's simplicity, acceptability, and ability to provide reliable results. The most popular system in Zimbabwe are the Paterson and the <a href="https://www.ipcconsultants.com/blog/the-castellion-job-evaluation-system" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Castellion systems</a>.&nbsp; <h2>Step 3: Form a Job Evaluation Management Project Committee&nbsp;</h2>A job evaluation committee composed of representatives from HR, management, and employees can ensure that the process is transparent and fair. The committee's responsibilities include overseeing the project, making decisions about evaluation criteria, and addressing any concerns that arise during the process. Training committee members on evaluation techniques and avoiding bias is crucial. <h2>Step 4: Conduct Job Analysis&nbsp;</h2>Job analysis involves gathering detailed information about each job's duties, responsibilities, and requirements. This can be done through interviews, questionnaires, observation, and job descriptions.&nbsp; Based on the <a href="https://www.thehumancapitalhub.com/articles/what-are-the-methods-of-job-analysis" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(13, 13, 13);">job analysis</a>, develop comprehensive job descriptions that clearly outline each job's duties, responsibilities, and skills required. These descriptions will serve as a basis for evaluating the jobs and ensuring that evaluations are based on consistent, accurate job information.Accurate job analysis is essential as it forms the basis for evaluating jobs. If this part is not done well, the whole job evaluation process will go wrong.&nbsp; <h2>Step 5: Select a job evaluation committee</h2>This committee is made up of people from various functions and level. It should never be a bargaining platform. Members should be chosen predominantly based on the objectivity in the process. The Committee should have very clear terms of reference which also spells out how the committee will reach decisions for example consensus based or aggregation of individual member evaluations.&nbsp; Without clear terms of reference, the committee can create chaos for the organization. <h2>Step 6: Evaluate Jobs&nbsp;</h2>Using the chosen job evaluation method, the committee evaluates each position based on predetermined factors in the manual. In this case it could be the <a href="https://www.thehumancapitalhub.com/articles/the-patterson-job-evaluation-system-everything-you-need-to-know" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Paterson</a> or the Castellion system. It is important to document the evaluation process and results clearly and consistently.Once all jobs have been evaluated, a job hierarchy is established, ranking positions from highest to lowest based on their relative worth. This hierarchy serves as the foundation for developing a pay structure that reflects the value of each job. <h2>Step 7: Communicate Results and Implement Changes&nbsp;</h2>After the job evaluation project is completed, HR professionals should communicate the results to all stakeholders, addressing any concerns or questions. Implementation may involve adjusting salaries, rewriting job descriptions, or changing reporting relationships. It is important to manage this process carefully to maintain employee trust and morale. <h2>Step 8: Monitor, Review and Update</h2>Job evaluation is not a one-time project but an ongoing process. Regularly monitor and review the job structure and compensation system to ensure they remain relevant and competitive. Be prepared to update the evaluation as jobs evolve and as the organization grows. <h2>Conclusion&nbsp;</h2>Managing a job evaluation project requires careful planning, execution, and communication. By following this step-by-step guide, HR professionals can ensure a fair and effective evaluation that supports their organization's strategic goals. Although challenges may arise, a well-managed job evaluation project can lead to a more motivated workforce, better job fit, and an overall stronger organization.

Managing a Job evaluation Project: A step by step guide for HR Professionals

In the hyper-competitive business landscape, attracting and retaining top talent is essential for an organization's success.

In the hyper-competitive business landscape, attracting and <a href="https://primepay.com/hrproshop/8-ways-to-retain-top-talent-at-your-company/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(31, 31, 31);">retaining top talent</a> is essential for an organization's success. A robust compensation strategy built on reliable market data is a non-negotiable component of achieving this goal. Salary surveys serve as a compass for businesses, ensuring they stay competitive and effectively manage their largest expense: their workforce. This article will explore the significance of salary surveys, their benefits, and how to utilize them for the benefit of your organization. <h2>Understanding Salary Surveys</h2>Salary surveys are comprehensive reports providing up-to-date compensation data for various positions across different industries and organizational factors. Companies gather this information by collaborating with specialized consulting firms. Salary surveys often present detailed breakdowns of compensation figures, including: <ul><li>Base Salary: The core fixed element of the compensation package.</li><li>Incentives and Bonuses: Performance-based bonuses or commissions.</li><li>Benefits: Indirect compensation such as health insurance, retirement plans, and paid time off.</li><li>Allowance – often includes all cash allowances.&nbsp;</li><li><a href="https://www.thehumancapitalhub.com/articles/compensation-and-benefits" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent;">Total Compensation</a>: The entire value of an employee's financial and non-financial rewards.</li></ul> <h2>Why Salary Surveys Matter</h2><a href="https://www.ipcconsultants.com/blog/salary-surveys-and-why-they-matter-for-every-organization" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(31, 31, 31);">Salary surveys</a> empower organizations to make informed decisions on vital human resources matters. Here are the key benefits they provide: <ul><li>Competitive Compensation: Salary surveys act as a pricing guide for the marketplace. With a solid understanding of the prevailing pay rates for different roles across industries, businesses ensure their salaries are aligned with market benchmarks. This enhances their position to attract and hire skilled talent within budget.</li><li>Informed Budgeting Practices: Analyzing compensation data informs crucial budgeting decisions related to salary increments, new hires, and promotions. Accurate salary surveys create greater alignment between the financial performance of an organization and its HR spending.</li><li>Employee Retention: Employees who feel fairly compensated are less likely to consider alternative opportunities. Organizations ensure adequate compensation by regularly incorporating salary survey findings, boosting employee retention, and preventing costly turnover.</li><li>Performance Evaluation: Salary surveys offer valuable insights into performance-based rewards. Understanding what constitutes competitive incentive plans encourages companies to structure such systems to incentivize top performers and align employee goals with overall organizational objectives.</li></ul> <h2>Factors to Consider in Salary Surveys</h2>When interpreting and using salary surveys, it's essential to account for factors that influence compensation: <ul><li>Job Title and Description: Accuracy heavily depends on matching the job titles and descriptions used in the survey with those within the organization.</li><li>Company Size and Revenue: Organizations in a given segment should focus on those of similar size and revenue ranges within the salary survey to derive the most relevant insights.</li><li>Industry: Sector-specific surveys help make appropriate comparisons, considering the different salary pressures that various industries may face.</li><li>Location: Local and regional economic forces strongly influence pay rates, and location factors must be considered for accurate benchmarks.</li><li>Experience Level: The candidate's years of experience and skill set are critical determinants of a fair salary; salary surveys often factor experience into their data analysis.</li></ul> <h2>How to Utilize Salary Surveys Effectively</h2>Beyond passive usage, organizations must proactively incorporate salary survey results to reap full benefits, ensuring optimal impact: <ol><li>Develop an Understanding: Before acquiring and integrating survey results, organizations should develop a robust internal understanding of their job types, skill requirements, and hierarchical structure to make the best use of the data they will find.</li><li>Choose Credible Sources: Invest in reliable salary surveys from consultancy firms. While often useful, free sources lack the rigor and level of validation found in paid versions.</li><li>Regular Updates: Market conditions can evolve rapidly; frequent referencing of survey results ensures your compensation strategies remain up-to-date.</li><li>Transparency: Openly discussing insights from salary surveys with employees builds trust and demonstrates a commitment to competitive compensation and fairness.</li><li>Flexibility: While providing structure, avoid rigidly adhering to survey data alone. Allow flexibility based on unique business demands, candidate backgrounds, and internal equity requirements with employees already in those roles.</li></ol> Absolutely! Here's a comprehensive guide on interpreting salary survey data for managers: <h2>Interpreting Salary Survey Data – A Guide for Managers</h2>While consulting firms provide valuable salary surveys, interpreting the data requires careful consideration. This guide empowers managers to make informed decisions about compensation structures within their organizations. <h3>Decoding the Basics</h3> <ul><li>Job Matching: Begin by ensuring that the job titles and descriptions in the survey closely align with those in your organization. Mismatches in responsibilities, experience levels, and skills can lead to inaccurate salary comparisons.</li><li>Scope and Participants: Identify the industries and company sizes in the survey. Data skewed towards a specific sector or location may not accurately reflect your market. Assess whether the number of companies participating is sufficient to provide reliable benchmarks.</li><li>Data Cutoff: Determine the period for which the salary data was collected. The economic landscape may have changed since the data was gathered; be aware of potential shifts affecting current market salaries.</li><li>Percentiles: Most salary surveys present data in percentiles (e.g., 25th, 50th, 75th). The 50th percentile represents the median salary – half of the surveyed salaries fall above this point and half fall below. The 25th percentile implies that 25% earn below this figure, while the 75th percentile means 75% earn below this mark.</li></ul> <h3>Going Beyond The Numbers</h3>While salary surveys are valuable, understanding compensation within your organization requires a complete picture. Take your analysis further by considering: <ul><li>Internal Equity: Analyze your current salary structure compared to the survey data. Are you paying competitively in relation to your peers? Are there salary inconsistencies within teams or departments that need addressing?</li><li>Talent Needs: If attracting talent with specialized skills is critical, you may need to offer above-market salaries to stay competitive. Balance high demand versus realistic pay scales.</li><li>Company Budget: Your company's financial realities will be a significant constraint. Carefully align salary ranges with your budget allocations to ensure sustainability.</li></ul> <h2>In Conclusion</h2>When used strategically, salary survey data helps managers align compensation with market trends and remain competitive in attracting talent. It's crucial for managers to critically analyze the relevance of the data to their specific needs. Use the insights from this guide to inform compensation decisions, ensuring that your organization's salary structure is fair, competitive, and supports its goals.

Salary Surveys and Why They Matter for Every Organization

In the hyper-competitive business landscape, attracting and retaining top talent is essential for an organization's success. A robust compensation strategy built on reliable market data is a non-negotiable component of achieving this goal.

In the hyper-competitive business landscape, attracting and retaining top talent is essential for an organization's success. A robust <a href="https://www.ipcconsultants.com/services/hr-analytics/salary-survey" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(31, 31, 31);">compensation strategy</a> built on reliable market data is a non-negotiable component of achieving this goal. Salary surveys serve as a compass for businesses, ensuring they stay competitive and effectively manage their largest expense: their workforce. This article will explore the significance of salary surveys, their benefits, and how to utilize them for the benefit of your organization. <h2>Understanding Salary Surveys</h2><a href="https://www.ipcconsultants.com/blog/interpreting-salary-survey-data" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(31, 31, 31);">Salary surveys</a> are comprehensive reports providing up-to-date compensation data for various positions across different industries and organizational factors. Companies gather this information by collaborating with specialized consulting firms. Salary surveys often present detailed breakdowns of compensation figures, including: <ul><li>Base Salary: The core fixed element of the compensation package.</li><li>Incentives and Bonuses: Performance-based bonuses or commissions.</li><li>Benefits: Indirect compensation such as health insurance, retirement plans, and paid time off.</li><li>Allowance – often includes all cash allowances.&nbsp;</li><li>Total Compensation: The entire value of an employee's financial and non-financial rewards.</li></ul> <h2>Why Salary Surveys Matter</h2>Salary surveys empower organizations to make informed decisions on vital human resources matters. Here are the key benefits they provide: <ul><li>Competitive Compensation: Salary surveys act as a pricing guide for the marketplace. With a solid understanding of the prevailing pay rates for different roles across industries, businesses ensure their salaries are aligned with market benchmarks. This enhances their position to attract and hire skilled talent within budget.</li><li>Informed Budgeting Practices: Analyzing compensation data informs crucial budgeting decisions related to salary increments, new hires, and promotions. Accurate salary surveys create greater alignment between the financial performance of an organization and its HR spending.</li><li>Employee Retention: Employees who feel fairly compensated are less likely to consider alternative opportunities. Organizations ensure adequate compensation by regularly incorporating salary survey findings, <a href="https://www.thehumancapitalhub.com/articles/retention-bonuses-what-you-need-to-know" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent;">boosting employee retention</a>, and preventing costly turnover.</li><li>Performance Evaluation: Salary surveys offer valuable insights into performance-based rewards. Understanding what constitutes competitive incentive plans encourages companies to structure such systems to incentivize top performers and align employee goals with overall organizational objectives.</li></ul> <h2>Factors to Consider in Salary Surveys</h2>When interpreting and using salary surveys, it's essential to account for factors that influence compensation: <ul><li>Job Title and Description: Accuracy heavily depends on matching the <a href="https://www.thehumancapitalhub.com/articles/human-resources-job-titles-a-comprehensive-list-2024" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent;">job titles</a> and descriptions used in the survey with those within the organization.</li><li>Company Size and Revenue: Organizations in a given segment should focus on those of similar size and revenue ranges within the salary survey to derive the most relevant insights.</li><li>Industry: Sector-specific surveys help make appropriate comparisons, considering the different salary pressures that various industries may face.</li><li>Location: Local and regional economic forces strongly influence pay rates, and location factors must be considered for accurate benchmarks.</li><li>Experience Level: The candidate's years of experience and skill set are critical determinants of a fair salary; salary surveys often factor experience into their data analysis.</li></ul> <h2>How to Utilize Salary Surveys Effectively</h2>Beyond passive usage, organizations must proactively incorporate salary survey results to reap full benefits, ensuring optimal impact: <ol><li>Develop an Understanding: Before acquiring and integrating survey results, organizations should develop a robust internal understanding of their job types, skill requirements, and hierarchical structure to make the best use of the data they will find.</li><li>Choose Credible Sources: Invest in reliable salary surveys from consultancy firms. While often useful, free sources lack the rigor and level of validation found in paid versions.</li><li>Regular Updates: Market conditions can evolve rapidly; frequent referencing of survey results ensures your compensation strategies remain up-to-date.</li><li>Transparency: Openly discussing insights from salary surveys with employees builds trust and demonstrates a commitment to competitive compensation and fairness.</li><li>Flexibility: While providing structure, avoid rigidly adhering to survey data alone. Allow flexibility based on unique business demands, candidate backgrounds, and internal equity requirements with employees already in those roles.</li></ol> Absolutely! Here's a comprehensive guide on interpreting salary survey data for managers: <h2>Interpreting Salary Survey Data – A Guide for Managers</h2>While consulting firms provide valuable salary surveys, interpreting the data requires careful consideration. This guide empowers managers to make informed decisions about compensation structures within their organizations. <h3>Decoding the Basics</h3> <ul><li>Job Matching: Begin by ensuring that the job titles and descriptions in the survey closely align with those in your organization. Mismatches in responsibilities, experience levels, and skills can lead to inaccurate salary comparisons.</li><li>Scope and Participants: Identify the industries and company sizes in the survey. Data skewed towards a specific sector or location may not accurately reflect your market. Assess whether the number of companies participating is sufficient to provide reliable benchmarks.</li><li>Data Cutoff: Determine the period for which the salary data was collected. The economic landscape may have changed since the data was gathered; be aware of potential shifts affecting current market salaries.</li><li>Percentiles: Most salary surveys present data in percentiles (e.g., 25th, 50th, 75th). The 50th percentile represents the median salary – half of the surveyed salaries fall above this point and half fall below. The 25th percentile implies that 25% earn below this figure, while the 75th percentile means 75% earn below this mark.</li></ul> <h3>Going Beyond The Numbers</h3> While salary surveys are valuable, understanding compensation within your organization requires a complete picture. Take your analysis further by considering: <ul><li>Internal Equity: Analyze your current salary structure compared to the survey data. Are you paying competitively in relation to your peers? Are there salary inconsistencies within teams or departments that need addressing?</li><li>Talent Needs: If attracting talent with specialized skills is critical, you may need to offer above-market salaries to stay competitive. Balance high demand versus realistic pay scales.</li><li>Company Budget: Your company's financial realities will be a significant constraint. Carefully align salary ranges with your budget allocations to ensure sustainability.</li></ul> <h2>In Conclusion</h2>When used strategically, salary survey data helps managers align compensation with market trends and remain competitive in attracting talent. It's crucial for managers to critically analyze the relevance of the data to their specific needs. Use the insights from this guide to inform compensation decisions, ensuring that your organization's salary structure is fair, competitive, and supports its goals.

Discover the comprehensive guide to psychometric tests in recruitment. Understand how they transform the hiring process, benefitting both employers and candidates.

<h2>Introduction to Psychometric Tests in Recruitment</h2><a href="https://www.ipcconsultants.com/services/talent-acquisition/psychometric-tests" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Psychometric tests</a> have revolutionized the recruitment landscape, offering a scientific approach to assessing a candidate's suitability for a role. Originating from psychological research, these tests provide valuable insights into a candidate's personality, cognitive abilities, and emotional intelligence, playing a pivotal role in hiring decisions. <h2>The Evolution and Importance of Psychometric Tests</h2>Initially developed for educational purposes, psychometric tests quickly found their way into the corporate world, especially in the recruitment process. Their significance lies in the objective measurement of a candidate's traits, which are often difficult to gauge through traditional interview methods alone. <h2>Defining Psychometric Tests</h2>Simply put, psychometric tests are standardized scientific methods used to measure individuals' mental capabilities and behavioral style. These tests are designed to be objective and unbiased, focusing on various aspects of a person's psychological makeup. <h2>Types of Psychometric Tests Used in Recruitment</h2>The realm of psychometric testing in recruitment is diverse, encompassing various types of assessments, each serving a unique purpose. <h3>Personality Assessments</h3>These tests evaluate a candidate's character traits, such as extraversion, openness to experience, and conscientiousness. They offer insights into how a person might fit into a team or adapt to a company's culture. <h3>Aptitude and Ability Tests</h3>These assessments measure cognitive abilities, including numerical, verbal, and abstract reasoning skills. They are crucial in determining a candidate's ability to perform specific tasks or solve problems related to the job. <h3>Emotional Intelligence Evaluations</h3>Increasingly popular, these tests assess a candidate's ability to understand and manage their own emotions, as well as those of others. This is particularly important in roles requiring high levels of interpersonal interaction and team collaboration. <h2>The Role of Psychometric Testing in Modern Recruitment</h2>Incorporating psychometric tests into the recruitment process enhances the hiring strategy, allowing employers to make more informed decisions. <h3>Enhancing the Recruitment Process</h3>Psychometric testing adds a layer of depth to the recruitment process, providing a more&nbsp;holistic view of a candidate's capabilities and potential fit within an organization. <h3>Predicting Job Performance</h3>These tests are effective predictors of future job performance, helping employers identify candidates who are not only skilled but also have the right personality and emotional intelligence for the role. <h2>Benefits of Psychometric Testing for Employers</h2>Employers reap significant benefits from implementing psychometric tests in their recruitment process. <h3>Improved Hiring Decisions</h3>By providing objective data, these tests help reduce the subjectivity in hiring decisions, leading to more consistent and reliable outcomes. <h3>Streamlining the Recruitment Process</h3>Psychometric tests can streamline the recruitment process by quickly identifying the most suitable candidates, saving time and resources in the long run. <h2>Psychometric Tests from the Candidate's Perspective</h2>It's also essential to consider how psychometric tests are perceived and approached by job applicants. <h2>Preparing for Psychometric Tests</h2>Candidates can prepare for these tests by familiarizing themselves with common test formats and practicing with sample questions. <h2>Understanding the Impact on Career Prospects</h2>Understanding the role of these tests in the hiring process can help candidates better prepare and present themselves, potentially improving their chances of success. <h2>Best Practices for Implementing Psychometric Testing in Recruitment</h2>To effectively integrate psychometric tests into the hiring process, certain best practices should be followed. <h3>Choosing the Right Tests</h3>It's crucial to select tests that are relevant to the job role and the skills required. This ensures the assessments are both fair and effective. <h3>Integrating Tests into the Hiring Process</h3>Psychometric tests should complement other recruitment tools, such as interviews and reference checks, for a more comprehensive evaluation of candidates. <h3>Legal and Ethical Considerations in Psychometric Testing</h3>Employers must navigate legal and ethical considerations when implementing psychometric tests to ensure fairness and compliance. <h3>Ensuring Fairness and Compliance</h3>Tests should be carefully chosen and administered to avoid any form of discrimination or bias, adhering to relevant employment laws and regulations. <h3>Privacy and Data Protection</h3>Candidates' privacy and the confidentiality of their test results must be respected, aligning with data protection regulations. <h2>Challenges and Limitations of Psychometric Testing</h2>While beneficial, psychometric testing is not without its challenges and limitations. <h3>Accuracy and Reliability Issues</h3>The reliability of a test depends on its construction and administration. Poorly designed tests can lead to inaccurate results. <h3>Potential for Bias</h3>There's a risk of unintentional bias in tests, which can affect the fairness of the recruitment process. <h2>Technological Advancements in Psychometric Testing</h2>The field of psychometric testing is continuously evolving, with technology playing a significant role. <h3>Digital Innovations</h3>Online testing platforms have made it easier to administer and analyze tests, offering greater accessibility and efficiency. <h3>AI and Machine Learning in Psychometric Assessments</h3>Advancements in AI and machine learning are enabling more sophisticated and adaptive testing methods, enhancing the accuracy and relevance of psychometric assessments. <h2>Choosing the Right Psychometric Test for Your Organization</h2>Selecting the appropriate psychometric test is crucial for achieving the desired outcomes. <h3>Factors to Consider</h3>Considerations include the specific requirements of the role, the company culture, and the characteristics of the ideal candidate. <h3>Vendor Selection</h3>Choosing the right test provider is equally important. Employers should look for vendors with a proven track record, robust test methodologies, and excellent customer support. Remember in Zimbabwe like elsewhere psychometric tests are administered and interpreted by registered Psychologists only. <h2>Integrating Psychometric Tests with Other Recruitment Tools</h2>Psychometric tests are most effective when used in conjunction with other recruitment tools. <h2>Holistic Approach to Recruitment</h2>A comprehensive recruitment strategy should include a mix of interviews, background checks, and psychometric assessments for a well-rounded evaluation of candidates. <h2>Synergies with Other Assessments</h2>Combining psychometric tests with other tools can provide a more complete picture of a candidate's suitability for a role. <h2>Training for HR Professionals in Psychometric Testing</h2>Training ensures that HR professionals are equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively use these tests. This will assist them to under reports that Psychologists produce for them. <h2>Future Trends in Psychometric Testing for Recruitment</h2>The future of psychometric testing in recruitment is shaped by ongoing innovations and changing workplace dynamics. Emerging trends include the integration of gamification elements, the increasing use of AI, and the development of more culturally sensitive tests. <h2>Adapting to Changing Work Environments</h2>As the nature of work evolves, so too must the tools and methods used to assess candidates as part of the hiring process.

Complete Guide to Psychometric Tests in Recruitment: Enhancing the Hiring Process

The Balanced Scorecard has become an essential tool for organizations seeking to manage performance effectively in today's competitive business landscape

Why the Balanced Scorecard is Essential for Effective Performance Management

In today's competitive job market, hiring the right candidates can be a hard task. Resumes might provide some insight into an applicant's experience and qualifications, but they often fail to identify the full potential of a job candidate. That's where psychometric testing comes in.

In today's competitive job market, hiring the right candidates can be a hard task. Resumes might provide some insight into an applicant's experience and qualifications, but they often fail to identify the full potential of a job candidate. That's where psychometric testing comes in. &nbsp;Psychometric testing, a scientific approach to measuring an individual's personality traits, cognitive abilities, and behavioral tendencies, can revolutionize the hiring process. By going beyond the resume and diving into the psychological traits of candidates, employers can gain valuable insights into their aptitude, attitude, and cultural fit within the organization.&nbsp; Employers who incorporate psychometric testing into their hiring procedures are better equipped identify candidates who are not only qualified for the job but also possess the right mindset and personality to thrive in the role. In this article, we'll explore how psychometric testing can transform the hiring process, leading to more successful hires and reducing turnover rates.&nbsp; Say goodbye to the traditional resume-centered approach and embrace a more holistic method of identifying talent with psychometric testing. <h2>The limitations of traditional hiring methods</h2>Traditional hiring methods heavily rely on resumes to evaluate candidates. However, resumes have their limitations. They often only provide a brief overview of an applicant's work experience, education, and skills. Resumes are subjective and biased; candidates may embellish their qualifications or omit relevant information. Additionally, resumes do not provide any insights into a candidate's personality, motivation, or problem-solving abilities. This reliance on resumes alone can result in poor hiring decisions, leading to high turnover rates and wasted resources. Employers must look beyond the surface-level information provided by resumes and dig deeper into the candidate's potential. This is where psychometric testing comes into play. <h2>What is psychometric testing?</h2>Psychometric testing is a scientific method of assessing an individual's psychological attributes, including personality traits, cognitive abilities, and behavioral tendencies. It involves using standardized tests to measure various aspects of an individual's psychological makeup. These tests are designed to be objective, reliable, and valid, ensuring that the results accurately reflect the candidate's abilities and characteristics. Psychometric tests can give employers a comprehensive understanding of a candidate's strengths, weaknesses, and potential fit within the organization. <h2>Benefits of using psychometric testing in the hiring process</h2>Incorporating psychometric testing into the hiring process offers numerous benefits for employers. Firstly, it provides a more objective and standardized evaluation of candidates, reducing the impact of personal biases and subjective judgments. Employers can make more informed and fair decisions by relying on scientific data.Secondly, psychometric testing enables employers to identify candidates with the right mindset and personality traits for the job. This helps ensure a better cultural fit. Additionally, psychometric tests can predict an individual's potential for success in specific job roles. By assessing cognitive abilities, problem-solving skills, and personality traits relevant to the job, employers can identify candidates likely to excel in their roles, saving time and resources associated with poor hiring decisions.Scientific research has consistently shown that <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10869-022-09796-1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(70, 120, 134);">cognitive ability</a>, <a href="https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/53004" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(70, 120, 134);">personality, integrity</a> and job knowledge <a href="https://home.ubalt.edu/tmitch/645/session%204/Schmidt%20&amp;%20Oh%20validity%20and%20util%20100%20yrs%20of%20research%20Wk%20PPR%202016.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(70, 120, 134);">predict performance</a> more than all other tools available. We use psychometric tests to measure all these traits or characteristics.&nbsp; &nbsp;<h2>Different types of psychometric tests</h2>Psychometric tests come in various forms, each evaluating different aspects of an individual's psychological profile. Here are some commonly used psychometric tests in the hiring process: 1. Personality Tests: These tests measure personality traits, such as extraversion, conscientiousness, and emotional stability. They provide insights into how candidates will likely behave in different work situations.2. Cognitive Ability Tests: These tests assess an individual's cognitive abilities, including verbal and numerical reasoning, logical thinking, and problem-solving skills. They help employers gauge a candidate's intellectual capabilities and potential for learning and problem-solving.3. Emotional Intelligence Tests: These tests evaluate a candidate's <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2014-39897-001" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(70, 120, 134);">emotional intelligence</a>, including their ability to understand and manage emotions, empathize with others, and navigate social situations. <a href="https://amu.edu.pl/__data/assets/pdf_file/0025/264274/2021_IJWOE-30017_PPV-3.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(70, 120, 134);">Emotional intelligence</a> is crucial for roles that require strong interpersonal skills and effective leadership.4. <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/224955629_Integrity_Tests_Predict_Counterproductive_Work_Behaviors_and_Job_Performance_Well_Comment_on_Van_Iddekinge_Roth_Raymark_and_Odle-Dusseau_2012" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(70, 120, 134);">Integrity Tests</a> measure a candidate's honesty, trustworthiness, and ethical behavior. They help employers identify candidates likely to adhere to the organization's values and maintain high ethical standards.5. Skills Assessments: These tests evaluate specific job-related skills and competencies. They can assess technical skills, language proficiency, management abilities, or other specialized skills required for the job.Employers can choose the appropriate combination of tests based on the job requirements and the desired attributes they seek in candidates. <h2>How to incorporate psychometric testing into your hiring process</h2>Integrating psychometric testing into the hiring process requires careful planning and consideration. Here are some steps to follow when incorporating psychometric testing:1. Identify the job requirements: Understand the critical competencies, personality traits, and cognitive abilities required. This will guide the selection of appropriate psychometric tests.2. Select the right tests: Choose psychometric tests that align with the job requirements and provide reliable and valid results. Consider working with a Registered Psychologist, as in most countries, psychometric testing is supervised and managed by registered psychologists, which is a regulatory requirement. Registered Psychologists ensure the tests are suitable for your organization's needs.3. Administer the tests: Decide on the timing and format of the tests. Some tests can be administered online, while others may require candidates to complete them in person under supervised conditions.4. Interpret the results: Chartered or Registered Psychologists Psychologists analyze the results of the tests to gain insights into candidates' strengths, weaknesses, and fit with the job requirements. When you receive the psychometric test report from the Psychologist consider the scores in combination with other selections tools like interviews and reference checks.5. Make informed decisions: Use the psychometric test results and other evaluation data to make informed hiring decisions. Consider the candidate's overall fit, including their skills, experience, and cultural fit within the organization. <h2>Administering and interpreting psychometric tests</h2>Once you have decided to use psychometric tests&nbsp; you must follow best practices to ensure the effectiveness and fairness of psychometric testing. Here are some guidelines to consider:1. Standardize the test administration: Ensure consistent test administration for all candidates to maintain fairness and reliability. Provide clear instructions and sufficient time for candidates to complete the tests.2. Use validated tests: Work with Registered Psychologists and use validated tests that have been rigorously tested for reliability and validity. This ensures that the tests accurately measure the intended psychological attributes.3. Combine multiple assessment methods: Psychometric tests should be used with other assessment methods, such as interviews and reference checks. This provides a more comprehensive and well-rounded evaluation of candidates.4. Train assessors: Train individuals to administer and interpret psychometric tests, which is done under the Psychologist's supervision. It would help if you got the psychologists to train all your managers on interpreting and understanding psychometrics. This ensures they know the tests, interpret the results accurately, and maintain confidentiality.5. Communicate with candidates: The Psychologist is responsible for giving feedback on psychometric results. They inform candidates about the purpose and nature of the tests, ensuring transparency throughout the hiring process. Address any concerns or questions they may have to maintain a positive candidate experience. <h2>Case studies: Success stories of companies using psychometric testing</h2>Numerous companies have successfully incorporated psychometric testing into their hiring processes, improving hiring outcomes. Here are a few examples:1. Company X: By implementing psychometric testing, Company X reduced its turnover rate by 30% and increased employee satisfaction. The tests helped identify candidates who had the necessary skills and fit well within the company's collaborative and innovative culture.2. Company Y: Company Y used cognitive ability tests to assess candidates' capacity to handle their current and future higher-level roles. The company developed a very successful succession plan, which is still operational.3. Company Z: By utilizing personality tests, Company Z improved team dynamics and reduced employee conflicts by using personality assessments as part of their team-building efforts. The tests helped identify individuals with complementary personality traits, creating a more cohesive and productive work environment.These success stories highlight the positive impact that psychometric testing can have on the hiring process, leading to better talent acquisition and improved organizational outcomes. <h2>Common misconceptions about psychometric testing</h2>Despite the numerous benefits of psychometric testing, some common misconceptions must be addressed. Let's debunk a few of them:1. Psychometric tests are unreliable: They are rigorously validated and standardized, ensuring their reliability and accuracy. Reputable assessment providers follow strict scientific protocols to develop and validate their tests.2. Psychometric tests can be easily manipulated: While candidates may try to present themselves in a favorable light, psychometric tests are designed to detect inconsistencies and response patterns that indicate dishonesty or attempts to deceive.3. Psychometric tests discriminate against certain groups: Valid psychometric tests are developed to be fair and unbiased. They are carefully designed to minimize any adverse impact on different demographic groups.4. Psychometric tests replace human judgment: Psychometric tests should be used to complement human judgment, not replace it. They provide objective information data that can assist in decision-making. <h2>Resources for implementing psychometric testing in your organization</h2>Implementing psychometric testing in your organization may require expert guidance and support. Here are some resources to help you get started:1. Professional assessment providers: Work with registered Psychologists who specialize in psychometric testing.&nbsp;2. Industry associations and conferences: Attend industry conferences and engage with professional associations related to talent acquisition and human resources. These platforms often provide resources, workshops, and networking opportunities.&nbsp; <h2>Conclusion: The future of hiring - leveraging the power of psychometric testing</h2>Organizations must adapt their hiring processes to identify candidate for each job. By moving beyond the limitations of traditional resumes and embracing psychometric testing, employers can gain valuable insights into candidates' potential, personality, and cultural fit. Psychometric testing offers a more objective and comprehensive assessment of of candidates, leading to better hiring decisions. By incorporating psychometric testing into the hiring process, employers can transform their talent acquisition strategies and secure suitable candidates for long-term success. Say goodbye to the traditional resume-centered approach and unlock the power of psychometric testing in your organization's hiring process.

Beyond Resumes: How Psychometric Testing Can Transform the Hiring Process

At its core, Castellion embraced the "period of discretion" concept championed by Dr. Elliott Jacques, recognizing the value of decision-making autonomy in shaping job worth.

Born in the 1950s amidst the bustling breweries of South Africa, the Castellion system of job evaluation holds a rich history steeped in the quest for fairness and transparency in employee compensation. Conceived by Arthur Cortis of South African Breweries Group (SAB), this system drew its name from the iconic "Castle" and "Lion" lager brands, forever linking its fate to the dynamic world of brewing. At its core, Castellion embraced the "period of discretion" concept championed by Dr. Elliott Jacques, recognizing the value of decision-making autonomy in shaping job worth. The system started as a hybrid, blending the strengths of factor comparison and points rating methods. It soon underwent a transformative phase in the 1960s, streamlining its focus to three fundamental factors: Effort, Responsibility, and Competence. Each factor, further divided into two sub-factors, provided a clear and insightful framework for evaluating the demands and complexities of diverse roles. The Castellion system's appeal quickly transcended the walls of SAB, finding wide adoption across Zimbabwe, Namibia, and other African nations. Its user-friendly structure and emphasis on objectivity resonated with organizations in various industries, from manufacturing and banking to public services. By providing a common language for understanding job worth and fostering transparency in salary structures, Castellion earned its place as a trusted instrument in employee relations. In Zimbabwe, roughly 38% of organizations use the Catellion system. Yet, the journey hasn't been without challenges. As the workforce and workplace dynamics evolved, the system faced questions about potential biases in its factor structure and reliance on individual judgment. However, the Castellion system has evolved instead of succumbing to these critiques. Organizations tailor the system to their needs, demonstrating its inherent flexibility and willingness to evolve. Today, the Castellion system retains its relevance despite facing modern challenges in employee evaluation. Its practicality and ease of implementation remain valuable, while its commitment to transparency and fairness resonates with the generality of the workforce. As we look towards the future, Castellion faces exciting possibilities. Integration with technological advancements and data-driven approaches could further enhance its validity and reliability, ensuring its continued role in shaping a fair and transparent world of work. <h2>The Catellion system grade jobs based on 6 factors, which are explained below.</h2> <h3>Decision Making</h3>In the Castellion system, Decision Making is the cornerstone of effort, reflecting the mental exertion in choosing optimal courses of action. It goes beyond mere rote selection, demanding varying degrees of judgment and information processing depending on the situation. The complexity of decisions forms the basis for evaluating this factor. Decisions range from those based on readily available information and well-established procedures (low complexity) to those requiring complex problem-solving, abstract analysis, and weighing o <h3>The Decision-Making Scale: A Framework for Evaluation</h3>The Castellion system categorizes decision-making into four levels:<ul><li>Decisions based on rote memory involve applying well-defined procedures and readily available information to routine tasks.</li><li>Decisions based on pragmatic experience:&nbsp;Past experiences and practical knowledge guide these decisions,&nbsp;often in familiar contexts with predictable outcomes.</li><li>Decisions involving adaptive thinking:&nbsp;This level demands adapting established procedures to address novel situations,&nbsp;requiring flexibility and judgment in interpreting diverse information.</li><li>Strategic decisions:&nbsp;These involve long-term planning,&nbsp;analysis of complex data,&nbsp;and weighing of uncertain future outcomes.&nbsp;They require the highest level of analytical and strategic thinking.</li></ul> <h3>Pressure of work&nbsp;</h3> In the Castellion system, the Pressure of Work factor stands alongside decision-making to paint a complete picture of the mental effort required by a job. It goes beyond mere workload, focusing on the intensity and urgency of decision-making, the juggling of diverse tasks, and the constant shifts in context that can all build mental strain. Even light workloads can become intensely pressurized if they demand frequent, critical decisions across varied tasks with tight deadlines. The scoring for this factor considers this complexity, with higher categories and scores within them reflecting greater pressure and a larger multiplier applied to the Decision-Making score. Ultimately, the Pressure of Work serves to amplify the mental exertion experienced in making those decisions, providing a nuanced and comprehensive assessment of the overall effort demanded by a particular job. <h3>Controls and Checks&nbsp;</h3>Completing the picture of mental effort in the Castellion system, Control and Checks, or Independence, explores the autonomy granted to a jobholder, revealing the layers of trust entrusted and the degree of self-driving leadership expected. It's a journey from tightly controlled tasks with frequent check-ins, where prescribed controls limit agency, to the strategic heights of organizational control, where individuals juggle conflicting objectives over the years with minimal oversight. In the middle lie indirect controls, where discussions shift to abstract concepts and long-term assessments, and remote controls, where trust in independent planning and execution blossoms. Annual checks mark a significant leap, with a year's performance being scrutinized, revealing the ability to navigate complexity and deliver on long-term goals. Then comes the rarefied air of organizational control, where numerous, often conflicting objectives become the playground, and success hinges on strategic choices and balancing diverse pressures with minimal intervention. Finally, atop the pyramid sits top-level control, where performance is judged only by the highest leadership, and potential consequences transcend immediate concerns. This spectrum of oversight reveals the level of trust poured into a jobholder, highlighting their freedom and responsibility in shaping their work and achieving desired outcomes.&nbsp; <h3>Consequence of Error of Judgement&nbsp;</h3>The Castellion system's fourth pillar, Consequences of Error of Judgment, delves into the potential impact of flawed decisions, revealing the magnitude of responsibility entrusted to a jobholder. It's a spectrum of repercussions, stretching from minor inconveniences to catastrophic organizational failures. At the lowest rung, limited consequences arise when safeguards and standard practices minimize the error's reach. Here, wasted time and labor might be the worst-case scenario, with a potential dip in goodwill for the organization. Moving up, a limited sphere of assets or work becomes susceptible to errors, potentially affecting departmental functioning or causing high-nuisance inconveniences. Long-term implications may emerge at the next level, where poor supervision, ineffective administration, or compromised professional standards accumulate into noticeable costs. The stakes indeed rise beyond this point. Significant organizational performance reductions become possible, with faulty senior appointments or poor corporate design potentially leaving lasting scars. Losses may never be fully recovered, and the organization's ability to achieve its objectives hangs in the balance. Finally, at the apex of accountability, damaging consequences loom large, threatening the organization's efficiency and operational viability for years to come.&nbsp; This spectrum of potential pitfalls underscores the weight of judgment resting on certain jobholders. The magnitude of consequences associated with their decisions shapes the degree of trust and responsibility they carry.&nbsp; <h3>Education&nbsp;</h3>Education in Castellion forms a straightforward ladder, reflecting the essential knowledge required for job performance. Each rung represents a step up in formal schooling or training, with points assigned based on qualifications achieved. From basic reading and arithmetic in primary education to complex calculations and scientific understanding at post-graduate levels, the system maps varying degrees of knowledge to job demands. Higher qualifications translate to higher points, reflecting the increased mental effort and responsibility associated with more specialized skills. <h3>Experience&nbsp;</h3>Experience, in the Castellion system, acts as a time-tested amplifier, enriching the raw power of education. It recognizes that theoretical knowledge needs real-world seasoning to blossom into practical skill and confident responsibility. Each rung on the experience ladder, measured in years of directly relevant service, earns points that multiply the education score, reflecting the deeper understanding and adaptability. From essential minimum requirements to seasoned mastery, the system rewards the gradual transformation of knowledge into practical experience.&nbsp; <h2>Conclusion&nbsp;</h2>While not without limitations, Castellion continues to hold its ground as a reliable tool. Its adaptability allows customization to specific contexts, and its potential for integration with data-driven approaches promises further refinement. Ultimately, the Castellion system is a testament to the enduring quest for fairness and transparency in employee compensation.&nbsp;

The Castellion Job Evaluation System

Hiring the right talent is arguably one of the most critical challenges faced by organizations in today's competitive business landscape.

Hiring the right talent is arguably one of the most critical challenges faced by organizations in today's competitive business landscape.&nbsp; The success of any company depends on its people, making the process of selecting and onboarding new employees a pivotal aspect of human resources management.&nbsp; See the strategies and insights from HR experts to help you make more informed and effective hiring decisions. <h2>The High Stakes of Hiring</h2>The consequences of a bad hire can be far-reaching, impacting an organization's productivity, culture, and bottom line.&nbsp; A survey conducted by CareerBuilder found that a bad hire can cost a company, on average, nearly $15,000.&nbsp; Beyond the financial cost, a poor hiring decision can result in decreased employee morale, increased workloads for colleagues, and disrupted team dynamics.&nbsp; To mitigate these risks, HR experts stress the importance of a thoughtful and systematic hiring process. <h2>Begin with a Clear Job Description</h2>Before you even start the hiring process, it's essential to create a clear and detailed job description.&nbsp; HR experts emphasize that a well-crafted job description not only attracts suitable candidates but also helps hiring managers identify the best fit for the role.&nbsp; This description should include information about the role's responsibilities, required qualifications, and expectations. Be specific about the skills, experience, and attributes you're seeking in an ideal candidate. Laura Thompson, an HR consultant with over 15 years of experience, advises, "A comprehensive job description serves as your blueprint for the hiring process. It helps you set clear expectations and standards for the role, ensuring that you attract candidates who are not only qualified but also motivated to excel in the position." <h2>Define Your Company Culture</h2>Hiring for success goes beyond just matching skills to job descriptions. It involves finding candidates who will thrive in your company's culture. Company culture is a crucial aspect of talent acquisition.&nbsp; HR experts suggest that a candidate who aligns with your organization's values, beliefs, and working style is more likely to be a long-term, successful hire. Don't underestimate the significance of cultural fit. The best candidate on paper might not be the best fit for your team. It's essential to assess how well a potential hire's values and working style align with your company's culture. <h2>Leverage Data-Driven Recruitment</h2>In the digital age, data is king, and this principle applies to HR as well. HR experts are increasingly turning to data-driven recruitment to improve the hiring process.&nbsp; Utilizing applicant tracking systems, HR professionals can collect and analyze data on applicants, helping them make more informed decisions. Data-driven recruitment involves gathering and analyzing information about applicants, such as their past work history, skills, and performance metrics. This data can help HR teams identify patterns and trends, leading to better hiring decisions. By using data to predict a candidate's potential success in a role, organizations can reduce the risk of making costly hiring mistakes. Click the link to see high-quality <a href="https://www.resumewriter.sg/blog/resume-samples/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(74, 110, 224);">examples of resumes</a> that follows the applicant tracking system that can help to identify suitable candidates. <h2>Develop Structured Interview Processes</h2>The interview is a pivotal step in the hiring process, and many HR experts stress the importance of a structured interview process.&nbsp; Structured interviews are based on a predetermined set of questions that are asked of all candidates. This consistency allows for fair and objective evaluation. In addition to structured interviews, HR experts recommend involving multiple interviewers to gain different perspectives on candidates. This can help ensure that every crucial aspect is noticed and increase the chances of making the right hire. <h2>Embrace Behavioral Interviewing</h2>Behavioral interviewing is a technique employed by HR experts to assess how candidates have behaved in specific situations in the past. This method is based on the belief that past behavior is an excellent predictor of future behavior.&nbsp; In a behavioral interview, candidates are asked to provide real-life examples of how they have handled various work-related scenarios. Behavioral interviewing is a powerful tool for understanding how a candidate will perform in your organization. It enables you to dig deep into their experiences and evaluate whether they possess the skills and qualities needed for the role. By examining a candidate's past actions, you can gain valuable insights into their problem-solving abilities, interpersonal skills, and overall suitability for the position. <h2>Utilize Skill Assessments</h2>Skill assessments are becoming increasingly popular in the hiring process, particularly for technical and specialized roles. These assessments are practical tests or tasks that candidates must complete to demonstrate their skills and knowledge.&nbsp; HR experts recommend using skill assessments to validate a candidate's abilities and verify that they can perform the job's essential tasks. Skill assessments are a reliable way to evaluate a candidate's competence. They provide concrete evidence of a candidate's capabilities, which can be especially valuable when hiring for technical or specialized positions. For instance, if you're hiring a software developer, you can ask them to complete a coding challenge to assess their coding skills and problem-solving abilities. <h2>Prioritize Soft Skills</h2>While technical skills are crucial, soft skills are equally important in determining a candidate's success within your organization.&nbsp; Soft skills encompass attributes like communication, teamwork, adaptability, and emotional intelligence. HR experts emphasize the significance of assessing these skills during the hiring process. To evaluate soft skills, consider incorporating situational or scenario-based questions into your interviews. Ask candidates to describe how they have handled challenges that required strong communication or adaptability. <h2>The Importance of Diversity and Inclusion</h2>Diversity and inclusion have become top priorities for HR experts and organizations worldwide.&nbsp; A diverse workforce brings a broader range of perspectives and experiences, which can drive innovation and creativity. HR experts recommend actively promoting diversity and inclusion in your hiring practices. To achieve this, organizations can adopt strategies like blind recruitment, where candidate information that could lead to bias is removed from application materials.&nbsp; Additionally, conducting diversity training for interviewers can help minimize unconscious bias during interviews. <h2>Continuous Learning and Adaptation</h2>The field of HR and talent acquisition is continuously evolving. HR experts stress the importance of staying informed about the latest trends and technologies in the industry.&nbsp; Being open to adapting your hiring strategies based on emerging best practices is key to long-term success. The world of work is constantly changing, and HR must evolve with it. Stay up to date with industry trends, attend conferences, and network with other HR professionals to exchange insights and learn from each other. By continuously learning and adapting, you can ensure that your organization remains at the forefront of effective hiring practices. <h2>Conclusion</h2>Hiring for success is a multifaceted and complex process that demands a thoughtful and systematic approach.&nbsp; While there is no one-size-fits-all approach to hiring, incorporating these strategies and insights can help organizations make more informed and effective hiring decisions.&nbsp; In an era where talent is a competitive advantage, getting the hiring process right can set your organization on a path to long-term success and growth.

Hiring for Success: Strategies and Insights from HR Experts

Many thought that IoT technologies have nothing to do with how Human Resources function. However, as it turns out, IoT can benefit HR in various ways. As a result, more and more HR leaders and managers are turning to the Internet of Things, with many organisations upping the ante and preparing their HR workforce for these waves of new technology.

Many thought that IoT technologies have nothing to do with how Human Resources function. However, as it turns out, IoT can benefit HR in various ways. As a result, more and more HR leaders and managers are turning to the Internet of Things, with many organisations upping the ante and preparing their HR workforce for these waves of new technology.&nbsp; The Internet of Things refers to the exploding numbers of connected smart devices. It can be anything, from smartphones to smartwatches, fitness trackers, and thermostats. So, how does IoT affect HR's functions?&nbsp; Read on to find out how the Internet of Things is changing HR.	 <h2>1. Productivity</h2> IoT can help improve productivity among employees. These technologies have eye-tracking capabilities to detect eye movement through sensors. By tracking these motions, HR personnel can identify factors like specific working hours or disruptions due to background noises. The information HR can gather using IoT technologies can help them collect data on how productive employees are, especially those working remotely. As a result, they can help employees improve time and stress management through sessions, allowing them to be more productive during working hours.&nbsp; In addition, IoT sensor technology can help identify who among the employees is the most productive, enabling them to assist employees where needed. For instance, they can install a beacon in a keyboard to help count presses per minute. When HR notices the employee is more efficient with typing than taking calls, they can transfer that employee to the back office to improve productivity. HR can also use IoT devices to monitor the workplace's physical parameters. For instance, resource management software can provide real-time information about an employee's performance status, helping to enhance workforce productivity levels.&nbsp; If HR notices low productivity, they can use IoT to gauge external factors affecting the employee's performance. It can be due to factors like humidity, temperature, and luminosity. The device will help them determine which of these factors are causing a hindrance to productivity. They can also leverage smart devices to help keep employees fit and active and help them to perform at their best.&nbsp; <h2>2. Employee Experience&nbsp;</h2> HR can leverage IoT to improve the employee experience. It helps ensure workplace comfort and well-being. Employers want their workers to be productive without compromising their health and well-being. An employee with health issues can lead to more sick days, affecting productivity and reducing revenue. IoT devices like wearables can provide HR with data about employees' health, from walking distance to vitals, number of steps, food intake, etc.&nbsp; HR can identify any health issues and identify hazardous situations according to the data that these IoT devices can provide. For instance, some wearables can pinpoint specific locations of sick employees and establish a map of safety and pre-authorized zones. IoT technologies can also help make the workplace safer, improving efficiency and productivity.&nbsp; Another way IoT is helping improve employee experience is by offering the option for remote work. While the "work from home" trend has soared in popularity during the pandemic, it continues to be popular, with more and more companies giving employees the freedom and flexibility to work anywhere. Furthermore, IoT has helped make team collaboration quicker and more reliable, thanks to apps, video and <a href="https://www.adobe.com/express/create/video/animation " rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">animation video</a> conferencing tools. IoT empowers employees to take control of their work lives and have a healthy work-life balance. More and more employees are now working from the comfort of their homes with the help of IoT devices to stay connected and collaborate with their teams at the office. These tools allow them to make decisions based on previous actions and carry out duties without a command, cutting the time out of the typical workday by allowing employees to remain connected, thanks to innovative communication methods. Experts predict IoT will <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/iotagenda/opinion/IoT-trends-to-keep-an-eye-on" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); background-color: transparent;">continue to grow</a> and become more seamless in the coming years, creating an improved employee experience for increased productivity. There will be less downtime, and employees will spend less time performing unnecessary tasks like retrieving lost emails.&nbsp; Above all, IoT helps HR monitor employees' health, which could disrupt work and affect productivity. With the data gathered from IoT, HR can devise a plan to improve the workplace, resulting in happier and more productive employees.&nbsp; <h2>3. Improve Recruitment&nbsp;</h2> One of the benefits of IoT in HR is improving the recruitment process. Recruitment is one department that entails a lot of paperwork, from job ads to resumes. With the help of IoT, HR can minimise the use of paperwork. The technology allows HR to store everything online, including employment history and personal details. To integrate IoT in recruitment, companies must consider <a href="https://www.ko2.co.uk/iot-recruitment/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); background-color: transparent;">hiring IoT engineers</a> to help set up an HR-related system.&nbsp; Data analytics has been around since 2005. However, it has only become relevant today. Studies show that almost 30% of employers believe one bad hire can cost them a lot of money. Big data and IoT can prevent this by helping recruiters to gather data about potential hires through various means, from online resumes to social media profiles and employment records.&nbsp; The process has allowed companies to be more selective when hiring prospective employees. It has also resulted in increased demand for data scientists across all industries. Using data analytics for recruitment allows HR to find the best talents much faster without browsing through thousands of resumes. In addition, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-can-iot-do-hr-sophie-kelly" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); background-color: transparent;">IoT is helping HR</a> engage in a bias-free hiring process, which is essential in this age, where diversity and inclusivity are a priority. IoT technologies are helping to remove biases in all aspects of the hiring process. They help augment an organisation's recruitment practices in a technologically advanced world, resulting in a more diverse and inclusive recruitment process. Furthermore, HR can use AI-backed interviewing tools to help them identify the best candidates from the job market. IoT also helps HR to develop online assessments that can be an effective way to assess candidates without unconscious biases. In addition, IoT technologies can help to eliminate inconsistencies seen throughout the hiring process.

How the Internet of Things is Changing HR

Safe recruitment is essential for safeguarding the welfare of children and young individuals. All organisations that employ staff or volunteers to work with children and young people are responsible for protecting their interests. Part of this is by ensuring they adopt a safe recruitment and selection process to prevent unsuitable individuals from gaining access to kids and putting their safety at risk.

Safe recruitment is essential for safeguarding the welfare of children and young individuals. All organisations that employ staff or volunteers to work with children and young people are responsible for protecting their interests. Part of this is by ensuring they adopt a safe recruitment and selection process to prevent unsuitable individuals from gaining access to kids and putting their safety at risk. So, here's how to make the recruitment process safer. <h2>1. Develop Safer Recruitment Policies and Procedures</h2> Establishing <a href="https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/safeguarding-child-protection/safer-recruitment" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">safer recruitment</a> policies and procedures is vital towards protecting the children and young people who will be in contact with staff and volunteers. In addition, it's also essential to develop clear written procedures and ensure everyone involved with any form of recruitment knows how to adhere to them. This help to ensure that organisations are recruiting staff and volunteers fairly and safely and that the safety of the children is given priority in every state of the recruitment process. The first step is to plan the process of recruitment. You must establish a solid plan and ensure a consistent approach when recruiting new staff or volunteers. A planned and structured approach can help minimise the risk of hiring someone unsuitable. Furthermore, it helps to ensure you are recruiting the right individual for the role, and there are records of the process for future reference. Following a written recruitment procedure can also mean you will be less likely to miss out each time you recruit. In addition, it helps to ensure you adhere to the proper legislation and guidance whenever you bring someone into the organisation. Consider the resources you will need and how to make these available during recruitment, including ensuring enough people are there to conduct interviews. Above all, the document should define the role of the people you are hiring. It should highlight the safeguarding responsibilities of every person working with kids and young children, along with the role description and specification. <h2>2. Thorough Background Checks and Assessing Risk</h2> It is vital for organisations that appoint staff and volunteers to work with children to carry out specific background checks and pre-employment screenings on new employees to minimise the risk of child abuse. Thorough background checks and risk assessments are essential during recruitment, improving your chances of making the right hiring decision. It can include everything, from employment history to social media checks, education checks, sanction list checks, and more. The process can require contacting previous employers and personal references to determine if the person is suitable for working with children and young individuals.&nbsp; A comprehensive background check can help uncover any red flags that may not be visible on a resume or during interviews, such as a criminal history or past misconduct in the workplace. Conducting an employee background check can help mitigate the risk of hiring an individual that can threaten the welfare of children and vulnerable individuals in the organisation. When conducting employee verification, it is not enough that you confirm hiring dates and reasons for leaving from past employers. You must do a deep dive to uncover how these individuals performed in their past job, especially if it involves working with children. If the person submits a certification to prove they have undergone safeguarding training, contact the institutions that offer such training to confirm and ensure the document's legitimacy. <h2>3. Safeguarding Awareness&nbsp;</h2> One way to <a href="https://www.virtual-college.co.uk/courses/safeguarding-training" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">make the recruitment process safer</a> is to ensure you are hiring those with Safeguarding Awareness. Otherwise, organisations should let the staff undergo safeguarding training. The Safeguarding Awareness Training will teach employees how to protect children and young people from abuse and maltreatment.&nbsp; The training will also teach participants how to prevent harm to vulnerable kids and protect their welfare, ensuring they grow up with safe and effective care. It will also discuss the proper actions to take if they suspect abuse or maltreatment. It is essential for schools and organisations working with children to have up-to-date and reliable safeguarding training to support them in ensuring the safety of the children and students under their care.&nbsp; It is crucial for safeguarding training to reflect an individual's role in the organisation. Thus, it's worth considering taking bespoke courses that can help participants gain confidence and knowledge to ensure children's safety. The most <a href="https://www.england.nhs.uk/safeguarding/about/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">effective safeguarding</a> training materials will allow you to develop and improve safeguarding practices to ensure the safety of children and young people in your organisations. In addition, organisations should regularly update the training materials, and ensure everyone working with children, including volunteers, must receive the updates. <h2>4. Manage any Allegations of Inappropriate Behaviour		</h2> When you uncover allegations of inappropriate behaviour during recruitment, you should be able to manage and address these concerns in the most appropriate way possible. Your organisation must assess whether or not they are still suitable to work with children and young people despite the allegations. It's crucial to have clear procedures in place on how to manage these allegations.&nbsp; You may need to put a hold on any formal offer of appointment to ensure you have enough time to consider everything. Depending on the nature of the allegations, you may need to pass the information to relevant authorities like police, professional bodies, and criminal records agency.&nbsp; The organisation's policies and procedures must make clear to whom these incidents will be reported and must be done without any delay. Organisations should have a case manager who will take the lead in investigating the incident. In schools, it can be the principal or head teacher. But when the head teacher is the subject of the allegation, the chair of governors or management committee should lead the investigation. If the lead investigator has identified the child has been harmed, there is an immediate risk of harm to the child, and the situation is deemed emergency, the police and children's social care and should be informed immediately. The case manager should discuss with the authorities the nature and context of the allegation.

How to Make the Recruitment Process Safer

When building an HR department, you must get it right from the start since it can significantly impact the overall success of your business. Perhaps, your organisation has not had an HR department and has been operating at the bare minimum to get going. Or maybe you are just starting and wondering how to establish an HR team from scratch.

When building an HR department, you must get it right from the start since it can significantly impact the overall success of your business. Perhaps, your organisation has not had an HR department and has been operating at the bare minimum to get going. Or maybe you are just starting and wondering how to establish an HR team from scratch.&nbsp; While building an HR team can take up much of your time, it is well worth it. HR can help ensure compliance and plays an essential role in keeping your team productive and engaged. So, here's how to build an HR Department from scratch. <h2>1. Start with a Strategy	</h2> When establishing <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/civil-service-human-resources-profession" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">an HR Team</a>, it's crucial to focus on strategy and analytics. Strategy serves as the roadmap for solving the organisation's challenges using people-centric solutions. Such an approach requires HR input, highlighting the importance of recruitment, talent acquisition, compensation, and corporate culture. A crucial thing to remember when developing strategy is that HR must generally show the organisation how things are done instead of doing it for them. The HR's function is to lead and establish people-centric strategies, supporting the company's objectives. Without a strategy, HR is a mere administrative function, which could hinder the organisation's growth. A strategic company gives HR a seat at the table from the start, assigning roles like researching locations that are advantageous for employees and developing a long-term plan to network highly qualified candidates.&nbsp; Developing an <a href="https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/strategic-human-resource-management/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">HR strategy</a> will require a closer look at the organisation's strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities. Such a process is known as the SWOT analysis. Talk to people within the organisation to understand the company's achievements, the products or services it is offering and what it wants to accomplish in the future.&nbsp; Next, evaluate the employees' skillsets by reviewing their performance, checking their resumes, and assessing their overall skill level. A crucial aspect of developing an HR strategy is analytics, from compensation history to employee engagement, turnover rates, and other metrics that can affect strategic decisions. <h2>2. Create Policies and Procedures	</h2> An organisation has to operate within guidelines. Thus, a crucial step in developing an HR department is to create policies and procedures. These should describe the organisation's operations, how to execute the business and under which guidelines you expect employees to perform.&nbsp; Basically, HR policies and procedures serve as guidelines on how employees will execute their tasks in the company and what they can and cannot do in the organisation. These also serve as guidelines on the activities that employees can and cannot perform in the company, along with decisions they can and cannot make. The policies can come in the form of a plain and high-level statement that formally briefs with an inclusion of the organisation's goals, procedures, and objectives to a specific area of the subject. It should specify the action required and define the standard parameters. The procedures should define the job process and state which tasks must be performed by whom. These should also include details on when to accomplish the job and the criteria for carrying out the tasks. The organisation's policies can serve as a guiding principle to set a direction for employees. On the other hand, procedures are processes that everyone must consistently follow to help achieve the organisation's goals. When combined, the policies and procedures can help employees by directing them on their tasks and responsibilities. <h2>3. Create a HR Data System	</h2> Another crucial step for creating an HR department is developing an HR Data System, a tool that collects and stores data of the organisation's employees. It can include personal details, payroll, benefits, training, performance, time, attendance, etc. The data that the tool gathers is valuable for making crucial decisions. The HR Data System can provide a centralised repository of employee master data that the HR Department needs to accomplish its core functions. An effective HR Data System can help HR and organisations be more efficient.&nbsp; Aside from storing and managing data, the HR data system can process employee data, like names, addresses, Social Security Numbers, work permits, data of their dependents, and other relevant employee data. In some cases, it helps improve several functions in HR, from recruiting to applicant tracking, managing time and attendance, and performance appraisals. The tool can also come with self-service functions for employees. In some ways, the HR Data System can be considered a smart database that keeps employees' information. An efficient HR Data System can breathe new life into the HR processes and procedures. While the benefits can vary depending on the system, some of its key benefits include helping expedite HR tasks, reducing paperwork, and improving the HR Department's productivity. More importantly, the HR Data System can help maintain business compliance. HR tasks are highly regulated and have little to no margin for error. HR Data Systems are equipped with monitoring capabilities designed with compliance regulations in mind, helping organisations to stay compliant and avoid legal issues.&nbsp; <h2>4. Turn to HR Recruitment Specialists	</h2> Consider <a href="https://jgarecruitment.com/hr-recruitment/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">turning to HR recruitment specialists</a> who can help build an HR Department from scratch. Instead of training everyone on the team, you can focus on the more crucial issues of your business and rely on specialists to manage HR-related tasks. One of the challenges of building an HR department is looking for the right people. Of course, you want to hire the best talents. Turning to HR specialists can curtail the challenges of finding talented professionals who meet your requirements.&nbsp; Outsourcing your HR can help you save resources that can help to expand your business. With their help, you can free yourself of the burden of hiring and managing an in-house HR team. As a result, you can focus your time and efforts on the more crucial business functions. The HR Recruitment Specialists can also help to smoothly onboard new hires by taking charge of orientation, training, and all things involved in onboarding. All that's left for you to do is conduct the final screening.

How to Build an HR Department from Scratch

This report outlines our investigation into how employers have responded to the decline in employee earnings resulting from currency depreciation.

<h1>Introduction</h1> This report outlines our investigation into how employers have responded to the decline in employee earnings resulting from currency depreciation. <h1>Methodology</h1> We used the following methodology in undertaking this assignment:<ol><li class="ql-align-justify">Market survey (using the online survey platform <a href="http://www.surveymonkey.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(5, 99, 193);">www.surveymonkey.com</a>) to ascertain employer responses with regards to the current currency depreciation;</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Analysed the responses and prepared a report.&nbsp;</li></ol> <h1>Participants Profile</h1>One hundred six Human Resources professionals representing different organizations participated in the survey. The distribution of participants by economic sector is shown in the table below:<img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/D6FjUSpxENXFqlBX-gLD-nvB7nd_SYXsWWicbNr57iSpZmkcxnQ-fiXa15kNTJxn5duUwVM498DLyv2PuOdmtmL20Ax1JWp5Wq3MM3Gi0nCQnQz_kIbdAbu_JbbuBbr72lk0VFPBEL6WP3GbTIiWZhY"> <h1><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/GxV3T1pN7FRwLP5npaVfZllU0sbLfS1q83xwIehVDSHl9A2dB9lURDmyAc-hGL23Wy38tec8K5bW80cNOYjGvO9kM0lV3-flEOzGWt2EgctctgvWPqRrJy7VDGfOFZdB6NTyGjAH1uEOE4p5NLxKKtvAmRVDRvBI"></h1> <h1>Findings&nbsp;</h1> <img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/sobQZ1AvLj0CbpdBHpDzmVRoZzjWdL4kIXS4QgzrBsjs6beVMisYrA5s81uYjMYpwdZR4lQbuUQ3SNufrOEu2gIlaM7CUv_3fh-iJFHFoNe8xlkSm1Ih7Mvn2Grdy1EKKinnio7TWAhcptcIH2J85eZSNW92xiWx"> <img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/M0Z4AAh-HpwcD0mkGgJ7W7svgm6l2KkpQl5BGEaYT5PEj3fXS8uaiGI2ZrJkdTZFMOoEyJ4PuIKnxfWXZAk5sLC-YwWTs0O-JLMYtzfdt5z5R7ttfeOCsyLFU1FU-AcAuDW0UnJ1PLTG6rOi2lRfK7zGKQWBjaI6"> 69% of the participants pay salaries using the US dollar and Zimbabwean dollar.&nbsp;<img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/MDw8H7-PXApMFQA_TgqqdkD1hip88N-Jw2JOJzUyoldq7E5SXrZT7EIqe7oDKYkrcTct_OzWGf-AAOw6WGK5c_uWIze9A796QtzqPACsDqn4BtX6BnzkVqW19DFDx6X6TgkPPPNPxHIAITjSIaJEBedrV_LT_xmh"> &nbsp;57% of the participants used the interbank, and 33% used a hybrid rate when paying salaries denominated in USD but payable in ZWL.<img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/7gJAO587-CDIuO9HHPJOOHtX3K9yLDXMdhQodtfUxbrXgFJyY3zrRDQqSFPm7T4mqhe6tP8598UfLoLAYCATn1rsEuDlrNgna7XDzXcd_rsNAO9QGXz3sMh2J47WY1DxgYhnCWnnAQLtg05nCyRGX5iOC8_o4DSs"> Based on the graph above, it can be observed that companies that pay in both currencies offer a range of percentage options for their USD component. The majority of participants fall into three categories: 32% pay between 40% and 59% of their total salaries in USD, 25% pay between 60% and 79% of their total salaries in USD, and another 32% pay between 80% and 100% of their total salaries in USD. It is worth noting that only a small proportion of participants pay less than 39% of their total salaries in USD. Strategies employers are using to address the loss of value on salaries due to exchange depreciation:One common approach is conducting monthly salary reviews and adjusting them based on the prevailing exchange rate. This allows employers to keep pace with changes in the market and ensure that their employees' salaries remain competitive. Some employers pay their employees in USD, eliminating the risk of exchange depreciation. However, this approach may not be feasible for all companies, depending on their financial resources and other factors. Another option is to provide employees with a cushioning allowance a week after salary payment. This can help to offset any losses due to exchange depreciation and provide employees with some financial stability. Some employers increase the USD component of the salaries and pay off transport and meal allowances in USD. This can help to ensure that employees have access to stable sources of USD income, which can be particularly important for those who rely on these allowances to cover their daily expenses. Some companies use a USD base and convert to ZWL at the prevailing rate of the day. This approach allows employers to provide their employees with some stability while still accounting for changes in the market. Other strategies include providing grocery allowances, paying once-off USD-pegged hardship allowances, paying at 32% more than the interbank rate, using a hybrid rate and giving employees USD in cash instead of depositing it into their bank accounts.&nbsp; <img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/SaJC-zNEyWBN_QqPj_Vjnll4TK0l2IsayEcEvf7U1kCLA4tioqKcDyUCeDe8kmq1HOptZQWo1uTsavbGx-SIZe8xsvEjse1XCf2G5XakYG_8176HFjOVC7FFG6yx6Z1P_tcAj9KK-Y4L7SQFMLoLTu7I3R0qXoIF"> <img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/wF9buHAVrqswCBz_uujbCig4GShJle5Mbo8I8mfvPBC-Xa7DMbdn9AKalLLTphtdlZ_MS-5_5COf1jm_dJtCrsO3npQ8IFzZQm7OOvMFTiDS_bGrHzxyaS9GzIwLRQGKWiHIzx_zyEwNMwgopT5eEZoEaN6vEHfD"> Others Challenges faced by participants:One challenge that companies face is constrained revenue inflows, which has made it difficult for them to pay market-related remuneration. In addition, the timing of salary processing is way too early, given the changes in the exchange rate. This has made it difficult for organizations to fund medical aid and pensions.&nbsp; <h1>About the Authors&nbsp;</h1> Memory Nguwi (Registered Psychologist) is the Managing Consultant of Industrial Psychology Consultants (IPC). You may contact him by email at <a href="mailto:mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(5, 99, 193);">mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com</a> Benjamin Sombi is the Business Analytics Manager at Industrial Psychology Consultants (IPC). You may contact him by email at <a href="mailto:benjamin@ipcconsultants.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(5, 99, 193);">benjamin@ipcconsultants.com</a> Nolwazi Mlala is the Business Analytics Consultant at Industrial Psychology Consultants (IPC). You may contact him by email at <a href="mailto:nolwazi@ipcconsultants.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(5, 99, 193);">nolwazi@ipcconsultants.com</a>&nbsp; If you would like to discuss this report, please contact one of the authors.

Employer Responses to Erosion of Employee Earnings

A pay structure is a series of grades showing each grade's minimum, midpoint, and maximum salary. What anchors the pay structure is that jobs have been adequately evaluated and put in grades. The grades show the relative value of jobs to the organisation.&nbsp;A pay structure can be developed based results of a job evaluation. Others who may not have a job evaluation system in place prefer to use market pricing. In market pricing, jobs are ranked based on the market salary. This could be the median or the 75th percentile.&nbsp;The two approached all can lead to the development of a pay structure. The critical question for most people is why would their organisation need a pay structure.\n\n\n<ol><li>Internal equity – A pay structure brings internal equity; when employees feel what they are paid relative to other people in the organisation is justified by variation in job content and performance. When jobs are put in a grading structure, and a pay structure is developed based on a grading structure, most employees accept salary differentiation supported by a credible pay structure. If your organisation does not have a pay structure, people may start by not complaining. As the organisation employs more people, you will begin to hear complaints around salaries; specifically, people start questioning why John earns more than Grace when they are all doing similar jobs. The only cure is to commission a job evaluation and a pay structure project. You can not explain equity issues away, and they need a pay structure that is properly run.</li><li>External equity is your employees' feeling about how well they are paid compared to similar positions outside your organisation. The reference point is usually the market. When your employees start raising issues indicating that they are underpaid compared to the market, you must remember to refer to external equity. The only solution is to develop a pay structure anchored on a chosen market position for the company. This could be the median or the 75th percentile, or even 90th percentiles subject to affordability and sustainability.</li><li>The pay structure allows you to have a procedure for paying staff based on performance and skills scarcity. Although not recommended, other organisations factor in the experience and education level of the individual employees. The guiding principle is that new employees and less experienced employees are paid close to the minimum of their grades. It would help if you targeted to deliver your top performers around the midpoint. Only exceptional talent should be paid close to the</li><li>Process equity – this deals with how employees perceive fairness or equity in the administration of the salary and benefit system. Process equity is strongly influenced by the system's openness, communication of the system to employees, and participation in the system's design.</li><li>Pay &amp; Grades – the relationship between pay and grades can only be brought to life through a pay structure. If that connection is not established, your organisation will likely have frequent pay complaints from employees.</li><li>Benefits Structure – The pay structure allows you to align your benefits with the grades and pay structure. For example, you may find that roles in a particular grade are entitled to certain benefits that vary from the other grades. It is always advisable to have both a pay structure and benefits structure.</li><li>Pay range – the pay range in the difference between the maximum and minimum salary in a grade. It helps you to vary people's salaries based on performance. A pay structure has ranges because there is an acknowledgment that while a grade groups jobs of equal value, the individuals occupying those roles do not bring equal value. The range then allows you to differentiate what people will earn based on performance. Each grade provides for a range of pay. Within a pay grade range, there is a minimum, median, and maximum pay. The preferred range in the current environment is from 20 to 60 percent.</li><li><a href="https://www.ipcconsultants.com/blog/the-job-interview-as-an-employee-selection-tool-an-employers-guide-to-good-practice" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Staff turnover</a> – With a haphazard salary administration system, you will likely experience significant staff turnover. It is also likely that you will find it hard to retain competent staff. A good pay structure that is well administered sends a strong message to your employees and potential employees that you are organised.</li><li>Salary Progression - The percentage change in the median value (mid-point) from one adjacent pay grade to the next. It is important to note that the progression affects the size of the entire organisation's wage bill; the smaller the progression, the smaller the size of the wage bill, and the larger the progression, the larger the size of the wage bill. Progressions tend to vary from 10 to 40 percent. It is also important to mention that lower differences are normally found in low grades with unskilled, semi-skilled, and clerical workers.</li><li>Remuneration Policy – The pay structure helps you to manage a clean remuneration system. For your pay structure to have a longer life span, you need to support it with a remuneration policy. The remuneration policy will spell out how the pay structure will be adjusted to consider changes in the market, such as cost of living and general market salary movements.</li></ol>\n\n\nSuppose you do not have a pay structure, you probably experiencing several HR challenges related to staff retention and attraction.&nbsp;If you are in this situation, the best option is to have a job evaluation done and a proper pay structure designed for your organisation.\n\nMemory Nguwi is an Occupational Psychologist, Data Scientist, Speaker, &amp; Managing Consultant- Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd, a management and human resources consulting firm. https://www.thehumancapitalhub.com&nbsp;email: mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com.

10 Reasons why your organisation needs a pay structure

The hiring of top-quality staff is the most crucial part of any leader's job. The rest of the job is more straightforward for any leader once they have hired the best candidates for each position. In practice, this process is not as easy as it looks on paper for various reasons. Hiring people is one of the most corrupt practices in managing human resources. Hiring practices are worse for those organisations not operating in competitive environments. They can afford to hire poor-quality staff and survive because the government either funds them or is a monopoly in their market. If an organisation has poor hiring standards and is operating in a competitive environment, it often struggles at the bottom of that market.\n\nOne of the tools often used to select potential employees is the interview method. While this process is popular, it is beset with <a href=""https://www.thehumancapitalhub.com/articles/Why-The-Job-Interview-Is-The-Worst-Selection-Tool"">many challenges</a> making it the most vulnerable selection tool available. The interview method is also subject to manipulation and biases that can make it the least effective way for selecting employees.&nbsp; Research already shows that the interview method can only be effective if it's structured versus unstructured. The common interview method on the market is mainly unstructured, making it less effective in selecting employees.&nbsp; To make the job interview method an effective way for selecting employees, employers can take the following steps:\n\n\n<ol type=""1""><li>The first step in designing a structured and effective interview process is to start with job analysis. Job analysis allows you to establish the Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Other characteristics required from an individual to perform the job effectively. The KSAOs cannot be derived from a standard job description that we see on the market. The job descriptions prepared for job evaluation purposes are not good enough to establish KSAOs. To develop credible KSAOs that will be the bedrock of your recruitment and selection processes, you need to use reliable tools for conducting job analysis. There are reliable tools that can be used for this purpose. If you want to see samples of job profiles developed for hiring purposes, look at the <a href=""https://www.onetonline.org/"">O*Net Online</a>. When designing your job profiles for hiring, they should ultimately lead you to minimum hiring standards.&nbsp; When doing job analysis, do not rely on job incumbents. You need to put together at least 3 Subject Matter Experts. A Subject Matter Expert (SME) is a person with a deep understanding of a particular job to give an expert opinion. When selecting such people in your job analysis process, choose at least three people for each role. These are interviewed through a standardised questionnaire to enable a proper summary of essential duties and KSAOs. In some instances, the SMEs can be incumbents provided the persons chosen are competent enough to give an expert opinion on the job. If you decide to use job incumbents, make sure you also include other people; supervisors of the role, employees who occupied the position before but have since been promoted to higher roles.&nbsp;</li><li>When designing the job advert based on the output of the above process, please avoid putting anything under ""Added Advantage"". Anything that has not been listed as a minimum hiring standard should not be used to prepare an advert. I see most organisations waste their time putting things under added advantage. This will exclude capable people. If an organisation requires a minimum of a first degree, is an MBA an added advantage in performing that role? This is not necessarily true, therefore do not list anything under added advantage.</li><li>The most effective job interviews are competency-based interviews and situational interviews.&nbsp; In both cases, the design of interview questions is the key. A solid job analysis must inform this design. Situational interviews are based on data collected through critical incidents that have happened in the job before. The output of the essential incidents is then used to feed into the interview questions.</li><li>To get the maximum value out of job interviews, you need to have a standardised process for carrying out the job interview.<ol><li>&nbsp;This means that all questions must have agreed response parameters agreed in advance.</li></ol><ol><li>All candidates are asked the same questions</li></ol><ol><li>No other questions are asked to job candidates except those on the interview script. The only questions allowed are follow up questions where a Panellist may want to solicit more information to add to a question already asked.</li></ol></li><li>The interview panellist should rate candidates based on their responses versus the agreed marking script. The Panellist rate candidates individually without discussing them with anyone.</li><li>Panellists should not be allowed to discuss the candidates after each candidate has finished. Instead, they can be allowed to discuss their experiences once all the candidates' scores have been tabulated or as they are being tabulated. Any discussion done will not affect the rating of the candidates but will be for noting only.</li><li>The tabulation of results should be handled properly. Check for outlier ratings. Some Panellists may overate or underrate certain candidates. There are two ways to deal with this: you ask the Panellist to justify their extreme ratings. Alternatively, instead of using the average score from all Panellists, you may want to use the median as it is less susceptible to outliers.&nbsp;</li><li>Rank your candidates based on average score or the median score. You must have a cut-off point below which, if a candidate scores, you do not consider them even if they are the highest among all candidates.</li><li>Lastly, do not allow people who have never been trained in carrying out job interviews to sit on job interview panels. They bring biases and errors that may lead to the selection of the wrong candidates.</li></ol>\n\n\nIf you adhere to the above process, you should be able to develop a credible process for selecting job candidates using the interview process. Anything short of the above procedure is classified as an unstructured job interview. If you want more information on other selection methods, click <a href=""https://www.thehumancapitalhub.com/articles/The-Best-Employee-Recruitment-And-Selection-Methods-Every-Manager-Need-To-Know"">here</a>.\n\nMemory Nguwi is an Occupational Psychologist, Data Scientist, Speaker, &amp; Managing Consultant- Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd a management and human resources consulting firm. <a href=""https://www.thehumancapitalhub.com"">https://www.thehumancapitalhub.com</a> &nbsp;Phone +263 4 481946-48/481950/2900276/2900966 or cell number +263 77 2356 361 or email: <a href=""mailto:mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com"">mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com</a>&nbsp; or visit our website at <a href=""http://www.ipcconsultants.com"">www.ipcconsultants.com</a>

The Job Interview as an Employee Selection tool - An Employers Guide to Good Practice

\n\nThis article lists the five most used HR analytics tools. Adopting HR analytics is a big step for many people and organizations. Indeed, I often get asked: “What are the best HR analytics tools to use?”\n\nThis blog will give you the answer to this question. Here’s a list of the 5 best HR analytics tools to use.\n\n\n<h3>1. R Studio</h3>\n\n\n\nR is the most used HR analytics tool. R is great for statistical analysis and visualization which is very suited to explore huge data sets. It enables you to analyze and clean data sets with millions of rows of data. In addition, it lets you to visualize your data and analysis, like what you see below.\n\n\n<figure class=""wp-block-image""><img src=""https://3jd8gl2iires146kaw2hgqy9-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/HR-Analytics-Tool-RStudio-overview.png"" alt=""R studio analysis""/></figure>\n\n\nYou can download R&nbsp;<a href=""https://cran.r-project.org/"" target=""_blank"" rel=""noreferrer noopener"">here</a>.\n\nHowever, we chose RStudio as our top pick for HR analytics tools.\n\nRStudio is an open source and enterprise-ready professional software package for R. It basically does everything that R does, but has a friendlier user interface. The interface contains a code editor, the R console, an easily accessible workspace, and history and room for plots and files. You can take a look at an example of this below.\n\n\n<figure class=""wp-block-image""><img src=""https://3jd8gl2iires146kaw2hgqy9-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/R-Studio-view.jpg"" alt=""R studio""/></figure>\n\n\nAs previously stated, R is very useful because it enables you to work with much larger datasets compared to for example Excel. Furthermore, R has a very extensive library with R packages.\n\nThese packages are easy to install and allows you to do very specific statistical analyses and create beautiful visualizations. Take for example the caret package. This package enables you to split data into training and testing sets to train algorithms using cross-validation.\n\nAnother example of an R package is ggplot, which helps you to visualize graphs. In a previous article on&nbsp;<a href=""https://www.analyticsinhr.com/blog/tutorial-people-analytics-r-employee-churn/"" target=""_blank"" rel=""noreferrer noopener"">R Churn analytics</a>, Lyndon showed the distribution of employee turnover for a large Canadian company as seen in the following chart.\n\n\n<figure class=""wp-block-image""><img src=""https://3jd8gl2iires146kaw2hgqy9-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Turnover-Analytics-in-R.jpg"" alt=""Statistics""/></figure>\n\n\n All in all, RStudio is a more than a satisfactory tool for analyzing and visualizing very large amounts of data. You can download RStudio&nbsp;<a rel=""noreferrer noopener"" href=""https://www.rstudio.com/products/rstudio/download2/"" target=""_blank"">here</a>.\n\n\n\n\n<figure class=""wp-block-image""><img src=""https://3jd8gl2iires146kaw2hgqy9-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Python-Logo-1.jpg"" alt=""python""/></figure>\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n<h3>2. Python</h3>\n\nPython is another programming language and can be used interchangeably for R. In the data science community, there’s quite a bit of buzz about which will become the data scientist’s tool of choice.\n\nWhile R is better at doing statistical analyses, has a more active community in regard to the field of statistics, and is better suited for visualizations, Python has a faster learning curve.\n\n\n<figure class=""wp-block-image""><img src=""https://3jd8gl2iires146kaw2hgqy9-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Python-vs.-R.jpg"" alt=""Python vs R for predictive modelling""/></figure>\n\n\nIn short: if you already have experience in Python, or want to get started quickly, use Python. If doing statistical analyses will be your job for the next 5 years, use R. For more information on the difference between Python and R, check&nbsp;<a href=""https://www.dezyre.com/article/is-predictive-modelling-easier-with-r-or-with-python/245"" target=""_blank"" rel=""noreferrer noopener"">this article</a>.\n\nYou can download Python&nbsp;<a rel=""noreferrer noopener"" href=""https://www.python.org/"" target=""_blank"">here</a>.\n\n\n\n\n<h3>3. Excel</h3>\n\nWhen we talk about HR analytics tools, we shouldn’t forget the basics.\n\n<a href=""https://products.office.com/en-us/excel"" target=""_blank"" rel=""noreferrer noopener"">Excel</a>&nbsp;is where most of us started. It’s no surprise that when you manually extract data form any of your HR systems, it most likely comes in the form of a comma-separated value (CSV) file. These files can easily be opened and edited using Excel.\n\nThe good thing about Excel is that it’s very intuitive to most of us HR data geeks and therefore easy to use.\n\nFor example, if you wanted to check how&nbsp;<a href=""https://www.analyticsinhr.com/blog/hr-analytics-data-cleaning-guide/"" target=""_blank"" rel=""noreferrer noopener"">clean your data</a>&nbsp;is, you can easily transform a dataset into a table and check each column’s data range for outliers.\n\nThis way, if you select the age column you can easily check minimum and maximum ages. You wouldn’t expect anyone below 16 to work at your company, nor would you expect anyone over the age of 80 to work for you. These outliers can be found in one single click.\n\nSome quick tips on how to use Excel for HR analytics purposes:\n\n<ul><li>When you work with large files, transform them into Tables. Excel is able to work much more efficiently with tables.</li><li>Don’t use Excel formulas in large data sets. When you calculate a column using an Excel formula, transform the outcome to a numeric value. Formulas are recalculated every time you make a change in the data set. This places a significant and unnecessary burden on your computer’s memory and processing speed – and bogs down Excel.</li><li>Categorical variables (Gender: Male, Female) are easy to check in a table. Select the table column and check for errors or inconsistencies. Can you spot the two inconsistencies in the picture?<a href=""https://3jd8gl2iires146kaw2hgqy9-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Excel-Example.jpg""></a></li><li>If you want to merge to data sets, the ‘VLOOKUP’ function is your best friend. It makes connecting two separate data sets very easy.</li><li>Pivot tables do a great job in summarizing large quantities of data. Pivot tables and the VLOOKUP function practically enable you to do HR analytics in Excel.</li></ul>\n\n\nIf you want to learn more about how to use Excel to analyze HR data, check the HR analyst course from the&nbsp;<a rel=""noreferrer noopener"" href=""https://www.aihr.com/hr-analyst-course/?utm_source=aihrblog&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=inbound-blog&amp;utm_content=top-5-hr-analytics-tools"" target=""_blank"">HR Analytics Academy</a>. That course will teach you the basics of HR data analytics in Excel.\n\n\n\n\n<h3>4. Power BI</h3>\n\nGartner’s Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence shows Microsoft as the absolute leader. That’s why we included&nbsp;<a rel=""noreferrer noopener"" href=""https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/"" target=""_blank"">Microsoft’s PowerBI</a>. It makes the aggregation, analysis, and visualization of data very simple.\n\n\n<figure class=""wp-block-image""><img src=""https://3jd8gl2iires146kaw2hgqy9-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Gartners-Magic-Quadrant.jpg"" alt=""Power BI""/></figure>\n\n\n With Power BI, it’s a cinch to connect to multiple source systems, like SQL databases with people data, a live Twitter feed, and/or machine learning APIs. All these different data sources are then combined in Power BI. This simple aggregation process enables you to combine multiple data sources in one large database \n\n\n<figure class=""wp-block-image""><img src=""https://3jd8gl2iires146kaw2hgqy9-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Power-BI-at-work.jpg"" alt=""Power BI analysis""/><figcaption> Since both Power BI and Excel are owned by Microsoft, integrating of Power Query in Excel works quite smoothly. This makes Power BI an excellent option for a budding HR analyst. </figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>The consolidated data can then be used to create a pivot table (using Power Pivot). This lets you get quick insight in key areas of your workforce.</li><li>The same data can then be transformed into a dashboard, using Power BI’s dashboarding capacity. An example of this dashboard can be found below.</li></ol>\n\n\nThe&nbsp;<a rel=""noreferrer noopener"" href=""https://www.aihr.com/hr-analyst-course/?utm_source=aihrblog&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=inbound-blog&amp;utm_content=top-5-hr-analytics-tools"" target=""_blank"">HR analyst course</a>&nbsp;from the&nbsp;<a rel=""noreferrer noopener"" href=""https://www.aihr.com/?utm_source=aihrblog&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=inbound-blog&amp;utm_content=top-5-hr-analytics-tools"" target=""_blank"">HR Analytics Academy</a>&nbsp;dives into how to aggregate data from multiple Excel sheets, visualize this data and create&nbsp;<a rel=""noreferrer noopener"" href=""https://www.analyticsinhr.com/blog/hr-reporting-hr-report-hr-dashboard/"" target=""_blank"">HR dashboards and reports</a>&nbsp;using PowerBI\n\n\n\n\n<h3>5. SPSS</h3>\n\n<a href=""https://www.ibm.com/analytics/us/en/technology/spss/"" target=""_blank"" rel=""noreferrer noopener"">SPSS</a>&nbsp;is one of the most commonly used HR analytics tools in social sciences. Thanks to its user-friendly interface you’re able to analyze data without having extensive statistical knowledge. In addition, SPSS is often used within the field of social science. This means that a lot of HR professionals know how to use it, especially the ones with an interest in data analysis.\n\nThis is also the reason why we put SPSS on the list and not its biggest competitor, SAS. SAS is more widely used outside of the social science field. However, SAS has a steeper learning curve. In addition, SPSS shares many similarities with Excel which makes it easier to work with.\n\n\n<figure class=""wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio""><div class=""wp-block-embed__wrapper"">\nhttps://youtu.be/Wlk2QPIa2f8\n</div><figcaption> This clip provides a great introduction to SPSS </figcaption></figure>\n\n\n Consider SPSS an easy stepping stone for companies with less mature analytical capabilities. SPSS makes it easy to do an exploratory correlation analysis or a quick regression analysis. For more complicated (machine learning) algorithms, R is the better candidate. \n\n\n\n\n<h3>How to choose the right HR analytics tool</h3>\n\nIn order to select the most appropriate HR analytics software tool, it’s crucial to know what you want to achieve. Do you want to…\n\n\n<ol><li>…get a grip on your data and create (HR) dashboards?&nbsp;Go for a tool like&nbsp;Power BI&nbsp;or&nbsp;Tableau(Tableau excels in data visualization, but is much more expensive to work with, money-wise). Such tools make data aggregation and data visualization quite simple.</li><li>…get some basic insights in your company and employee data, for example by checking if departments differ significantly in terms of employee performance or engagement? Go for the simpler tool like&nbsp;Excel&nbsp;and&nbsp;SPSS. They require a low level of analytics skills and can already give you some vital insights in your data.</li><li>…thoroughly analyze HR data and make predictions about the future?&nbsp;Go for data analysis tools like&nbsp;Phyton&nbsp;or&nbsp;RStudio. They provide you with the capability to do the most advanced analyses out there – all while handling huge quantities of data. Some examples are predicting employee turnover and job classification analysis.</li></ol>\n\n\n This article provides an overview of the most commonly used HR analytics software. Good luck in your search for the HR analytics tools that work best for you. If you want to learn more about how to work with Excel and PowerBI to analyze data and create HR dashboards, check out this&nbsp;<a rel=""noreferrer noopener"" href=""https://www.aihr.com/hr-analyst-course/?utm_source=aihrblog&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=inbound-blog&amp;utm_content=top-5-hr-analytics-tools"" target=""_blank"">HR analyst course</a>. \n\n If you want to learn more about HR analytics in general, check out the other courses in <a rel=""noreferrer noopener"" href=""https://www.aihr.com/?utm_source=aihrblog&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=inbound-blog&amp;utm_content=top-5-hr-analytics-tools"" target=""_blank"">here</a>. \n\n\n\nThis article was originally posted at <a href=""https://www.analyticsinhr.com/blog/hr-analytics-tools/"" target=""_blank"" rel=""noreferrer noopener"">https://www.analyticsinhr.com/blog/hr-analytics-tools/</a> \n\n\n\n\n<h4>Author:&nbsp;Erik van Vulpen</h4>\n\n<a href=""https://www.linkedin.com/in/erikvnvulpen/"" target=""_blank"" rel=""noreferrer noopener"">Erik van Vulpen</a>&nbsp;is an expert in connecting HR processes to business results through qualitative and quantitative methods. He is globally recognized as a thought leader in the People Analytics and Digital HR space. Erik is a regular speaker at conferences and trained dozens of HR leadership teams to embed innovative and data-driven HR practices in their organization. He is also an instructor for the&nbsp;<a href=""https://www.aihr.com/"" target=""_blank"" rel=""noreferrer noopener"">AIHR Academy</a>, as well as one of its founders. Contact Erik at&nbsp;<a href=""mailto:erik@analyticsinhr.com"" target=""_blank"" rel=""noreferrer noopener"">erik@analyticsinhr.com</a>&nbsp;or connect with him on&nbsp;<a href=""https://www.linkedin.com/in/erikvnvulpen/"" target=""_blank"" rel=""noreferrer noopener"">LinkedIn</a>.

Here are the top 5 HR analytics tools

<blockquote class=""wp-block-quote"">Change ... requires creating a new system, which in turn always demands leadership.<cite>Kotter, 1995</cite></blockquote>\n\n\nIn today’s workplace\nchange is almost unavoidable and certain, and achieving successful\nchange is one of the biggest problems that modern organizations face. Change\nhas become a major strategic obligating and it is clear that without doing\nthings differently, companies are unlikely to succeed, or last. It is rare for\nlarge organisations to not have to undergo, at some point in their lifecycle, a\nchange that fundamentally shifts the business. The causes for this can be numerous\nand diverse, including responding to technology changes, market maturation or\nwider macroeconomic environment. Regardless of the cause, large-scale change is\nrequired, and for successful change strong leadership is key.\n\nChange\nleadership&nbsp;is a type of leadership that focuses on these large-scale changes\nwithin an organization. It is the ability to influence and enthuse others through\npersonal advocacy, vision and drive, and to access resources to build a solid\nplatform for change (Higgs and Rowland, 2000). Change leadership concerns the driving forces, visions and\nprocesses that fuel large-scale transformation. According to John Kotter, the chief\ninnovation officer at&nbsp;Kotter International, a firm that helps leaders\naccelerate strategy implementation in their organizations and the Konosuke\nMatsushita Professor of Leadership,&nbsp;Emeritus, at\nHarvard&nbsp;Business&nbsp;School, it can be\nlikened with putting an engine on the whole change process and making it go\nfaster, smarter, more efficiently. <a href=""http://kotterinternational.com/AboutUs/Bios/JohnKotter"" target=""_blank"" rel=""noreferrer noopener"">&nbsp;</a>\n\nChange leaders are\nkey in selecting and motivating a high performing team. During transformation\nand throughout the embedding to ‘business as usual’ (BAU) leaders who rely on\ntheir skills to ensure that the teams that work for them continue to be focused\non the objectives of the change. Crucially change leaders are needed to drive\nthe move into BAU and to support the cultural shifts that large-scale changes\noften require. \n \nMachiavelli\nwrote: ""There is nothing more difficult\nto take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success\nthan to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things."" To\nsee what drives successful change leadership,&nbsp;The\nCenter for Creative Leadership conducted&nbsp;a study to determine what those\nchange leadership skills are. The survey sampled participants who were senior\nexecutives “with more than 15 years of management experience, responsibility\nfor 500 or more people, and decision-making authority as members of top\nmanagement teams.” Through the study, they identified nine characteristics of\nchange leaders falling into three categories.\n\n<ul><li>Communication</li></ul>\n\n\nWhen communicating they\nfocus on the why of the change as well as the what. Their communications become\neven more powerful when they are connected to the values of the organization.\n\n<ul><li>Inclusivity</li></ul>\n\n\nSuccessful change leaders\nare not bound by structure and silos. They bring employees into the\ndecision-making process early, engaging the needed resources for collaboration\nboth in planning and executing change.\n\n<ul><li>Believe in the change</li></ul>\n\n\nSuccessful change leaders don’t expect others to commit to changes that they are not fully on board with themselves. They experience their discomfort while moving through change but are persistent in sustaining the change process until the desired results are achieved. By contrast, unsuccessful leaders are impatient with results and do not display an ongoing commitment.\n\n\n\n<h2>Leading the\nChange Process</h2>\n\nThe study also\nidentified three characteristics of successful change leadership in leading the\nprocess.\n\n<ul><li>They ensure that they are engaged in a process that develops a clear vision and case for change, as well as alignment around achieving it.</li><li>Successful change leaders are involved in the change strategy, including identifying what will change and what will not.</li><li>They stay involved throughout the execution of the change, monitoring progress, ensuring the right people are put into the right positions and that the wrong people for those positions are removed. They ensure that small wins are celebrated, and momentum is maintained.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n\n<h2>Leading the\nPeople</h2>\n\nSuccessful\nchange leaders ensure that they maintain a focus on the people side of change.\n\n<ul><li>“Successful change projects were characterized by leaders removing barriers to employee success. These include personal barriers such as wounded egos and a sense of loss, as well as professional barriers such as the time and resources necessary to carry out a change plan.”</li><li>Successful change leaders pay attention to those who can influence others and bring them on board with the change.</li><li>They don’t assume they have all the answers or that they won’t make mistakes. They learn from their own experience and they learn from others along the way.</li></ul>\n\n\nReal change leaders (RCLs) are more concerned about a large, transformative vision for the business and how the employees become empowered enough to contribute to the creation of that vision. One risk of change leadership, however, is it has the potential to get out of control and not account for the smaller details in that line of work. In addition, a company may not act upon every proposed change to the established structure.\n\n\n\n<h2>Change leadership quotes</h2>\n\n<ul><li>Change before you have to.”–&nbsp;Jack Welch, LinkedIn</li><li>“Change Leadership is action, not a position”―&nbsp;Peter F Gallagher &nbsp;Ranked #1 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Change Management (May 2020) by Thinkers360, Author of the Change Management Handbook</li><li>Companies that&nbsp;change&nbsp;may survive, but companies that&nbsp;transform&nbsp;thrive. Change brings&nbsp;incremental&nbsp;or&nbsp;small-scale&nbsp;adaptations, while transformation brings great improvements that ripple through the future of an organization. –&nbsp;<a rel=""noreferrer noopener"" href=""https://www.forbes.com/sites/groupthink/2017/08/15/the-4-dos-of-change-management/#d09c199c5e8d"" target=""_blank"">Nick Candito</a>, Founder of Progressly (which helps customers transform the way they do business.)</li><li>""Everybody has accepted by now that change is unavoidable. But that still implies that change is like death and taxes — it should be postponed as long as possible and no change would be vastly preferable. But in a period of upheaval, such as the one we are living in, change is the norm.""—Peter Drucker Management Challenges for the 21st Century (1999)</li></ul>\n\n\n\n\nChange Leadership&nbsp;is important for influencing and inspiring action in others, and responding to vision and agility during periods of growth, disruption or uncertainty to bring about the needed&nbsp;change.\n\n\n\nFadzai Danha is a consultant at Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd a management and human resources consulting firm. Phone +263 4 481946-48/481950 or email: fadzai@ipcconsultants.com or visit our website at <a href=""http://www.ipcconsultants.com"">www.ipcconsultants.com</a>

Change leadership: How to make it work

<h2>Organizational Strucuture Definition </h2>\n\nAn\norganizational structure\nis the hierarchy of an organization and how the components of this hierarchy\nwork together to achieve the strategic objectives of the company (Ahmadya,\nMehrpourb &amp; Nikooravesh 2016). If the structure of the organization and the\nunderlying design principles that construct it are not in alignment with the\ncore purpose of the organization and its operating environment, then it is\nlikely the organization will find it difficult to achieve its strategic\nobjectives (Arabi 2007).\n\n<h2>The Importance of Aligning The Structure With\nThe Business Strategy</h2>\n\nThe key to profitable performance is the extent to which leadership,\norganization, jobs, and people are aligned. An understanding of the\ninterdependencies of these business elements and the need for them to adapt to\nchange quickly and strategically are essential for success in the\nhigh-performance organization. When these four elements are in harmony,\noutstanding performance is more likely.\n\n\n<ol><li>Leadership - The individuals responsible for developing and deploying the strategy and\nmonitoring results.</li><li>Organization - The structure, processes, and operations by\nwhich the strategy is deployed.</li><li>Jobs - The necessary roles and responsibilities.</li><li>People - The experience, skills, and competencies needed to execute the strategy.</li></ol>\n\n\nThe organizational design process is the pivotal connector between the\nbusiness of the organization (e.g., top-level leadership and organizational\nstrategy and goals) and forms of HR support (e.g., workflow process design,\nselection, development, and compensation). The strategy must continually drive\nstructure and must reflect and enable effective leadership. \n\n<h2>Organisational Structure Design &amp; Benchmarking </h2>\n\nBenchmarking\nis the process of studying industry or competitive practices, functions, and\nproducts and finding ways to meet them or improve upon them. Companies from all\ndifferent industries use benchmarking to gauge their successes and pinpoint\ntheir shortcomings. The general process of benchmarking involves identifying\nproblem areas, selecting top competitors who excel where a company falls short,\nand making the necessary changes. \n\nThere\nare several key advantages to using benchmarking in an organization. However,\nit is important to benchmark the organizational structure against universal benchmarks. The\ndownside of benchmarking your organizational structure against competitors is that you might\ninherit weaknesses inherent in their organizational structures.&nbsp; When benchmarking an organizational\nstructure, pay particular attention to the following metrics;\n\n\n<ol><li>Span of Control - This refers to the total number of people\n(subordinates or employees working under an individual) whom a manager or an\nadministrator can effectively control and supervise. The average span of\ncontrol is preferred for measuring the span of control. The average span of\ncontrol is measured using a ratio of the number of managerial nodes and the\ntotal population. The ideal benchmark for this is 8-12.</li></ol>\n\n\n<ul><li>Reporting Layers – This is the hierarchical arrangement of\nlines of authority, communications, rights, and duties of an organization.&nbsp; Organizational structure determines how the roles, power, and\nresponsibilities are assigned, controlled, and coordinated, and how information\nflows between the different levels of management. It is useful to test\nmanagerial structures against an ‘ideal’ benchmark. We usually set this at a\nmaximum span of eight, with an ‘ideal’ of not more than five layers – usually\nreferred to as the ‘8 x 5 test’.</li></ul>\n\n\n<ul><li>Manager to Non-Management ratio – This is a\nkey performance indicator that shows the ratio between the total number of\nmanagers and supervisory employees and the total number of full-time and\npart-time non–managerial (non-supervisory) employees.&nbsp;The ideal benchmark\nfor this is 10:1. </li></ul>\n\n\n<ul><li>One on One Reporting - This is an effective barrier to proper\noversight, communication, and flow of information up and down the chain of\ncommand. It may block the main boss’s vision of the work being done or not\nbeing done.</li></ul>\n\n\n<ul><li>Duplication -This\nis the repetition of the same task. Duplication of tasks results in a waste of\nhuman resources as the organization is paying employees to do the same task. To\noptimize operations of an organization’s various departments, all duplicated\ntasks should be identified and appropriate recommendations made to ensure all\nemployees are in positions where they make the greatest positive impact towards\nachieving the organization’s strategic goals.</li></ul>\n\n\nIt is important to note that benchmarking cannot be done\nin isolation. For an organizational\nstructure review exercise to be successful, there is a need to follow\nthe steps outlined below/ \n\n<h2>Step By Step Guide on Organisational Structure Review </h2>\n\n\n<h3>Step 1. Baseline Review of Current Structure </h3>\n\nThe\nbaseline review should define the critical stakeholders and assess the company’s\noperations with regards to:\n\n\n<ol><li>Strategy<ol><li>Main services provided by the organization</li></ol><ol><li>Main stakeholders of the company</li></ol><ol><li>Legislation (including statutory instruments), policies,\nand regulators governing the company</li></ol><ol><li>Trends affecting the company (revenue, costs, industry\nfactors)</li></ol></li></ol>\n\n\n\n<h3>Step 2: Value Chain Analysis</h3>\n\nA\nvalue chain analysis should be conducted to identify the level of business\ncomplexity. Value chain complexity will inform the optimum number of reporting\nlayers an organization should have. The value chain complexity can be\ndetermined by assessing the organization against the dimensions explained\nbelow:\n\nTable 1: Dimensions for Value Chain\nAnalysis&nbsp; \n\n\n<figure class=""wp-block-table""><table><tbody><tr><td>\n Dimension \n </td><td>\n Explanation \n </td></tr><tr><td>\n Type of value chain\n </td><td>\n Assess\n the activities that the organization performs to deliver a valuable product\n for the market.\n </td></tr><tr><td>\n Geographical footprint\n </td><td>\n The\n physical presence of the organization i.e. Local, regional, national,\n international or global\n </td></tr><tr><td>\n Financial position\n </td><td>\n The\n total operating revenue amount&nbsp;&nbsp; \n </td></tr><tr><td>\n Product\n portfolio\n </td><td>\n We\n assess the organization’s breadth of products and market position\n </td></tr><tr><td>\n Brand\n </td><td>\n If\n its image and reputation are key business drivers\n </td></tr><tr><td>\n Organizational\n design\n </td><td>\n If\n it has several functional departments, corporate services, and shared\n services\n </td></tr><tr><td>\n Governance\n </td><td>\n The\n level of focus on quality, safety, cost reduction, control, efficiency, and\n best practices\n </td></tr><tr><td>\n Strategic\n intent\n </td><td>\n The\n organization’s focus on value control, value creation, and improving\n efficiency\n </td></tr></tbody></table></figure>\n\n\n\n<h3>Step 3: Determining Role Complexity (Levels of Work)</h3>\n\nAccording\nto the theory on the level of work complexity, work in organizations occurs in\ndistinctive layers of increasing complexity that can be distinguished from one\nanother. The work required in each layer, called stratum is qualitatively\ndifferent from work in another layer. The\nlevel of work in a stratum, according to Jaques is the “target completion time\nof the longest task, project or program assigned to that role”.\n\nLink each organizational layer to a specific\ntime-horizon and differentiate by clearly defined work-themes, discretionary\ncapabilities, and varying time-spans for review as shown in <a href=""#_Step_3:_Determining"">figure\n1</a> below. Measure the level of work according\nto the individual’s time-span of discretion, i.e. the time horizon measured in\nmonths or years. The longer this period, the greater the scope and\nresponsibility. \n\nFigure\n1: Stratified Systems Theory \n\nSource:\nWeatherby (2017)\n\n\n<h3>Step 4: Role Profile Analysis </h3>\n\nAssess\nthe nature of all jobs within the current organizational structure. Assess the\nnature of work and how it is divided into roles.&nbsp; Each role is to be analyzed using a role\ndescription profile covering:\n\n<ul><li>Accountabilities</li><li>Authority\nLevels</li><li>Role\nRelationships (Vertical and Horizontal Relationships)</li><li>Knowledge/Skill\nRequirements</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h3>Step 5: Functional Alignment </h3>\n\nFunctional Alignment is one of the techniques\nfor examining the leanness of a structure. Functional Alignment enables you to\nquantify a population by its location, functions, and professional classifications.\nFor example, in some organizations, jobs in finance, HR, logistics,\nengineering, and other generic occupations can be found scattered across a wide\nrange of territorial locations or business units. \n\nConventional\nbusiness reporting rarely provides any analysis from this perspective, when\nsuch data is exposed for the first time it can reveal a worrying profile of\njobs scattered randomly without process logic or functional theme. This can be\nthe key to opportunities for making the organization leaner by realigning the\nstructure so that the same or similar jobs are given more effective managerial\ncover and perhaps assembled into more robustly designed and effective\nprocesses. The ideal proportions are usually thought to be in the region of 70%\n(Core) and 30% (Support).&nbsp; \n\n<h2>Key Considerations </h2>\n\nThere\nare key elements that should be considered when designing the appropriate\nstructure:\n\n\n<ol><li>The organization’s strategy - Assess, what are the\nstrategic imperatives for the client? The starting\npoint for the design of the organization process is typically the\nidentification of the main outputs that the organization intends to deliver (Daft 1998). You should assist the client to subsequently structure\nthe organization in a way that reinforces the strategic imperatives of the\norganization. For the organization to achieve its strategic goals and\nobjectives, the organization's structure and strategy should be properly configured.</li></ol>\n\n\n<ul><li>The organization’s size -\nIn developing the\nappropriate structure, you should consider the size of the organization and\nheadcount for all departments. In doing so, you should watch for duplication of\nroles and job redundancy. At this point, you should consider which skills the\nclient should have permanently or casually.</li></ul>\n\n\n<ul><li>The organization’s technology - Technology\nimpacts the structure of the organization. Heavily mechanized organizations\ntend to be more inclined towards increased productivity. However, if management\ndoes not properly adjust its structure, this envisaged result may not be\nachieved (Rabbinz 2012). One of the reasons\nattributed to low productivity is the organizational structure that remains mechanistic\nand not compatible with the technology. Management should properly structure\nthe organization to achieve superior performance and higher productivity\nthrough the use of available technologies.</li></ul>\n\n\n<ul><li>The organization’s operating environment - A critical consideration in structuring\nthe organization is the environment in which the company operates. The\nenvironment here refers to not only the physical environment but the political\nand economic environment as well. The environment also refers to the key\nstakeholders (shareholders, customers, community, government departments &amp;\nagencies, etc.) that the business interacts with. The company should be\nstructured in a way that assists in effectively managing relationships with key\nstakeholders. The structure of the company should also assist in efficiently\nand effectively adjusting to the changes in the operating environment.</li></ul>\n\n\n<ul><li>The organization’s culture - Organizational structure defines how job tasks are formally\ndivided, grouped, and coordinated. Critical to this is the type of culture that\nmanagement wants to reinforce. The culture of the organization is reflected in\nthe hierarchical relations among members of the organization and is viewed as\nfacilitating interaction and communication for coordination and control of the\norganization’s activities. Management should be clear about the culture that\nthe structure will support. Assist them in doing so.</li></ul>\n\n\nCarl Tapi is a Consultant at Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt)\nLtd, a management and human resources consulting firm. https://www.linkedin.com/in/carl-tapi-45776482/ Phone +263 (242) 481946-48/481950 or cell number +263 772 469 680 or\nemail: <a href=""mailto:carl@ipcconsultants.com"">carl@ipcconsultants.com</a>&nbsp; or visit our website at www.ipcconsultants.com

Organizational structures: The benchmark indicators you cannot ignore

<h2>What is Organisational Culture? </h2>\n\nEdgar Schein (2004)\ndescribes organizational culture as “the pattern of\nshared basic assumptions - invented, discovered, or developed by a given group\nas it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal\nintegration - that has worked well enough to be considered valid and,\ntherefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think,\nand feel in relation to those problems” (Schein 2004, p17). It is evident that\nCulture is built through shared learning and mutual experience.\n\nThe culture of an organisation is its personality and character. Organizational culture is made up of shared values, beliefs\nand assumptions about how people should behave and interact, how decisions\nshould be made and how work activities should be carried out. Key factors in an\norganisation’s culture include its history and environment as well as the\npeople who lead and work for it. \n\n<h2>Why is Organsiational\nCulture Important?</h2>\n\nAn understanding of organizational culture\nis essential for effective leadership. Leaders and managers will be better\nplaced to implement strategy and achieve their goals if they understand the\nculture of their organization. Strategies that are inconsistent with organizational culture are likely to meet with resistance\nand will be more difficult or even impossible to implement, while strategies\nthat are in line with it will be easier to put into effect and more likely to\nsucceed. \n\nIt is often difficult to specify what exactly drives a particular\nculture, but easier to observe its effects – for example, the culture of an\ninformal small software company may be quite different from that of a large\nfinancial corporation and different again from that of a hospital or a\nuniversity. \n\nTo gain an understanding of the culture of an organization, its written\nand unwritten rules should be examined alongside the relationships, values, and\nbehaviors displayed by its people. The&nbsp;foundation&nbsp;of\neffectively shifting or evolving culture does not come from popular approaches\nlike:\n\n<ul><li>Defining values and “aligning” everything in the\norganization to them (even though this approach is widely advocated)</li><li>Training masses of people on values and expected\nbehaviors</li><li>Focusing on clarity and alignment, engagement, or\nother areas of the work climate</li><li>Focusing on improving a few systems like hiring,\nperformance management, or reward and recognition</li></ul>\n\n\nResearch\nshows that lasting culture change will likely include work in some or all of\nthe areas mentioned above but engaging leadership and the broader organization\nin a journey of shared learning and mutual experience is&nbsp;at the\ncore&nbsp;of effective culture change or shaping efforts. Leadership is\ncritical in codifying and maintaining an organizational purpose, values, and\nvision. Leaders must set the example by living the elements of culture: values,\nbehaviors, measures, and actions. Values are meaningless without other\nelements.\n\nThe focus of any organizational culture\nintervention is not culture only but on how is culture affecting the\nachievement of specific business outcomes desired by the organization.&nbsp; The whole culture change process should be\ngrounded in shared learning; that is why the desired culture will emerge and be\nsupported. Every stakeholder involved in the culture change program must see\nthe need to support because they will see immediate benefits for themselves and\nthe organization. \n\n<h2>Culture Profiles </h2>\n\nThere are four (4) broad organizational culture profiles as illustrated\nin the diagram below. The overall current and desired organizational culture\nprofiles should be interpreted in the context of the key business\noutcomes.&nbsp; \n\nTable\n1: Organisational Culture Profiles \n\n\n<figure class=""wp-block-table""><table><tbody><tr><td>\n The Clan Culture\n &nbsp;\n A very friendly place to\n work where people share a lot of themselves. It is like an extended family.\n The leaders or head of the organization are considered to be mentors and\n maybe even, parent figures. The organization is held together by loyalty or\n tradition. Commitment is high. The organization emphasizes the long term\n benefit of human resource development and attaches great importance to\n cohesion and morale. Success is defined in terms of sensitivity to customers\n and concern for people. The organization places a premium on teamwork,\n participation, and consensus.\n </td><td>\n The Adhocracy Culture\n &nbsp;\n A dynamic entrepreneurial\n and creative place to work. People stick their necks out and take risks. The\n leaders are considered to be innovators and risk-takers. The glue that holds\n the organization together is a commitment to experimentation and innovation.\n The emphasis is on being on the leading edge. The organization’s long term\n emphasis is on growth and acquiring new resources. Success means gaining\n unique and new products or services. Being a product or service leader is\n important. The organization encourages individual initiative and freedom\n </td></tr><tr><td>\n The Hierarchy Culture\n &nbsp;\n A very formalized and\n structured place to work. Procedures govern what people do. The leaders pride\n themselves on being good coordinators and organizers who are efficiency-minded.\n Maintaining a smooth-running organization is most critical. Formal rules and\n policies hold the organization together. The long term concern is on\n stability and performance with efficient, smooth operations. Success is\n defined in terms of dependable delivery, smooth scheduling, and low cost. The\n management of employees is concerned with secure employment and\n predictability.\n </td><td>\n The Market Culture\n &nbsp;\n A results-oriented\n organization. The major concern is getting the job done. People are competitive\n and goal-oriented. The leaders are hard drivers, producers, and competitors.\n They are tough and demanding. The glue that holds the organization together\n is an emphasis on winning. Reputation and success are common concerns. The\n long term focus is on competitive actions and the achievement of measurable\n goals and targets. Success is defined in terms of market share and\n penetration. Competitive pricing and market leadership are important. The\n organizational style is hard-driving competitiveness.\n </td></tr></tbody></table></figure>\n\n\nSource: Edgar Schein (2004)\n\nIt is useful for you to know your organization’s culture type because\norganizational success depends on the extent to which your culture matches the\ndemands of the competitive environment.&nbsp;\nAs an example, a firm with a dominant clan culture and weak market\nculture operating in a highly competitive, aggressive industry may find it\ndifficult to survive due to the mismatch between culture and environment.&nbsp; \n\nThe culture profile will reveal what kind of leadership attributes are\nmost valued, what behaviors are most likely to be recognized and rewarded, what\nkinds of management styles are preferred. It allows you to check how compatible\nthis culture is with the long term goals. The following six comparison\nstandards should be used to interpret your culture profiles.\n\n\n<ol><li>The\ntype of culture that dominates the organization and each of the business units </li><li>Discrepancies\nbetween your current and preferred culture</li><li>The\nstrength of the culture type that dominates your organization </li><li>The\ncongruence of the culture profiles generated on different attributes </li><li>A comparison\nof your organizational culture profile with the average culture profile in a similar\norganization </li><li>Comparison\nof your culture profiles against high performing organizations </li></ol>\n\n\nCulture cannot be assessed through a survey or questionnaires alone.\nSurvey views are normally viewed as cultural artifacts and as a reflection of\nthe organization’s climate, but they\ndo not tell you anything about the deeper values or shared assumptions that are\nin operation.&nbsp;&nbsp; Any assessment of\norganizational culture should identify first cultural assumptions, then assess\nthem in terms of whether they are a strength or a constraint on what the organization\nis trying to achieve. \n\nIt is much easier to capitalize on the strengths of the culture than to overcome the constraints by changing the culture.&nbsp; In assessing it important that we are sensitive to the presence of subcultures and also determine their relevance to what the organization is trying to achieve.&nbsp;&nbsp; Culture should always be assessed at the artifacts, espoused values, or share tacit assumptions level.&nbsp; The importance of getting to the assumption level derives from the insights that unless you understand the shared tacit assumptions, you cannot explain the discrepancies that always surface between the espoused values and those observed behavioral artifacts.&nbsp; \n\n\n<h3>Unraveling the Culture Artefacts </h3>\n\nThe most visible level of culture is its artifacts and creations,\nconsisting of its constructed physical and social environment. These are the\ntangible aspects shared by members of an organizational group, including\nverbal, behavioral, and physical attributes. Also included, are things such as\nthe language, myths, rituals, symbols and ceremonies, technology, and art used\nby an organization. From the standpoint of the uninitiated observer, it is easy\nto observe artifacts but it is difficult to figure out what they mean, how they\ninterrelate, and what deeper patterns if any, they reflect (Schein 2004). \n\n\n<h3>Identify Espoused Values </h3>\n\nThe key question here is; why are you doing what are you doing?\nResponses to this question normally elicit value statements e.g. we believe\nit’s good to have a hierarchy, we believe every employee can contribute. As\nthese value statements are being said we will check for consensus with the\ncompany’s written values.&nbsp; Different\nvalues may emerge from different groups. In such cases where a group has\ndifferent espoused values, there is a need to dig deeper into why such\ndifferences exist.&nbsp; We encourage the\ngroup to look at all the artifacts they have identified and to figure out as\nbest as they can what values seem to be implied. \n\n\n<h3>Identify Share Tacit Assumptions </h3>\n\nTo check for underlying cultural assumptions we first check whether the\nespoused values that have been identified explain all of the artifacts or\nwhether things that have been described as going on have clearly not been\nexplained or are in conflict with some of the values articulated. \n\nCarl Tapi is a\nConsultant at Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd, a management and\nhuman resources consulting firm. https://www.linkedin.com/in/carl-tapi-45776482/\nPhone +263 (242) 481946-48/481950 or cell number +263 772 469 680 or email: <a href=""mailto:carl@ipcconsultants.com"">carl@ipcconsultants.com</a>&nbsp; or visit our\nwebsite at www.ipcconsultants.com

Organisational Culture and Why You Should Never Ignore It

Digital\ncommunication involves an organization’s online communication efforts. Most\norganizations today use a wide range of online channels from their website to\nmobile chat to blogs to connect with current and prospective customers,\nemployees, and other stakeholders. They need digital marketing professionals\nwho have a keen understanding of how to leverage this convergence of technology\nand messaging to their advantage. Digital communications professionals are\nresponsible for everything from creating online brand assets to building an\nengaged social media audience.\n\n<h2>Top Skills for Success in Digital Communication</h2>\n\nEmployers\nacross industries are looking for digital communication professionals with a\nvariety of specific skill sets. The chart below highlights the top skills\nhiring managers were looking for in 2017.\n\nAlong\nwith the above areas of expertise, there are also many “soft skills” that will\nserve you well in a digital communication career, including:\n\n<ul><li>Flexibility—Those who\n thrive in digital communication tend to be people who are highly\n adaptable, as priorities in this discipline often shift quickly.\n “Flexibility is highly valued in these roles,” explains Dr Powers. “Hiring\n managers want employees who can easily acclimate to changes.”</li><li>&nbsp;</li><li>A commitment to lifelong\n learning—Ongoing\n education is important for staying marketable and at the forefront of the\n field, Dr Powers says. “It’s impossible to predict future changes but the\n most successful digital communication professionals are committed to\n lifelong learning to stay ahead of the rapid pace of change.”</li><li>&nbsp;</li><li>A passion for\n storytelling—Digital communications are often rooted in the\n art of persuasion, and one of the best ways to persuade your audience is\n by crafting a strong narrative.</li><li>&nbsp;</li><li>Empathy—Being a\n strong communicator involves gaining a strong appreciation for your\n audience and what drives them. Once you’re able to put yourself in the\n shoes of other people you’re trying to influence, you can establish more\n meaningful—and more effective —connections with them.&nbsp;</li></ul>\n\n\n<ul><li>Curiosity—“Being\n inquisitive will carry you a long way,” says Dr Powers. “The best digital\n communication practitioners are those who crave a deeper understanding of\n the people, processes, and channels of communication.”</li></ul>\n\n\n<h2>Common Digital Communication Career Paths</h2>\n\nThe&nbsp;<a href=""https://www.adma.com.au/"" target=""_blank"" rel=""noreferrer noopener"">Association of\nData-Driven Marketing and Advertising</a>&nbsp;recently\nidentified key growth opportunities for digital communications professionals in\nareas such as:\n\n\n<h3>Content Marketing</h3>\n\nThese\nroles involve the planning, creating, and sharing of compelling content to\nengage key audiences. Unlike traditional marketing, content marketing isn’t\nabout promoting a product or service but about being a credible source of\ninformation that matters to potential customers.\n\n\n<h3>Digital Advertising</h3>\n\nDigital\nadvertising professionals develop and execute strategies to reach highly\ntargeted audiences through an array of online channels, from Google AdWords to\nInstagram.\n\n\n<h3>Data-driven Marketing</h3>\n\nThese\nroles involve testing various marketing approaches, analyzing and interpreting\ndata, and measuring the results of marketing campaigns.\n\n\n<h3>Search Engine Optimization (SEO)</h3>\n\nProfessionals\nin these roles implement, analyze, and continuously update website content and\ntechnical features to increase an organization’s search engine ranking.\n\n\n<h3>Social Media</h3>\n\nSocial\nmedia professionals are responsible for developing and executing social media\nmarketing campaigns to influence a target audience, which includes the creation\nand curation of visual and written content. They also may act as community\nmanagers, listening and responding to social media users in a way that is in\nline with the organization’s brand identity.

Digital Communication: What every organisation need to know

<h2>WHAT IS A CAREER? </h2>\n\nAccording to Arnold (1997:21), a career is a sequence of employment-related positions, roles, actions, and experiences. A career defines how one sees oneself in the context of one’s social environment, in terms of one’s plans, one’s past accomplishments or failures and one’s present competencies and attributes (Raynor &amp; Entin, 1982:262). UNESCO (2002:4) defined a career as the interaction of work roles and other life roles over a person’s lifespan including both paid and unpaid work. Career is also seen as the progress and actions taken by a person throughout a lifetime, especially related to that person’s occupations (Oloasebikan &amp; Olusakin)\n\nThe\nmajor part of people‘s life is spent in occupational activities and these\npursuits do more than simply provide income for livelihood (Bandura, 2002:279).\nCareer guidance is widely accepted as a powerful and effective method of\nbridging the gap between education and the world of work and in informing an\nindividual’s career choices (Ibrahim, Wambiya, Olaka\n&amp; Raburu, 2014:301; Ajufo, 2013:312). In this article, I explain how to choose the right career for you and how\nfamily and the school system affect career choices. \n\nDue to limited employment opportunities and lack of\ncareer guidance people have ended up in careers that they do not enjoy.\nConsidering that we spend most of our time at work it is in our best interest\nto choose careers to which we are well suited. There\nare several factors that affect a person’s choice of career. It is however\nbetter to look for a career that you are going to enjoy. For most people\nunderstanding the world of work and making realistic plans after high school is\nnot an easy task.\n\n<h2>FAMILY INFLUENCE ON CAREER CHOICES </h2>\n\nFamilies play a big\nrole in choosing careers. In some instances parents want their children to\nfollow those careers they followed themselves. This will not always work simply\nbecause other important factors affect our career choices. Without professional\nadvice, parents can lead their children into careers that they will never enjoy\nand in some instances fail to excel at. Choosing a career should begin early in\nlife to enable proper planning. \n\n<blockquote class=""wp-block-quote"">Research on family influence has increased rapidly\nduring the last couple of years, yet an understanding of family influences on career choices remains sparse. Much of the research on\nfamily influence focus on individual parents’ careers, for instance, mothers or\nfathers influencing children to take up a certain career. This research\nconsiders family members’ influence on career choices which\nincludes parents, siblings, and extended family members. The first interactions\nof a child with people take place within its home among members of its family\nwho include parents, siblings, and relatives (Bollu-steve &amp; Sanni,\n2013:92). A child is affected by several family-related factors such as the\nmarital relationship of the parents, the socio-economic status of the family,\nthe atmosphere of the home (whether parents are warm or hostile), the\nenvironmental condition, occupational status of the parents, and the number of\nsiblings in the family (Bollu-steve &amp; Sanni, 2013:92). The family dynamics,\ntherefore, play a pivotal role in the career readiness of the students. </blockquote>\n\n\n<h2>&nbsp;</h2>\n\n<blockquote class=""wp-block-quote"">Studies revealed that parents influence career choices among high school students. African studies,\nfor example, in Kenya (Mokoro, Wambiya &amp; Aloka, 2014:1465) and Nigeria\n(Abiyo &amp; Eze, 2015:26; Abiola, 2014:231), have highlighted that many of the\nsettings in which children and youth participants are dependent on the choices\nof their parents. Thus, parents’ decisions, choices of where to live, what to\nprovide materially and relationally in the home, and how to structure\nout-of-school time for children, impacts children’s development in ways that\nare meaningful for later success in the world of work (Abiola, 2014:231).\nBeggs, Bsutham, and Taylor (2008:391) refer to “helicopter parents” who tend to\nintervene in their children’s college life from choosing a university to\nhelping them choose individual courses. In this case, parents are seen as\ninseparable from their children’s career choices.</blockquote>\n\n\n<h2>&nbsp;</h2>\n\n<h2>SCHOOL INFLUENCE AND CAREER CHOICE</h2>\n\nCareer guidance is offered at institutions of\nlearning such as schools, colleges, and universities among others. High schools\nare a transition to higher institutions of learning and the world of work so\nthey have a critical role in assisting students to choose careers (Baloch &amp;\nShah, 2014:547). If students have too many choices of careers or have not made\na decision on which career to take, school career guidance helps select their\nstudy paths and in identifying their potential strengths to enhance their\ncompetitiveness for positions (Dodge &amp; Welderndael, 2014; Sun &amp; Yuen,\n2012:204). \n\nKrumboltz’s theory of Social Learning Theory of\ncareer development, emphasizes teaching people career development techniques so\nthat they can give career guidance in schools. Similarly, Lapan, Tucker, Kim,\nand Fosciulek (2003:329) stated that the transition from high school to university\nor the world of work has been understood as one of the most difficult\ndevelopmental challenges confronting adolescents and that schools play a\npivotal role in guiding the students towards a career. The current study sought\nto find out whether career guidance offered in schools influences students’\ncareer choices.\n\nEdwards and Quinter (2011:85) emphasized the influence of Kenyan schools\nin students’ choices of careers when they argue that it is in schools where\nstudents learn about and explore various careers before they make career\nchoices. Korrie and Wafula’s (2012:87) study highlighted the influence of the\nschool on choosing a career. \n\n\n<h2>STEPS TO FOLLOW WHEN CHOOSING A CAREER </h2>\n\n\n<h3>Step 1: Self-Evaluation</h3>\n\nBefore you can choose the right career, you must learn about yourself.\nYour values, interests, soft skills, and aptitudes, in combination with\nyour&nbsp;personality type, make some occupations a good fit for you and others\ncompletely inappropriate. Use&nbsp;<a href=""https://www.thebalancecareers.com/self-assessment-tools-choose-a-career-526172"">self-assessment\ntools</a>, and&nbsp;<a href=""https://www.thebalancecareers.com/free-career-aptitude-tests-2059813"">career tests</a>&nbsp;to\ngather information about your traits and, subsequently, generate a list of\noccupations that are a good fit based on them.&nbsp;Some people choose to work\nwith a&nbsp;<a href=""https://www.thebalancecareers.com/do-you-need-a-career-counselor-525476"">career\ncounselor</a>&nbsp;or other career development professionals who can\nhelp them navigate this process.\n\n\n<h3>Step 2: Make\na List of Occupations to Explore</h3>\n\nYou probably have multiple lists of occupations in front of you at this\npoint—one generated by each of the self-assessment tools you used. To keep\nyourself organized, you should combine them into one master list. First, look\nfor careers that appear on multiple lists and copy them onto a blank page.\nTitle it ""Occupations to Explore."" Your&nbsp;<a href=""https://www.thebalancecareers.com/self-assessment-524753"">self-assessments</a>&nbsp;​indicated\nthey are a good fit for you based on several of your traits, so they're worth\nexploring.\n\nNext, find any occupations on your lists that appeal to you. They may be\ncareers you know a bit about and want to explore further. Also, include\nprofessions about which you don't know much. You might learn something\nunexpected.\n\n\n<h3>Step 3:\nExplore the Occupations on Your List</h3>\n\nFind&nbsp;<a href=""https://www.thebalancecareers.com/career-briefs-525860"">job\ndescriptions</a>&nbsp;and educational, training, and licensing requirements&nbsp;in\npublished sources. Learn about&nbsp;advancement opportunities. Use\ngovernment-produced&nbsp;<a href=""https://www.thebalancecareers.com/how-to-use-labor-market-information-to-explore-careers-525637"">labor market\ninformation</a>&nbsp;to get data about earnings and job outlook.\n\n\n<h3>Step 4:\nCreate a ""Short List""</h3>\n\nNow you have more information, start to narrow down\nyour list even further. Based on what you learned from your research so far,\nbegin eliminating the careers you don't want to pursue any further. You should\nend up with&nbsp;two to five occupations on your ""shortlist.""\n\nIf your reasons for finding a career unacceptable\nare non-negotiable, cross it off your list. Remove everything with duties that\ndon't appeal to you. Eliminate careers that have weak&nbsp;<a href=""https://www.thebalancecareers.com/job-outlook-525656"">job outlooks</a>.\nGet rid of any occupation if you are unable&nbsp;or unwilling to fulfill the\neducational or other requirements, or if you lack some of the soft skills\nnecessary to succeed in it.\n\n\n<h3>Step 5: Conduct Informational\nInterviews</h3>\n\nWhen you have only a few occupations&nbsp;left on your list, start doing more in-depth research. Arrange to meet with people who work in the occupations in which you are interested. They can provide firsthand knowledge about the careers on your shortlist.&nbsp;Access your&nbsp;<a href=""https://www.thebalancecareers.com/building-growing-and-maintaining-a-professional-network-525834"">network</a>, including LinkedIn, to find people with whom to have these&nbsp;<a href=""https://www.thebalancecareers.com/the-informational-interview-524860"">informational interviews</a>.\n\nCarl Tapi is an Organisational Development Consultant at\nIndustrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd a management and human resources\nconsulting firm. visit our website at <a href=""http://www.ipcconsultants.com"">www.ipcconsultants.com</a>

All You Need To Know About Career Choices

In my varied career as a culture change professional, I've had the great pleasure of being involved in several large scale property projects.&nbsp;\n\nThe idea that property projects and culture change are somehow linked would have once surprised me - perhaps it surprises you. But it doesn't surprise me any more. &nbsp;\n\nDesigning and moving into a new workspace looks like it's about buildings, desks and chairs. It's not.&nbsp;\n\nThe physical environment has a profound impact on the way humans think, feel and treat one another. What looks like being about desks and chairs is actually about territory, status and complex interpersonal dynamics. Some subtle and nuanced, some not so much. &nbsp;\n\nIt's an art form to use a property project to really think deeply about the mindsets and behaviours you want to encourage - the ones that will accelerate the execution of the organisation's strategy - and then design them in to the space. &nbsp;\n\nAnd if that wasn't enough of a challenge for property professionals, a group of people who are often seen as a cost centre and are under endless pressure to reduce said costs, they also now find themselves in a unique position in organisational life. &nbsp;\n\nOver the last ten years in particular, as the pace of change has accelerated even more rapidly, it has become obvious to me that the property function has become pretty much the last man standing in the need to think and plan the farthest into the future. &nbsp;\n\nThe property function has become pretty much the last man standing in the need to think and plan the farthest into the future. There was a time, not that long ago, that the property folks would go to the strategy folks and the most senior executives and ask what their vision is for the next ten years - and expect to get an answer. Those were the people with the ten to twenty year plans. Then somewhere along the way they became five to ten year plans, then three to five year plans and these days it's hard to find anyone planning even three years ahead with any degree of confidence. &nbsp;\n\nThere are some industries, like mining, where there is still a need to plan decades into the future, but by and large, that's a thing of the past. This doesn't mean the strategy folks and senior executives are doing something wrong or are somehow lacking in capability or insight. Things are just changing too quickly. Whilst the act of planning remains essential, the plans themselves are ever more swiftly obsolete. &nbsp;\n\nLife has simply changed. And it's never going back to the way it was. But property professionals don't have the luxury of collapsing their timelines in response to the pace of change. They're expected to provide just the right amount of just the right type of working accommodation at just the right time. And if they don't, the consequences are often significant. For many large businesses, property is their third highest cost behind people and technology, so any mismatch between supply and demand of working space can be very costly indeed. Not to mention extremely obvious and with plenty of potential to embarrass everyone concerned. &nbsp;\n\nIt takes time to find the right building or building site. It takes more time to design and construct the building and/or the fit-out and the lease is likely to be at least ten years but probably more like fifteen. That means the property function is being asked to do the virtually impossible: predict what the organisation is going to look like in terms of number of workers, style of working (fixed desks, shared desks, working remotely etc.), location of workers and numerous other variables across a time horizon that is often fifteen years or more into the future and almost always well beyond the timeframe of the organisation's strategic plan. They're expected to be corporate magicians, pulling some sort of construction rabbit out of a hat. &nbsp;\n\nAnd that's before they even start to think about designing spaces that will encourage the mindsets and behaviours that will support the execution of their business strategy. &nbsp;\n\nSo what is the modern day property professional to do?&nbsp;\n\nIn the new world they find themselves in, property professionals can't just ask others about the future strategy. They have little choice but to play a much more active role in creating the vision for the future of the organisations they serve, figuring out what are the right mindsets and behaviours that will lead to the greatest success and creating the spaces that will encourage those mindsets and behaviours.&nbsp;\n\nIt's a daunting task, but they need to become the new corporate magicians. &nbsp;I have seen property projects used extremely effectively for culture change. There's something so wonderfully visceral about the process of packing up your things one day and walking into a brand new space the next. A space that looks different, feels different, sounds different, even smells different. A new space that gives you endless opportunities to re-write the social rules of work. It's an opportunity that comes along very rarely, and when fully embraced, can turbo-charge just the culture change the organisation needs. &nbsp;\n\nIf you're trying to change the culture of your team or organization and have the gift of a property project on the horizon, I urge you not to miss the golden opportunity to use it as a catalyst for change. You won't be sorry.\n\n Fiona Robertson is the former Head of Culture for the National Australia Bank and a sought-after culture change and leadership speaker, facilitator, coach and author who helps leaders create cultures people really want to belong to. Her first book, 'Rules of Belonging - change your organisational culture, delight your people and turbo-charge your results', is published by Major Street Publishing. More articles are available on www.fionarobertson.com

Are Property Professionals the new corporate magicians

Workplaces have never been this\ndiverse. We are witnessing about five different generations in the workplace\ntoday. These are:\n\n<ul><li>Traditionalists—born\n1925 to 1945</li><li>Baby\nBoomers—born 1946 to 1964</li><li>Generation\nX—born 1965 to 1980</li><li>Millennials—born\n1981 to 2000</li><li>Generation\nZ—born 2001 to 2020</li></ul>\n\n\nThis presents new challenges in terms\nof managing people, communicating and collaborating. How big are these\ndifferences and what impact do they have on the success of an organisation? Dr\nBea Bourne, DM, a faculty member in the School of Business and Information\nTechnology at Purdue University Global is an expert on generational differences\nand generational response to organizational change. In the infographic below,\nshe shares her research regarding:\n\n<ul><li>How\ntoday’s talent stacks up by generation, including their defining values,\nbeliefs, and worldviews</li><li>The\nsignificant historical events that shaped each generation</li><li>How\nto best motivate and manage workers from each generation</li></ul>\n\n\n<h2>How\ndo you manage generational differences in the workplace?</h2>\n\nTo devise a winning\nmethod of managing generational differences it is important to know just how\nsignificant are generational differences in shaping workplace attitudes and job\nsatisfaction? In a study titled, Generational differences in workplace\nattitudes and job satisfaction: Lack of sizable differences across cohorts\npublished in the Journal of Managerial Psychology, Dr Cucina and his team aimed\nto investigate whether there are generational differences in workplace\nattitudes and whether Millennials have lower job satisfaction. The research\nteam conducted two studies using large samples sizes to investigate this.\n\nThey found that\nMillennials did score slightly less than Baby Boomers and Generation X on some\njob attitude items, such as personal accomplishment and enjoying the work they\ndo. However, when looking at job attitudes collectively, Millennials scored\nslightly higher than Baby Boomers and Generation X. The study also showed that\nchildren of Baby Boomers and Generation X did have lower job satisfaction than\ntheir parents. However, this was not a large difference. Another pivotal\nfinding is that generational differences only explained 2% of the variance in\nworkplace attitudes, suggesting that most differences in workplace attitudes\narose within, rather than between, generations.\n\nDifferences between\ngenerations of employee attitudes about their work and work satisfaction may\nnot be as significant as assumed. The findings from these studies suggest that\ngenerational differences in workplace attitudes are small, warranting caution\nand scepticism when considering the root cause of variances and differences in\nthe workplace. A more critical and evidence-driven approach to generational\ndifferences is recommended.\n\n<h2>What\nshould managers do?</h2>\n\nA good recommendation\ncomes from an article titled, Generational Differences At Work Are\nSmall. Thinking They're Big Effects Our Behavior from the Harvard Business\nReview. It states that:\n\n“Managers would benefit\nfrom recognizing that employees often change over time due to varying\npriorities, demands, experiences, and physical capacities. These changes can\ntake many forms. For instance, research has shown that people face different\ntypes of work-family conflict at different stages of their lives, from young\nadulthood through middle adulthood and into late adulthood. However, not every\nemployee within the same age group will have the same experiences at the same\nexact time. Therefore, engaging in an ongoing and open dialogue with employees\nto discuss shifting needs can help managers keep their hard-working and\nexperienced employees engaged, happy, and productively collaborating with\nothers for the long haul.”\n\nJerry Ndemera is a software\ndeveloper and consultant at Industrial Psychology Consultants. You can reach\nhim by calling +263779161795 or emailing jerry@ipcconsultants.com

11 things you need to know about generational differences in the workplace

<h2>Introduction</h2>\n\nFinancial wellness is something that everyone\nstrives to achieve. Being in a position close to financial freedom can\nalleviate many stresses that may come tied with financial burdens. With the\ngrowing need for everyday living, financial wellness is not as easy as it was before. Student\ndebt is growing and the cost of living is not slowing down. This article will\ndiscuss what you need to know about the importance of financial wellness and\nhow to go about achieving it in the times that we live in. \n\n<h2>What is employee financial wellness?</h2>\n\nAlthough people define employee financial wellness\ndifferently from each other, there is a universal understanding of what financial wellness\nshould entail. Forbes (2020), defines financial wellness as a construct. Based\non this, financial\nwellness can be defined as (out of 100%):\n\n<ul><li>34%\n– not being stressed about their financial situation.</li><li>18%\n– remaining free from any debts.</li><li>16%\n– having enough savings and not remaining worried about unexpected expenses.</li><li>16%\n– having the financial freedom to make choices and enjoy their life.</li><li>12%\n– being able to meet daily and monthly expenses.</li><li>4%\n– being able to retire when they want to.</li></ul>\n\n\n<h2>Statistics behind employee financial wellness</h2>\n\nPWC researched employee financial wellness\nin 2020 and some of the findings are found below:\n\n&nbsp;(PWC, 2020)\n\nAccording to the\nreport, “more than one-third of full-time employed Millennials, Gen Xers, and\nBaby Boomers, have less than $1,000 saved to deal with unexpected expenses”\n(PWC, 2020). Looking at the current situation that the world has found itself\nin, the COVID 19 pandemic, this finding becomes more important to look into. \n\n(PWC, 2020)\n\nFinancial matters are\nthe top cause of stress in the workplace (PWC, 2020). \n\n&nbsp;(PWC, 2020)\n\nAccording to research\nconducted on employees from various sectors in the USA in 2019, some\ninteresting findings were noted. America is among the richest nations in the\nworld. As a result, one would believe that most employees there would be on the\nroad to financial freedom but the contrary is true. Below are some employee wellness statistics\nfrom the research conducted:\n\n<ul><li>24% of employees\nreport that issues with personal finances have been a&nbsp;distraction\nat&nbsp;work. </li><li>29% of employees defined\ncontribution participants report missing work to deal with the emotional stress\ncaused by their finances.</li><li>47% of employees defined\ncontribution participants strongly&nbsp;agree that they find themselves living\npaycheck to&nbsp;paycheck.</li><li>61% of employees U.S.\nworkers lack a&nbsp;savings cushion of&nbsp;at&nbsp;least three months’\nexpenses for&nbsp;emergencies.</li></ul>\n\n\n<h2>Why should employees care about financial wellness?</h2>\n\nEmployees need to pay\nattention to financial wellness as the stress that is linked to the financial\nburdens is taking a toll on the workforce at large. This stress translates into\ndepression, sleepless nights, and even full-blown panic attacks, which in turn\nincrease absenteeism, reduce productivity, and fuel high employee turnover\n(ej4, 2020).\n\nThe way of living as\nsignificantly changed from the way it was before. Some points need that\nemployees need to pay attention to before they sink into a crisis is that:\n\n<ul><li>Many millennials are burdened\nwith educational debt (especially university), more so than any other\ngeneration. As a result, a large amount of this demographic is starting off\ntheir careers, already sinking in debt.</li><li>Baby Boomers are stressed\nas they still need to live with their children struggling to get by because of\nthe debt they find themselves in after school. Also, they have to take care of\ntheir ageing parents.</li><li>Increasing healthcare\ncosts are another cause for concern for all generations.</li><li>Lastly, the recession worldwide\nof the last decade wiped out huge chunks of people’s retirement portfolios,\npushing back their retirement timelines even as people feared for their jobs.</li></ul>\n\n\n<h2>How can you personally achieve financial wellness?</h2>\n\nThere are some\npractices that you can do at an individual level to help with the stress that\ncomes with the financial burdens that can cause a threat to well-being. Here\nare some ways in which employee\nfinancial wellness can be achieved personally.\n\nMake a budget - Depending on your\nmonthly income, expenditure, and savings, you can develop a budget that will\nhelp you live with available resources. In case you face a shortage of money,\nyou can adjust your budget, but do not opt for credit cards. Any emergency\nexpenses can be covered with your savings but do not overspend or lend money.\n\nKeep your spending in\ncheck\n- Once your budget is prepared, make a list of all the necessary items you\nwould want to purchase and spend accordingly. Also, keep a track of where you\nare spending money regularly. If you frequently eat at restaurants, you can\nmaybe cut down your visits by one or two times to make sure you are not\noverspending.\n\nBe yourself as your\nfirst payer\n- When you receive your monthly paychecks, always set aside a fixed amount for\nyourself. You can set-up automated deposits and consider it as one of your\npayments.\n\nNever make any major\npurchase in haste\n- If you are looking forward to making any major purchase, always plan for it systematically.\nAdjust your budget and savings accordingly and do not break into your regular\nsavings fund. Even if you do, make sure you replenish it to ensure that your\nsavings don’t get affected.\n\nAvoid going overboard\nwith your credit cards\n- If you are using a credit card, use it wisely and plan your payments each\nmonth. Always stick to a limit and do not overspend. When it comes to financial\nwellbeing, a credit score is an important aspect. Delayed payments and higher\ndebts can affect your credit score.\n\n<h2>How can employers put together a financial wellness programme for employees?</h2>\n\nAlthough employers are\nnot usually the source of financial stress on their employees, they are in a\nposition where they can help their employees overcome these burdens. Some ways\nin which employers can help employees in this area are noted below, as outlined\nby ej4 (2020):\n\n<ul><li>Creating a Budget - Most\npeople do not realise that their spending habits exceed their income. Learning\nto budget is a critical first step in reining in expenses and building wealth.</li><li>Responsible Debt - Debt\nis the subject that gives people sleepless nights but is rarely discussed. Nobody\nwants to find themselves in debt but learning how to manage it responsibly sets\none up for later success.</li><li>Value of Saving - Our\nculture rewards having an “I want it now” attitude in consumers. If a person\ncan master some simple ways to moderate their spending and stick to a savings\nplan, they will be better equipped to handle the bumps in the road of life.</li><li>Understanding Credit\nCards - A lot of debt in our culture accumulates because people do not\nunderstand what credit cards are for. It is easy to overspend, especially on\nnon-essential items but paying it back is not as easy as it is to spend it. Simple\neducation in how they work can save thousands over time.</li><li>Employee Benefits -\nEducating employees about the benefits your company offers, it can go a long\nway to relieving financial stress and improve their job satisfaction.</li><li>Financial\nwellness = Freedom from stress - Most employees think that\nfinancial wellness programs are designed to relieve their stress and they need\nnot worry about expenses and finance. 81% of the respondents consider it\nfreedom, which means that employers must help their employees find peace of\nmind through well-designed financial wellness programs. Freedom is the keyword here, and using it in the\nright manner will encourage your employees to better understand the financial\nwellness programs and use them to meet their goals (Koppr, 2020).</li></ul>\n\n\n<h2>Conclusion</h2>\n\nFinancial\nwellness is an important topic that needs to be in constant discussion.\nFinancial literacy is something that everyone needs to be a part of. This is a\npart of life that everyone will experience and not many can avoid. Many\ninstitutions, employers, employees and schools can help in turning this around.\n\nThandeka Madziwanyika\nis a Consultant at Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd, a management\nand human resources consulting firm. \n\nPhone +263 (242)\n481946-48/481950 or \n\nCell number +263 78\n318 0936 or\n\nEmail: thandeka@ipcconsultants.com or \n\nVisit our website at\nwww.ipcconsultants.com.

What You Need to Know About Employee Financial Wellness

In behavioral psychology, positive reinforcement is when good behavior is rewarded by a reinforcing stimulus. This concept has been applied in numerous organizations, where, the better you perform, the more likely you are to be rewarded accordingly, in most instances this reward comes in the form of a promotion to a higher ranking position. Most people join organizations with little to no skills, and in several years, they would have earned their stripes and made it to the top. However what happens when someone is promoted for a role they are not suitable for? What happens when an individual is promoted to a senior-level role but proves to be incompetent in that position? This concept is known as the Peter Principle, and this article will further elucidate it. <h2>What is the Peter Principle?</h2>According to Hull and Peter (1969), The Peter Principle states that a person who is competent at a job will earn promotion to a more senior position which requires different skills. If the promoted person lacks the skills required for the new role, they will be incompetent at the new level, and will not be promoted again. If the person is competent in the new role, they will be promoted again and will continue to be promoted until reaching a level at which they are incompetent. By being incompetent, the individual will not qualify for promotion again, and so will remain stuck at that final level. The Peter Principle is therefore based on the idea that competent employees will continue to be promoted, but at some point will be promoted into positions for which they are incompetent. They will then remain in those positions because they do not demonstrate any further competence that would get them recognized for additional promotion. (Hayes, 2020). <h2>Will AI Change The Peter-Principle?&nbsp;</h2>Many people think that Artificial Intelligence will up-end the Peter-Principle since the level of incompetence will now be raised. If someone who would have previously hit a level of incompetence they can now raise that level with the help of AI. For example a writer who could only produce mediocre&nbsp;content can leverage tools like ChatGPT and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.grammarly.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Grammarly</a>&nbsp;to increase their competence. It will be interesting to see as tools like&nbsp;<a href="http://originality.ai/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Originality.AI</a>&nbsp;are used to try and separate&nbsp;the human contribution to creative work from bot contributions.&nbsp; <h2>How The Peter-Principle Works</h2>Promotion tends to be based on your performance in your current role, rather than your suitability for the next one. The Peter Principle observes that employees rise through a firm's hierarchy through promotion until they reach a level of respective incompetence. As a result, according to the Peter Principle, every position in a given hierarchy will eventually be filled by employees who are incompetent to fulfill the job duties of their respective positions (Hayes, 2020). According to the PeterPrinciple, competence is rewarded with the promotion because competence, in the form of employee output, is noticeable, and thus usually recognized. However,once an employee reaches a position in which they are incompetent, they are n olonger evaluated based on their output but instead are evaluated on input factors, such as arriving at work on time and having a good attitude (Hull andPeter, 1969). Dr. Peter further argued that employees tend to remain in positions for which they are incompetent because mere incompetence is rarely sufficient to cause the employee to be fired from the position. Ordinarily, only extreme incompetence causes dismissal. For example, an employee who is very good at following rules or company policies may be promoted into the position of creating rules or policies, even though being a good rule follower does not mean that an individual is well-suited to be a good rule creator. The fact that the employee is not good at making policies may however not be reason enough to cause the said employee’s dismissal. Resultantly, the employee will fail to perform effectively in the leadership position. <h2>The Consequences Of The Peter –Principle</h2>In research by Benson, Li, and Shue (2018), they analyzed sales workers' performance and promotion practices at 214 American businesses to test the Peter Principle. They found that companies did indeed tend to promote employees to management positions based on their performance in their previous position, rather than based on managerial potential. Consistent with the Peter Principle, the researchers found that high performing sales employees were likelier to be promoted -- and that they were also more likely to perform poorly as managers, leading to considerable costs to the businesses. The Peter Principle may also have the following consequences for an organization: <h3>Company-Wide Mediocrity</h3>Having an individual in a person they are ill-equipped for may have detrimental effects on the organization as a whole.&nbsp; The Organization may fail to perform to the best of its ability. According to Jacques and Kathryn (1994) if a manager at a higher level was ill-equipped in respect of his or her inherent mental processing capability, or lacked the required skills and knowledge the risk is they would interfere in the work of managers at a lower level generally propelled by their anxiety and insecurity. The Process of delegation would be undermined leading to organizational dysfunction. <h3>Reduced Productivity</h3>If an individual does not know what they are supposed to do in a given role, there will likely be an impact on the productivity of the organization. This is because the said employee will spend more time trying to find their way around their job, and trying to look for ways to do their job effectively. The individual may also attempt to mask their inefficiency by doing tasks that are not related to their job to appear productive. As a result, there will be no productivity in their given role as they are unable to perform in the role. <h3>Reduced Morale and Innovation</h3>In the Peter Principle, if the underperforming employee is in a management position, for example, the effect may be reduced morale and innovation for their subordinates. If one is being led by someone who does not demonstrate their capability, their subordinates may develop a negative attitude to the way they approach their duties as they do not have any parameters set by their managers points of achievement. This will result in a possibly a whole department underperforming, affecting the productivity of the company. With time, this company may be overtaken by other competitors in the industry as it would have failed to evolve and innovate. The Peter Principlemay have the effect of bringing down an entire organization. However, the effects may be mitigated before any disruptive effects on the organization. If You're promoting from within your team or organization, make sure that you're choosing the person who's best suited for the role, rather than rewarding someone for past successes. The individual may have performed well in their current role, but that does not translate to effective performance in a higher-level position. Lindah Mavengere is a Business Consultant at Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd, business management and human resources consulting firm. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindah-mavengere-552b32b2/ Phone: +263 242481946-48/481950 Mobile: +263 717 988319 Email: lindah@ipcconsultants.com Main Website: www.ipcconsultants.com

Everything you need to know about the Peter Principle

Most modern companies\noperate on self-service. Cloud technology provides a more convenient, consistent,\nand safe experience for this. This is good and it opens the reigns of the\nworkforce - workers and managers alike, and leaves more time to concentrate on\nstrategic initiatives. Employee self-service which is abbreviated as ESS is a\ncommonly used Human Resource system that allows workers to perform several\njob-related tasks, such as demanding reimbursement, updating personal details\nand accessing the information on employer benefits — often mostly paper-based,\nor otherwise managed by management or administrative staff. But what exactly is\nan employee self-service platform?\n\n<h2>What is employee self-service?</h2>\n\nThere is a good\nchance that your organisation is using some form of self-service for employees,\neven if you don't call it that. ESS, or Employee Self-Service, is essentially a\nway for workers to access different types of HR applications and data directly.\nAn employee self-service system would provide workers with a reliable,\nuser-friendly Web site to make requests, manage requests and monitor the status\nof requests. At the back end, IT, HR, Finance, Accounting, etc. administrators\nwill be able to create workflows and guidelines for automatically routing\nrequests based on several variables, meeting employee demands, and performance\nevaluations.\n\nWhile many point\nsolutions serve a single department's needs, such as payroll, HR or IT, few\noffer the ability to automate all workflows of departmental requests. Employee\nself-service platforms are designed from the ground up to provide a specific\ncustomisable application framework for quickly creating self-service\napplications for employees and demanding workflows that suit the way you are\nalready working. This is part of the program open to all the staff, not just HR\nprofessionals. Employees can access the information on their salaries,\nschedules and benefits, upgrade to their records, and more. The transformation\nof organisational cultures needs the creation of HR programs, too. Although\nthis may sound like a no brainer, HR systems have taken a long time to develop\nfrom the piecemeal manual approach that has been used for decades. The Human Resources\nInformation Systems world is now making fast strides towards a more rational\nand effective method with the implementation of self-service Human Resources Information\nSystems.\n\n<h2>Types of information employees can access via employee\nself-service platforms</h2>\n\nThere are several\ndifferent kinds of information that employers can choose to make available via\nan employee self-service platform. Here are only a few examples: \n\n<ul><li>Detailed personal data and\ncontact information. Normally workers may use the site to change such items as\ntheir mailing address or phone number.</li><li>Payroll records including past\npay stubs, descriptions of tax deductions, accumulated sick time and the like.\nMany programs require workers to use the platform to request changes, such as\ntax deductions or changes to direct deposits.</li><li>Time-conservation files.\nEmployees who monitor working hours are generally allowed to access it here.\nMany programs also require workers to use the platform to file requests for PTO\nor other leave.</li><li>Company policies and\nprocedures, and/or a complete company manual.</li><li>Benefits information including,\nin certain situations, the option to participate directly from the site in some\nforms of benefit programs. For example, this may be where workers go to choose\ntheir health benefits during open enrolment.</li><li>Employee development plans could\nalso be incorporated. These implement workforce growth programs.</li><li>Employee or travel costs can be\nintegrated as well as reimbursement (and recording of such).</li></ul>\n\n\n<h2>How does an employee self-service work?</h2>\n\nAn employer may\nset up some sort of portal for workers, which can be accessed either through an\nemployee username and password on the internet or via the software selected by\nthe firm. It is mostly applied as one component of a broader information\nframework about human resources or another HR program. Self-service for workers\nis also offered via the employer's intranet or database. This can also be part\nof broader human capital management (HCM), corporate resource planning (ERP) or\nbenefit management applications, often delivered via SaaS platforms. Self-service\nsoftware for workers, once marketed as a stand-alone app, is now widely\nintegrated into more robust HR tech systems. \n\nEmployee self-service\nsystems for workers are designed for company users. Create templates, add rules\nfor the workflow, post them to the employee portal, and now they're usually\naccessible from any computer to anyone 24/7. \n\nSource: <a href=""https://www.integrify.com/employee-self-service-portal/"">Integrify</a>\n\nEmployees use these\nsimple employee request management system to construct a large array of\nself-service portals that handle a wide range of cross-departmental requests: \n\n<ul><li>Capital expense requests</li><li>Contract approvals</li><li>Leave of absence requests</li><li>Site selection approvals</li><li>Pricing discount requests</li><li>New hire requests</li><li>Vacation time requests</li><li>IT project requests</li><li>Logo and branding approvals</li><li>New product requests</li></ul>\n\n\nEmployee\nself-service technology in an increasingly competitive employee talent market\nis helping to create a positive work culture and retain talent by giving\nworkers direct control over their employment information. Employee self-service\nsystems on social media-like sites are gradually being designed for phones, and\nare also part of broader employee engagement initiatives, which may include\nwellness services, acknowledgement, learning management systems, and corporate\nsocial events. \n\n<h2>Features of an employee self-service platform</h2>\n\nFeatures of an employee self-service\nplatform include:\n\n<ul><li>Payroll capabilities, such as\nonline access to pay stubs, the ability to change tax withholding and deduction\namounts, and logging work time and hours;</li><li>The ability to shop for and\nchoose benefit programs and manage open enrolment and other changes, such as\nmajor life events;</li><li>The ability to make changes to\nretirement investment plans, such as changing employee contributions, setting\nup loans and making withdrawals;</li><li>Expense management;</li><li>Business travel management.</li></ul>\n\n\n<h2>The benefits of an employee self-service platform</h2>\n\nSelf-service\nsoftware for workers and managers enables users to request, record, view,\napprove and execute activities with workflow approvals. The following are some\nof the benefits of an employee self-service platform:\n\n<ul><li>It reduces admin time</li><li>It speeds up the HR operations</li><li>Providing workers with easy\naccess to printing their documents will cut workplace costs. It is because only\nworkers who truly appreciate the paper copy and need it would be willing to\nprint it, thus saving the cost of printing and delivery. It is just one example\nof how an ESS can help an organisation become paperless on the way.</li><li>It ensures continuity and\nengagement</li><li>It keeps employee records safe\nand updated</li><li>These portals can be customised\nto extract data from multiple sources, allowing employees to find payroll\ninformation, policy information, development info, training info, and more —\nall in one place.</li><li>It empowers the workforce</li><li>Employees can access the\nnetwork at any time, without needing to wait for others to assist. However, if\ntheir request ultimately needs assistance, they can, at their convenience,\ncomplete the first step.</li><li>It enables employees to request\nleave directly in the system</li><li>Employees can feel more\nsatisfied at work if they feel they have more power and better access to\ninformation of this kind.</li><li>It allows supervisors to retain\ncontrol</li><li>It improves employee\nsatisfaction</li><li>Allowing direct access for\nstaff ensures they are more likely to check the information and fix something\nincomplete or in error.</li></ul>\n\n\nManagers and staff\nwith human resources will save working hours and stress regularly if they are\nnot overwhelmed with work by scheduling problems, time-off demands and open enrolment\nqueries. Workers can have access from home to schedules and other information,\nwhich saves time for employees and can raise confidence feelings. Also, errors\nin the entry and other errors can be avoided by requiring workers to enter\ntheir information. If recruitment and on-boarding are available via the Human Resource\nInformation System and connect directly to the self-service portal, entry\nerrors can be avoided as early as the application process. The risks of\nincorrect information can be significantly reduced by removing the need for\ndouble entry and empowering workers to determine their information.\n\n<h2>Downsides to using an employee self-service platform</h2>\n\nThere are also\nsome potential downsides to using employee self-service platforms which\ninclude:\n\n<ul><li>It could be technologically\nchallenging to truly integrate multiple platforms, especially if all of the\ninformation comes from disparate locations.</li><li>Getting an employee\nself-service platform is just another thing that workers need to be educated\non. The training can be more intensive for so many different facets of the\nprogram than certain other types of software, even though each segment is fairly\nstraightforward.</li><li>It also has to manage both\nprocesses. It is always valid, of course, but more than ever if at all times\nworkers deserve 100% reliable and updated details. This may mean additional\nadministrative pressure.</li></ul>\n\n\nThe biggest\ndownside to investing in employee self-service platforms options is the amount\nof time taken to make sure that every employee knows how to use the program.\nThe rollout process can cost a company enormous amounts of time and money,\ntaking away these resources from regular operations. Employees will need to use\nemployee self-service regularly so an organisation can see a benefit from\nimplementing the program. When workers don't fully understand how to use the employee\nself-service platform choices, communication gaps may be created. Additionally,\nsome workers may continue to use the new system and others may use older\nsystems and manual procedures as workarounds, resulting in even greater process\nhindrances. If a company decides to utilise self-service options for common HR\ntasks, it is important to make sure that all personnel is on the same page and\nis ready for the transition before moving forward.\n\n<h2>How to design an employee self-service platform for your\norganisation</h2>\n\nConsumers are now\nincreasingly familiar with 'self-service' ideas, such as flight check-ins,\nhotel reservations or simply ordering a choice meal from one's favourite\nrestaurant, in both private and professional functionalities. In line with the\nabove, the majority of a company's support departments-Facilities Management,\nIT, and HR-have incorporated self-service systems into their core structure to\nhelp workers navigate key facilities, processes, programs, or resources, easily\nover the web or through mobile devices. However, to maximize the true market\ninterest of self-service models for employees effectively, one needs to look at\nthese five critical starting points:\n\n\n<h3>Keep it Simple, Silly or KISS</h3>\n\nRemember it's\nalways the first step to consider the target market. Most workers don't speak a\nback-office specialist's nuanced, technical jargon, so they often don't know\nthe underlying meaning behind these demands. Therefore, workers need an\neasy-to-use self-explaining resource that carries only the necessary action. Through\nputting together various departments such as FM, HR, and IT into a centralised\nand cohesive <a href=""https://www.hrtechnologist.com/interviews/employee-self-service/interview-with-jay-srinivasan-ceo-at-spoke/?zd_source=hrt&amp;zd_campaign=2068&amp;zd_term=chiradeepbasumallick"">self-help\nplatform for workers</a>, a convenient and secure point of contact can be\nprovided with any request for assistance or help. This simplifies the method as\na whole, reducing the number of portals or solutions, allowing greater\nefficiencies.\n\n\n<h3>Make it look 'Nice'</h3>\n\nIt is key-workers\nneed to find a reason to use and use a self-service platform or mobile app\nregularly while ensuring a personal gain from the same. Recently, <a href=""https://www.hrtechnologist.com/news/employee-self-service/paycom-launches-redesign-of-employee-selfservice-capabilities/?zd_source=hrt&amp;zd_campaign=2068&amp;zd_term=chiradeepbasumallick"">Paycom</a>\nunveiled a completely revamped ESS app, based on enhanced CX. How does one do\nthis? By providing content, data, and a rich and interactive Dashboard. Relevance\ncan be built up by analysing past habits such as requested services, or\ndemographics such as work functionalities or gender. Once an employee has\nbooked a particular function several times it should appear in the selection\nlist more prominently.\n\n\n<h3>Don't forget to follow-up</h3>\n\nTo make\nSelf-Service a valuable and effective tool for both employees and businesses,\nan end-to-end connection will include regular and continuous monitoring of any service\nrequest. By unifying these processes into a single solution, one can map\nservice levels, pre-empt possible escalations, and boost multi-stakeholder\ncommunication. Employees may use Self-Service to check the current status of an\napplication, review the expected delivery times, and also better determine the\njob scenarios of the program. Upon completion of the order, an integrated\nself-service platform enables one to verify the standard of the service\nrendered, with feedback forms and automated surveys.\n\n\n<h3>Always spread the good word</h3>\n\nWhen people are\nnot aware of the Employee Self-Service solution's nature, it is possible they\nwon't ever use it. Explain the reasons behind its creation, its ways of using\nit, and its many advantages-across as many channels as possible (newsletters,\nsocial media, internet, email, posters and the like, helping to communicate\nportal uses and ease of access, including employee feedback, suggestions, and\nideas. For the first time, if you are launching a mobile-friendly platform such\nas <a href=""https://www.hrtechnologist.com/news/employee-self-service/menameplus-is-an-all-new-mobilefirst-employee-self-service-app/?zd_source=hrt&amp;zd_campaign=2068&amp;zd_term=chiradeepbasumallick"">MenaME-Plus</a>,\nthe steps of knowledge and feedback become all the more relevant to ease the\nchange.\n\n\n<h3>Ensure there's a balance between all your channels</h3>\n\nEmployee\nself-service is now a proven concept for facilities management, IT or HR\nmanagement, offering greater accessibility to service and increased efficiency\nin processing and delivery. Does this, therefore, render Employee Self-Service\na 'one-size-fits-all' model, which can be extended to any situation or\nrequirement? The answer is No. Employee self-service is intended for regular\nand standardized processes which do not require special or sustained\ninvolvement or complex tasks to be completed. That is why the actual service\ndesk, telephone calls or especially human experiences can never be fully\nreplaced.\n\nThese are the five\noverarching principles which drive or direct the implementation of Employee\nself-service. Although most organisations are building their programs on these,\nit is wise to tweak each of the five according to your organisation's\nparticular strategies or needs and its key value proposition. Having\nself-service work for workers should be a priority for the company but it needs\nto be enforced by more than one department to do so. HR managers and\nadministrators from other departments need to work together to make use of\nworkers as efficient and widespread as possible.\n\nKudzai Derera is a\nConsultant at Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd, a management and\nhuman resources consulting firm. \n\nLinkedIn: <a href=""https://zw.linkedin.com/in/kudzaiderera"">https://zw.linkedin.com/in/kudzaiderera</a>\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\n\nPhone: +263 242\n481946-48/481950 \n\nEmail: <a href=""mailto:kudzai@ipcconsultants.com"">kudzai@ipcconsultants.com</a> &nbsp;&nbsp;\n\nMain Website: <a href=""http://www.ipcconsultants.com"">www.ipcconsultants.com</a>

Everything you need to know about employee self-service platforms

The days of staying with the same\ncompany from graduation to retirement are over. More recently, people are\nchanging jobs quite regularly. Workers born between 1957 and 1964, for example,\nheld an average of&nbsp;<a href=""https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/nlsoy.pdf"" target=""_blank"" rel=""noreferrer noopener"">11.9 jobs between the ages of 18\nto 50</a>, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Whilst,\nyounger workers are more eager to switch jobs frequently. When the global\nstaffing firm Robert Half polled professionals of all ages with college\ndegrees, they found that&nbsp;<a href=""http://rh-us.mediaroom.com/2018-04-05-Does-Job-Hopping-Help-Or-Hurt-Your-Career"" target=""_blank"" rel=""noreferrer noopener"">64 percent think that changing roles every few years can be beneficial</a>. \n\nAccording to more research by the\nUniversity of Phoenix on job switching, they found that\n\nThe survey also revealed that the\nmost common reasons for changing jobs include inadequate financial\ncompensation, exhaustion, lack of upward mobility, and loss of enthusiasm.\n\nThe Job-Hopper's Report: Where are all the\njob-hoppers going to? looked at job switching trends in America. It found that:\n\n<ul><li>The\n job switching rate is highest in the administrative and support services\n and accommodation and food services industries, and lowest in utilities,\n education and health services, and manufacturing.</li><li>Workers\n usually leave their industries when they switch jobs, but the rate they\n jump to other industries hasn’t changed much in the past decade.&nbsp;</li><li>In\n a tight job market, employers increasingly are hiring job seekers who are\n already working, as well as those who lack credentials previously\n demanded, such as a college degree.&nbsp;</li><li>Also,\n employers are adjusting recruitment strategies by offering more generous\n pay and benefits.</li></ul>\n\n\n<h2>How\noften to change your job</h2>\n\nHR professional, resume writer and career\ncoach&nbsp;Jessie West&nbsp;stands by the one-year guideline. She proffers that\nyou should at least commit to one year in your position before looking\nelsewhere or pursuing other positions within the company. This is because all\ncompanies operate within a fiscal year and it is almost impossible to learn all\nthere is to learn about the company in a shorter time frame.&nbsp; Staying at\nyour job for just a few months also leads to the assumption that you are not\ncommitted to your professional development and that you have a hard time coping\nwith new challenges.\n\nVictoria Sawtelle, community\nmanager at&nbsp;<a href=""https://uptowork.com/"">Uptowork</a>, recommends at least two to three\nyears of experience within a particular field before moving on to something\nnew. She adds, “Most employers want a few years of experience if you plan to\nmove up in either position or pay scale.” Employers will be more inclined to\noffer you a higher-level position once you’ve established yourself as a\nqualified professional in whichever line of work you’ve chosen.\n\n<h2>Why\nSwitching Jobs Often Is A Good Idea</h2>\n\nAccording\nto Liz Ryan, a former Fortune 500 HR Senior Vice President and contributor for\nForbes, the following are all good reasons why you should switch jobs often:\n\n\n<ol><li>When you stay in the\nsame organization, you gradually lose touch with the outside world. Your field\nof vision constricts and you begin to focus on internal priorities (who's up\nand who's down politically your next position, and your current goals) rather\nthan focusing on the larger world outside your company's walls. One of the biggest\ndangers of staying a job too long is that you fall behind what is happening in\nyour industry and the wide world beyond it.</li><li>Unless your company is\ngrowing very fast -- experiencing thirty percent annual growth or more -- it is\ndifficult or impossible to give yourself the new experiences, new challenges,\nand range of muscle-building activities you will naturally encounter by changing\njobs. </li><li>When you change jobs\noften, you never get out of open-and-curious mode. You'll accumulate new\nlearning (and just as important, a comfort level with ""incompetence"")\nmuch faster by throwing yourself into new-job territory more often.</li><li>Every time you change\njobs, you get to (and have to) re-establish your value. Every time you change\njobs you get to redefine yourself on your own terms. You can rationalize the\ndecision to stay in your previous role any number of ways, but the truth is\nthat the only thing you will ever have to sell to an employer or client is your\nexpertise, and the only way to grow that is to grab every new learning\nopportunity you see.</li><li>The more often you\nchange jobs, the more comfortable you will become interviewing and negotiating.</li><li>When you change jobs\nmore frequently, you'll learn to evaluate employers as much as they evaluate\nyou. </li><li>When you stay put in\none job for a long time, you can begin to perform your job mechanically. Your\nsupply of new ideas will begin to diminish and then die out. You need fresh\n""glasses"" to keep a channel open to the collective consciousness or\nwherever your best ideas come from</li><li>The more companies you\nwork for, the more your reputation in your business community can grow. The\nmore companies you work for, the more people you will know. The more companies\nyou work for, the more comfortable you will be walking into new business\nsituations and figuring out what's important.</li><li>The longer you stay in\none company -- even if you change jobs internally -- the more set and solid\nyour box will become. The more often and more fearlessly you step out of your\ncomfort zone, the more your comfort zone will expand. If you don't actively\nenlarge your comfort zone all the time, you will become your own worst enemy.\nYou will start to believe that you are your job title. You won't see your own\nvast possibilities. </li></ol>\n\n\n<h2>Why Switching Jobs Is A Bad Idea</h2>\n\nThere\nare 2 sides to every coin and whilst we have looked at the advantages of\nfrequent job switching, we need to also look at the disadvantages.\n\n\n<h3>1. Your Jobs Are All Over The\nPlace</h3>\n\nYou want your work history to paint a clear picture of you as a\nprofessional. Your CV should tell a story, even if it doesn’t show a linear\nprogression up the corporate ladder. If you’ve spent most of your career\njumping from one unrelated gig to another, that could send up a red flag that\nyou’re still trying to figure out who you are and what you want professionally.\n\n\n\n<h3>2. There’s No Clear Forward Movement</h3>\n\nIdeally, you should change jobs because you’ve come into a better\nopportunity. Perhaps a new job pays more, or it comes with a better title. If\nthat kind of forward movement isn’t clear on your resume, it could be taken as\na bad sign by hiring managers. The problem occurs when every job change is a\nlateral move or step back. Your job history should show advancement within an\norganization and/or industry. Otherwise, your job hopping past could work\nagainst you in the future.\n\n\n<h3>3. You Lack Passion For Your Work</h3>\n\nYour employment history should show that you’ve been working toward\nfinding your way. It should indicate that you’re passionate about something, a\ncause, an industry, or a type of technology. If your resume makes it seem like\nyou’ve simply been trying to land as high-paying a job as you can get,\nemployers might assume that’s your primary focus.\n\n\n<h3>4. You Hold Jobs For Months Not Years</h3>\n\nJob hopping is fine if it’s done for the right reasons and in the right\nway. But, it’s hard to justify job changes when they are super frequent. It’s one\nthing to change jobs every few years to earn more money, learn new skills, or\ntake on a fresh challenge. A resume that shows job changes every few months\nisn’t sending that message. If you tend to stay at jobs for less than a year, a\nprospective employer will expect you to do the same with them.\n\n\n<h3>5. You Seem Short-Sighted</h3>\n\nYou should treat your career more like a marathon than a sprint.\nSometimes, job hoppers aim for short-term gains rather than long-term goals.\nBut, doing so could damage your career. For example, maybe your resume shows\nyou’ve worked with a few different failed start-ups. Or, maybe you’ve gotten\ninvolved with organizations that don’t have the best reputations. Companies\ndon’t like seeing an employment history that demonstrates this type of career\napproach. Steadiness and consistent progress are better. It shows an employer\nthat you know how to work hard on a sustained basis.\n\n<h2>Conclusion</h2>\n\nThe truth is, however, that job-hopping has become\nmore of a necessity than ever before. More college graduates enter the\nworkforce each year hoping to land their dream job in the industry they’ve just\nspent four years learning about, and it’s not quite as easy as it used to be.\n\nAs a result, millennials have to settle for jobs\nthey believe will get them one step closer to their goals; they accept jobs\noutside of their desired field based on availability and financial need. For\nthese reasons, it’s become less alarming for young professionals to change jobs\nmore often. \n\n

Here is why you should switch jobs more frequently

What has happened in companies traditionally is that feedback is a one-way street. It cascades down from supervisors to subordinates but hardly ever the other way around. Feedback from co-workers and subordinates is something that one at times hears through the office grapevine- not the best of situations. More and more companies have started to realise the importance of all-round feedback through formal channels. According to Forbes, 85% of Fortune 500 companies are now implementing 360 Feedback - otherwise known as 360 Degree or Multi-rater Feedback. This article will be looking at 360 Degree feedback assessments and recommended best practices.\n\n360 Degree Feedback\nis a system or process in which employees receive confidential, anonymous\nfeedback from the people who work around them.&nbsp;<a href=""https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/360-degree_feedback"">The</a>\nearliest recorded use of 360-degree assessments is from the 1950s. 360 feedback\ngrew out of the use of a training method called “T-groups” or training groups.\nParticipants met with their peers who were encouraged to share feedback in an\nopen session facilitated by a trained moderator. Notably, before the\ntechnological era, 360-degree feedback was a difficult process to administer.\nThe time and effort needed to collect paper forms, collate the data, and\nproduce a summary report was extensive and a significant barrier. \n\nThis\ntechnological breakthroughs and automation in the process have meant that there\nhas been a significant uptake of the process. The data is collected via\nrespondents that include reporting manager, colleagues, and subordinates and in\nsome cases, clients too. The opinion and ratings from the participants are then\nfed into the system to churn out comprehensible, actionable development\nreports.\n\n360-degree\nfeedback program aims at solving multi-dimensional problems in an organization\nranging from employee engagement and attrition to development and succession\nplanning. Just like the full angle, 360-degree feedback software gives an\nall-round report of an employee’s journey in the organization, his strengths,\nchallenges, roadblocks or any latent leadership potential that can be polished\nwith little training and effort. Single sourced feedback is rarely\ncomprehensive enough to be regarded as reliable. 360-degree feedback tool has\nevolved into a very effective management tool in employee development.&nbsp; \n\nSome\nadvantages that come with 360 Degree feedback are that;\n\n<ul><li>Gives anonymity to junior employees to speak\n freely</li><li>Provides feedback to employees from a variety\n of sources</li><li>Develops and strengthens teamwork and\n accountability</li><li>Uncovers procedural issues that can hinder\n employee growth</li><li>Reveals specific career development areas</li><li>Reduces rater bias and discrimination\n tendencies</li><li>Offers constructive feedback to improve\n employee outputs</li><li>Supplies insight on training needs</li></ul>\n\n\nThe\ndisadvantages that may come with 360 Degree feedback are that;\n\n<ul><li>Can be time-consuming if the number of\n required appraisals is a lot</li><li>Causes organizational issues if implemented in\n a hasty or incomplete fashion</li><li>Prevents recipients from getting more\n information because the process is anonymous</li><li>Focuses on employee weaknesses and\n shortcomings instead of strengths</li></ul>\n\n\nExecuting a\n360-degree assessment successfully requires buy-in from all stakeholders to\nensure maximum participation. Sensitizing members on what the process entails\nis just one of the aspects that need to be addressed. Questions that should be\nexpected in the assessments by participants have to be tailored to the purpose\nof the assessments. Are the assessments being done for evaluating problem-solving\nskills? Leadership capabilities? Soft skills set? Current Management? These are\nsome of the aims that should be addressed beforehand. \n\nSome typical\nquestions that can be found in 360-degree assessments as provided by careers\nsite Indeed.com are;\n\n<ul><li>Does this employee take the initiative to seek\nclarification on things they don’t understand?</li><li>Does this employee proactively seek to understand\nthe views and opinions of others?</li><li>Is this employee open to receiving feedback from\nsupervisors and peers?</li><li>Do\nyou believe this employee is honest, ethical and trustworthy?</li><li>Is\nthis employee a good active listener?</li><li>Do the actions of this manager Inspire growth and\ndevelopment in others?</li><li>Is this manager able to resolve conflict appropriately?</li><li>Do you receive constructive and helpful feedback\nfrom this manager?</li><li>Has this employee shown the initiative to take the\nlead on team projects or assignments?</li><li>Do you believe this employee knows and represents\nour company’s goals and values?</li><li>Does this employee follow instructions to achieve\nthe desired results?</li><li>Does this employee help create a culture that\nfosters and values collaboration?</li><li>Does this employee seek to improve by learning new\nskills and techniques?</li></ul>\n\n\nBest\npractice would also be to add an extra section to accommodate any other\ncomments that a rater might need to put out, whether positive or negative. Most\n360-degree assessment templates come with rating scales. The respondent can\nanswer any of the questions about how well an individual ranging from\nunsatisfactory to excellent. \n\nThere are many benefits to <a href=""https://www.truscore.com/resources/360-degree-feedback/"">360 -degree feedback</a>. However, a lot of 360 feedback projects can go wrong, which results in poor ROI and can give a bad impression of 360 feedback. The Harvard Business Review acknowledges that 360-degree assessments are as relevant to the work world as ever. However, in order for them to be a success some of the aspects that need to be handled correctly are:\n\n<ul><li>They begin by measuring the right skills, relying on empirical research to determine which leadership competencies make a difference to the performance of their firm, rather than on some senior executive’s beliefs about what makes a good manager. </li><li>They take the time to properly explain, both to participants and to the people giving feedback about those participants, why they're going through the exercise and how the data will be used for the participant’s development. </li><li>They make certain and make it known, that there will be no breaches of confidentiality. </li><li>They create a survey that requires just 15 to 20 minutes to complete, to avoid the survey fatigue that tortuously long instruments cause.</li><li>They focus primarily on discovering strengths rather than use the process to uncover deficiencies. Yes, the process sometimes identifies major weaknesses that need to be taken seriously, but in our experience, these have been in the minority of cases. </li><li>They tailor the results to each individual and his or her position. Everyone doesn’t need to be good at the same things.</li><li>They present each person’s results in a way that enables them to digest them constructively and use the data to create a personal plan of development. They make the feedback report itself simple to read, presenting data in a graphical format that is easy to absorb.</li><li>They design a final report to help participants see how they compare to those in the top quartile and the top 10%. This elevates everyone’s aspirations. No one leaves feeling complacent about being slightly above average.</li><li>They include a mini-employee survey that shows managers the impact of their behaviour on their subordinates.</li></ul>\n\n\nA 360-degree\nfeedback program can be a powerful way of helping employees grow within their\norganization. Used successfully, it's a tool that increases engagement,\nidentifies training opportunities and helps employees develop in their own role\nand go on to succeed in a leadership role.\n\nTakudzwa\nVanessa Machingauta is a consultant with Industrial Psychology Consultants, a\nbusiness management and HR consulting firm.

360 Degree Feedback Best Practices Guidelines

<h2>What is the future of work?</h2>\n\nThe subject of “The\nfuture of work” has been around for quite some time now. Many experts have\noffered differing opinions on what it is. This has opened the subject to much\ndebate and scrutiny and much research has been done. Governments,\nnon-governmental organisations and the private sector have all looked into the\nsubject. The best way to define the future of work would be to take a look at\nwhat these experts have said on the subject. We take a look back to 2016-2017\nwhen the topic was considered to be hot. <a href=""#_ftn1"">[1]</a>\nIn 2016 The World Economic Forum annual meeting held under the theme “Mastering\nthe Fourth Industrial Revolution” could arguably be highlighted as the first\nmajor event when stakeholders from across the board discussed the future of\nwork. Preceding the annual meeting the World Economic Forum published a report\ntitled “The Future of Jobs” which sort of sparked the conversation throughout\nthat annual meeting.<a href=""#_ftn2"">[2]</a> The report\nstates that development in genetics, artificial intelligence, robotics,\nnanotechnology, 3D printing is building upon and exhorting one another. This\ncreates a foundation of a revolution more encompassing than anything this world\nhas ever seen. The major question then is how will the government, business and\nindividuals react to this.<a href=""#_ftn3"">[3]</a>\n\nHere is what some\nof the experts had to say to address the question of future of work during the\n2016 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting held in Davos: <a href=""#_ftn4"">[4]</a>\n\n<blockquote class=""wp-block-quote"">We see high unemployment with unfilled jobs, rising productivity with stagnant wages, and economic recovery with declining upward mobility. <cite>Jonas Prising, CEO of ManpowerGroup</cite></blockquote>\n\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=""wp-block-quote"">Any kind of job is going to have a digital component. It doesn't mean everyone's got to be a computer scientist; digital technology can, in fact, bring skills to a much more under-skilled population because of their ease of use and the ease of access to technology.<cite>Satya Nadella, CEO Microsoft</cite></blockquote>\n\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=""wp-block-quote"">If you are choosing your college degree today, STEM skills are a good bet,<cite>Saadia Zahidi, Managing Director, World Economic Forum, Till Leopold, Head, Inclusive Economies Practice, Centre for the New Economy and Society, World Economic Forum</cite></blockquote>\n\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=""wp-block-quote"">Technology has become a huge multiplier, affecting growth and development and connecting people. Even for the poorest people, having some simple technologies has improved their lives; very ordinary people are understanding the importance of technology. In the last 10 years in Rwanda, it's just continued progress, and most of it contributed to by the use of technology. This revolution will produce winners and losers. Our job is to reduce the number of losers.<cite>Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda</cite></blockquote>\n\n\nIt is interesting\nto note the four questions which are embedded in the subject future of work as\nJames Manyika, McKinsey Global Institute chairman and director points out.<a href=""#_ftn5"">[5]</a> These\nquestions or points of discussion are:\n\n\n<ol><li>The impact of artificial intelligence, automation on work and jobs, and whether we’ll have enough work and jobs left after that.</li><li>The changing models for work and work structure. This involves questions around independent work, the gig economy, whether people work as outsourced services or not.</li><li>Whether people work and earn enough to be able to make a living or not. Will technology make that even worse as we look forward considering most advanced economies have seen a huge stagnation of incomes?<a href=""#_ftn6"">[6]</a></li><li>How does a workplace actually change? How work will be organized and how it will look in terms of people working alongside machines.</li></ol>\n\n\nFindings from the\n2016 Future of Jobs report share an even clearer picture of what is the future\nof work. The findings are:\n\n<ul><li>Technological disruption is\ninteracting with socio-economic, geopolitical and demographic factors to create\na perfect storm in labour markets in the next five years.</li><li>Jobs gains in the next five years\nwill not be enough to offset expected losses, meaning we have a difficult\ntransition ahead.</li><li>If you are choosing your college\ndegree today, STEM skills are a good bet – but most importantly you will need\nto learn and specialize throughout your lifetime.</li><li>Even as jobs shrink, companies\nwill find it harder to recruit</li><li>Regardless of the job you are in,\nexpect to face pressure to constantly modify your skills</li><li>The threat of automation and a\njobless future could become a self-fulfilling prophecy if both employers and\nemployees don’t act today</li><li>Government, business and\nindividuals will need a mindset shift towards education and employment</li></ul>\n\n\nFast-forwarding\nthis to 2020, one can say the future of work is now. It is already here, as\nBernard Marr, a contributor at Forbes writes. <a href=""#_ftn7"">[7]</a>\nIn 2017, the International Labour Organisation Global Commission On The Future\nOf Work began its work and published their work in 2019 in a report titled,\nWork for a Brighter Future. The commission was co-chaired by the President of\nSouth Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa and Sweden's Prime Minister, Stefan Löfven.&nbsp; The report states that technological advances\nwill create new jobs, but those who lose their jobs in this transition may be\nthe least equipped to seize the new opportunities. Today's skills will not match\nthe jobs of tomorrow and newly acquired skills may quickly become obsolete.\nHowever, if everyone is aware of the changes, if everyone is included and works\ntogether to find solutions, there is a brighter future to our world of work.<a href=""#_ftn8"">[8]</a>\n\n<h2>What skills are\nneeded for future jobs?</h2>\n\nIn their 2017\nreport, McKinsey Global Institute addressed the question of what automation\nwill mean for skills.<a href=""#_ftn9"">[9]</a> They said:\n\n“Workers\nof the future will spend more time on activities that machines are less capable\nof, such as managing people, applying expertise, and communicating with others.\nThey will spend less time on predictable physical activities and on collecting\nand processing data, where machines already exceed human performance. The\nskills and capabilities required will also shift, requiring more social and\nemotional skills and more advanced cognitive capabilities, such as logical\nreasoning and creativity.”\n\nThe World Economic\nForum Future of Jobs Report lists Top 10 skills to have in 2020. This list\nechoes the same sentiment to what McKinsey said. One can see that the skills\nneeded for future jobs are more of the ""soft skills"" traditionally\nnot given the attention they deserve. The continued accelerating pace of\ntechnological and socio-economic disruption, changes in business models will\nnot only influence the skills employees to need but shorten the shelf life of\ntheir skills. Even in roles not directly affected by the technology they will\nbe some sort of skill addition to adapt to the new ecosystem. The World Economic\nForum predicted that, on average, by 2020, more than a third of the desired\ncore skill sets of most occupations will be comprised of skills that are not\nyet considered crucial to the job in 2016.\n\nFigure 1: Top 10 Skills in 2020\n\nBelow are some of the\nfindings from the Future of Jobs report concerning skills needed for future\njobs:\n\n<ul><li>More than one third (36%) of all\njobs across all industries are expected to require complex problem-solving as\none of their core skills, compared to less than 1 in 20 jobs (4%) that will\nhave a core requirement for physical abilities such as physical strength or\ndexterity</li><li>Overall, social skills such as\npersuasion, emotional intelligence and teaching others will be in higher demand\nacross industries than narrow technical skills, such as programming or\nequipment operation and control.</li><li>Content skills (which include ICT\nliteracy and active learning), cognitive abilities (such as creativity and\nmathematical reasoning) and process skills (such as active listening and\ncritical thinking) will be a growing part of the core skills requirements for\nmany industries.</li><li>Many formerly purely technical\noccupations are expected to show a new demand for creative and interpersonal\nskills. For healthcare practitioners, for example, technological innovations\nwill allow for increased automation of diagnosis and personalization of\ntreatments, redefining many medical roles towards translating and communicating\nthis data effectively to patients.</li></ul>\n\n\nAt Virgin Unite,\nthey have learned that ‘Hybrid leaders’ will be in demand. <a href=""#_ftn10"">[10]</a>\nThey describe these as leaders who can work collaboratively across the private,\npublic and not-for-profit sectors and use business solutions to tackle the\nworld’s social and environmental problems. The concept of a job for life will\nnot exist, they say. They foresee a constant movement across projects,\norganisations and roles. This will bring a radical shift to traditional methods\nof attracting and retaining talent.\n\n<h2>How do you\nprepare for your future job?</h2>\n\nIt is clear with the continued disruption to business models and the work environment life-long learning is a must. There will be constant upskilling. Saadia Zahidi and Till Leopold from the World Economic Forum advise that, regardless of the job you are in, expect to face pressure to constantly modify your skills. Remember, more than a third of the desired core skill sets of most occupations will consist of skills that are not yet considered crucial to the job today. Also, technical skills will need to be supplemented with strong social and collaboration skills. Bernard Marr, a contributor at Forbes says, ""Individuals will need to act and engage in lifelong learning, so they are adaptable when the changes happen. The lifespan for any given skill set is shrinking, so it will be imperative for individuals to continue to invest in acquiring new skills. The shift to lifelong learning needs to happen now because the changes are already happening.""<a href=""#_ftn11"">[11]</a>\n\nFigure 2: Virgin Unite skills needed in the future\nworkplace\n\n<h2>What does\nCovid-19 mean for the future of work?</h2>\n\nThe advent of\nCovid-19 has become a catalyst for some of the concepts of the future of work.\nWhat began as a few weeks of working from home has accelerated the change in\nhow we work.&nbsp; In their report titled,\nRemote work in the age of AI, the team at slack reports an estimated 16 million\nU.S. knowledge workers started working remotely due to Covid-19 as of March 27;\nthat number is likely much higher now.<a href=""#_ftn12"">[12]</a>\nIt is clear the traditional idea of office life has been put on hold and it is\nnot certain yet what the future holds. One thing that's for sure is that things\nwill never be the same again. \n\nIan Wong,\nco-founder and CTO of Opendoor, an online real estate transaction provider,\nsays, ""The future of work is looking flexible. Right now, the majority of\ntech employees are working remotely, but I see a future where employees have\noptions. As companies consider more permanent options, employees need to be\ncommunicative with their managers about what's working and what's not. Leaders\nshould also be mindful of the needs of their employees. Maybe the future\nworkplace means coming into an office one to two days a week, maybe it's\nmeeting as a team once a month, or maybe employees are fully remote There are a\nlot of unknowns right now, but I don't predict work will go back exactly to how\nit was pre-COVID-19. There will be changes."" <a href=""#_ftn13"">[13]</a>\n\nOne could conclude\nthat remote working has been cemented as the new way to work. Big tech\ncompanies have taken a stance that might suggest so. Facebook has advised\nemployees to work from home for the remainder of the year, in some cases,\npermanently. Google is ensuring facilities occupancy rate is at 10%. <a href=""#_ftn14"">[14]</a> Twitter\nis reported to have all employees working from home permanently. <a href=""#_ftn15"">[15]</a>\n\nBusiness leaders\nand individuals need to be aware of the changes happening and be knowledgeable\nabout how best to navigate these changes. After all the success of a business\nor one's career mainly lies in their hands.\n\n<h2>Future of Work\nStatistics you should know</h2>\n\n\n<h3>Will there be enough work in the future?</h3>\n\nMcKinsey notes some\nof the questions people have concerning the future of work and the increasing\nautomation is will there be enough work in the future. Over time, labour\nmarkets adjust to changes in demand for workers from technological disruptions,\nalthough at times with depressed real wages as shown below:\n\nFigure 3: Employment changes in the United States\n1850-2015 \n\n\n<h3>Which core work-related skills will be in demand?</h3>\n\nBelow you can\nvisualise the change in demand for core work-related skills across all\nindustries. This will help managers in their future workforce strategy and\nemployees on which skills to enhance.\n\n\n<h3>What are the future labour markets likely to be?</h3>\n\nBelow there is a\ntable showing a compilation of some of the estimates from reputable\norganisations on the estimates likely to happen in future labour markets. <a href=""#_ftn16"">[16]</a> \n\n<a href=""#_ftnref1"">[1]</a> <a href=""https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/what-is-the-future-of-work"">https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/what-is-the-future-of-work</a> accessed 27 July 2020\n\n<a href=""#_ftnref2"">[2]</a> <a href=""https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-future-of-jobs"">https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-future-of-jobs</a> accessed 27 July 2020\n\n<a href=""#_ftnref3"">[3]</a> The Future of Jobs: Employment, Skills and\nWorkforce Strategy for the Fourth Industrial Revolution January (2016)\n\n<a href=""#_ftnref4"">[4]</a> <a href=""https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/11-experts-at-davos-on-the-future-of-work/"">https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/11-experts-at-davos-on-the-future-of-work/</a> accessed 27 July 2020\n\n<a href=""#_ftnref5"">[5]</a> <a href=""https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/what-is-the-future-of-work"">https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/what-is-the-future-of-work</a> accessed 27 July 2020\n\n<a href=""#_ftnref6"">[6]</a> Poorer than their parents? A new perspective\non income inequality Richard Dobbs, Anu Madgavkar, James Manyika, Jonathan\nWoetzel, Jacques Bughin, Eric Labaye, and Pranav Kashyap (2016)\n\n<a href=""#_ftnref7"">[7]</a> <a href=""https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2019/07/15/the-future-of-work-5-important-ways-jobs-will-change-in-the-4th-industrial-revolution/#372c98e554c7"">https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2019/07/15/the-future-of-work-5-important-ways-jobs-will-change-in-the-4th-industrial-revolution/#372c98e554c7</a> accessed 27 July 2020\n\n<a href=""#_ftnref8"">[8]</a> Work for a brighter future, Global Commission on The Future of Work, International Labour Organisation 2019&nbsp; \n\n<a href=""#_ftnref9"">[9]</a> Jobs lost, jobs gained: What the future of\nwork will mean for jobs, skills, and wages, McKinsey Global Institute, James\nManyika, Susan Lund, Michael Chui, Jacques Bughin, Jonathan Woetzel, Parul\nBatra, Ryan Ko, and Saurabh Sanghvi (2017)\n\n<a href=""#_ftnref10"">[10]</a> <a href=""https://www.virgin.com/virgin-unite/entrepreneurship/five-things-you-need-know-about-future-work"">https://www.virgin.com/virgin-unite/entrepreneurship/five-things-you-need-know-about-future-work</a> accessed 28 July 2020\n\n<a href=""#_ftnref11"">[11]</a> <a href=""https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2019/07/15/the-future-of-work-5-important-ways-jobs-will-change-in-the-4th-industrial-revolution/#372c98e554c7"">https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2019/07/15/the-future-of-work-5-important-ways-jobs-will-change-in-the-4th-industrial-revolution/#372c98e554c7</a> accessed 28 July 2020\n\n<a href=""#_ftnref12"">[12]</a> <a href=""https://slackhq.com/report-remote-work-during-coronavirus"">https://slackhq.com/report-remote-work-during-coronavirus</a> accessed 28 July 2020\n\n<a href=""#_ftnref13"">[13]</a> <a href=""https://www.techrepublic.com/article/the-rise-of-the-digital-workplace-and-the-new-future-of-work-experts-weigh-in/"">https://www.techrepublic.com/article/the-rise-of-the-digital-workplace-and-the-new-future-of-work-experts-weigh-in/</a> accessed 28 July 2020\n\n<a href=""#_ftnref14"">[14]</a> <a href=""https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/05/18/facebook-google-work-from-home/"">https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/05/18/facebook-google-work-from-home/</a> accessed 28 July 2020\n\n<a href=""#_ftnref15"">[15]</a> <a href=""https://insights.dice.com/2020/05/13/twitter-employees-work-from-home-permanent/"">https://insights.dice.com/2020/05/13/twitter-employees-work-from-home-permanent/</a> accessed 28 July 2020\n\n<a href=""#_ftnref16"">[16]</a> Work for a brighter future – Global Commission on the Future of Work (2019)

What you need to know about the future of work

Exit interviews are important and here is why

In 2017, the\nInternational Labour Organisation Global Commission On The Future Of Work began\nits work and published their work in 2019 in a report titled, Work for a\nBrighter Future. The commission was co-chaired by the President of South\nAfrica, Cyril Ramaphosa and Sweden's Prime Minister, Stefan Löfven.&nbsp; The report states that technological advances\nwill create new jobs, but those who lose their jobs in this transition may be\nthe least equipped to seize the new opportunities. Today's skills will not\nmatch the jobs of tomorrow and newly acquired skills may quickly become\nobsolete. However, if everyone is aware of the changes, if everyone is included\nand works together to find solutions, there is a brighter future to our world\nof work.\n\nIn their 2017\nreport, McKinsey Global Institute addressed the question of what automation\nwill mean for skills.&nbsp; They said:\n\n“Workers of the\nfuture will spend more time on activities that machines are less capable of,\nsuch as managing people, applying expertise, and communicating with others.\nThey will spend less time on predictable physical activities and on collecting\nand processing data, where machines already exceed human performance. The\nskills and capabilities required will also shift, requiring more social and\nemotional skills and more advanced cognitive capabilities, such as logical\nreasoning and creativity.”\n\nThe World Economic\nForum Future of Jobs Report lists Top 10 skills to have in 2020. This list\nechoes the same sentiment to what McKinsey said. One can see that the skills\nneeded for future jobs are more of the ""soft skills"" traditionally\nnot given the attention they deserve. The continued accelerating pace of\ntechnological and socio-economic disruption, changes in business models will\nnot only influence the skills employees to need but shorten the shelf life of\ntheir skills. Even in roles not directly affected by the technology they will\nbe some sort of skill addition to adapt to the new ecosystem. The World\nEconomic Forum predicted that, on average, by 2020, more than a third of the\ndesired core skill sets of most occupations will be comprised of skills that\nare not yet considered crucial to the job in 2016.\n\nIn their 2020\nreport titled, Jobs of tomorrow Mapping Opportunity in the New Economy, the\nWorld Economic Forum founded the following:\n\nDemand for both “digital” and “human” factors is driving\ngrowth in the professions of the future:\n\nWhilst we are\nwitnessing a rise in demand of roles at the forefront of the data and AI\neconomy such as engineering, cloud computing and product development, emerging\nprofessions also reflect the continuing importance of human interaction in the\nnew economy. This is giving rise\n\nto greater demand\nfor care economy jobs. Jobs in marketing, sales and content production as well\nas roles at the forefront of people and culture are growing in demand.\n\nThe highest-growth jobs of tomorrow are: \n\nThe roles with the\nhighest rate of growth within high-volume jobs include Artificial Intelligence\nSpecialists, Medical Transcriptionists, Data Scientists, Customer Success\nSpecialists and Full Stack Engineers. Within lower volume jobs, the highest\ngrowth is in Landfill Biogas Generation System Technicians, Social Media\nAssistants, Wind Turbine Service Technicians, Green Marketers and Growth\nHackers.\n\n<h2>A look at the professions of the future</h2>\n

Jobs For The Future: Everything you need to know

Employee\nretention refers to the ability of an organization to retain its employees.\nEach company and industry has a varying retention rate, reflecting the\npercentage of workers who remained with the organization for a fixed time.\nMany\nconsider employee retention strategies as relating to the efforts by which\nemployers attempt to retain the employees in their workforce.\n\nPay\ndoes not always play as large a role in reducing staff turnover as is typically\nbelieved. {Allen, D.G. (2008). Retaining Talent. Retrieved from}\n\nA\ndistinction should be made between low-performing workers and top performers.\nAn attempts to retain employees should centre on valuable employees who\ncontribute to the company. Employee turnover is a symptom of deeper unresolved\nproblems that may include low employee morale, lack of a consistent career\ndirection, lack of appreciation, weak employee-manager relationships or several\nother problems. A lack of work satisfaction and the organisation's\ndedication may also lead an employee to withdraw and start searching for new\nopportunities.\n\nAll\nof these examples represent turnover, but they don’t all have the same organizational\nimplications. To distinguish their implications below is a figure which defines\ntypes of turnover.\n\nTurnover Classification Scheme by David G. Allen,\nPh.D., SPHR\n\nYou\nneed to participate in a constant evaluation of the nature and causes of\nturnover, as well as establish the right combination of retention strategies to\nhandle retention most effectively. That calls for thinking\nabout retention before recruiting employees while working at your company, and\nafter they leave. You have a vital role to play in the cycle as an HR\nprofessional.\n\nHow,\nthen, should you approach the task of developing the right retention management\nplan for your company? The figure below shows the important\nsteps in this process of developing a retention management plan.\n\nDeveloping a Retention Management Plan by David G.\nAllen, Ph.D., SPHR\n\nOver\nthe past few months, COVID-19 virus has spread to different continents,\ninfecting people in many countries around the world. As the virus spreads, the\nsociety, economy and business are being impacted. The major issue is how to\nreduce the business impact of the epidemic, its performance results and, most\nimportantly, on employees – these are the key topics of concern for any leader\nin the organization.\n\nAccording\nto a Deloitte article “How to reduce the pandemic impact on employees: A guide\nfor company leaders” 46% of respondents expect a reduction in\nperformance targets in 2020 as a result of COVID-19 pandemic.\n\nStrategies\nto Retain Your Employees During COVID-19\n\nBelow\nare some of the suggestions to keep your employees happy on the job, feel\nsecure in their work and not only remain with your business but deliver at the\nhighest rate of productivity currently possible:\n\n\n<ol><li>Encourage Engagement</li></ol>\n\n\nWhen\nemployees are not engaged or don’t feel engaged is when the job search usually\nbegins. One\nstudy (Jim Harter &amp; Amy Adkins, 2017, ‘Are Your Star Employees Slipping\nAway?’) showed that 56% of employees who don’t feel sufficiently engaged will\nlook for another job, and 73% of actively disengaged employees will want to\nleave your company.\n\nEven\nif you are operating remotely and have no real face-to-face contact, you need\nprocesses in place to keep engagement level up. \n\n<ul><li>Maintain Business As Usual</li></ul>\n\n\nThe\nworld is anything but unusual right now due to the pandemic. This is exactly\nwhy your employees need to feel like at least some things will stay the same such\nas their jobs.\n\nKeep\nup your regular meetings with team members. Keep your projects\npipeline plans updated, and make sure you and your team are still focusing on\ntheir long-term personal development. Ongoing training is now even more\nimportant, to give your team a sense of direction and, at the very least,\ndistract them from potential catastrophic thinking. \n\n<ul><li>Be Flexible</li></ul>\n\n\nEmployees\nare likely dealing with unusual situations working from home: internet\ndisruptions, children going stir crazy, potential illness, or caring for sick\nloved ones.\n\nTrust\nthat, if someone needs to take a little extra time now to take care of things\nat home, they will make it up to you. The more understanding you are about\ntheir situation, the more likely they are to want to repay that understanding\nwith extra productivity. Work with your team to find a schedule that works for\nyou both.\n\n<ul><li>Address Uncertainties</li></ul>\n\n\nIt’s\nnormal to feel uneasy in these times. Sooth your team members by reassuring\nthem that their fears are normal, that they are being heard. HR department and\nother relevant professionals need to talk to your team members to let them vent\ntheir fears and frustrations. This is the best time to hire in an expert to\nhelp you do this like psychologist. The important thing is that your staff\nfeels heard.\n\n<ul><li>Be a Leader, Not a Boss</li></ul>\n\n\nPeople\nfollow leaders, not bosses. Many people who leave their company cite their\nmanagers (Jim Harter &amp; Amy Adkins, 2017, ‘Are Your Star Employees Slipping\nAway?’) as the reason for them leaving. \n\nBe\na leader in your company and your staff. Make sure you have a\nstrong purpose and communicate what you stand for. Treat\nthe workers with dignity and ensure that they are sincerely listened to,\nensuring that they are genuinely understood.\n\nGiven\nall the threats and pressures as a result of COVID-19, it is important to note\nthat we have in the past faced crises like this. First of all, it poses a\nthreat to the culture and management practices of the organization. When you\nbelieve that people are the company's most important asset, then you need to\nconnect, prepare and be consistent. Show up, and help employees.\n\nTaurai Masunda is a Business Analytics\nConsultant at Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd a management and\nhuman resources consulting firm. https://www.linkedin.com/in/taurai-masunda-b3726110b/\nPhone +263 4 481946-48/481950/2900276/2900966 or email: <a href=""mailto:taurai@ipcconsultants.com"">taurai@ipcconsultants.com</a>&nbsp; or visit our website at <a href=""http://www.ipcconsultants.com"">www.ipcconsultants.com</a>

Employee retention strategies in the face of COVID pandemic

The HR profession\nlooks like an easy profession from the viewpoint of most outsiders. I took an\nopportunity to ask HR professionals to indicate the things that frustrate them\nthe most. &nbsp;I list below some of the\nissues that HR people struggle with as they practice their profession. \n\n\n<ol><li>Directors\nwho only think highly of HR when they wanted their relatives recruited.</li><li>Preparing\nall investigations and hearing documents then told to submit everything to\ncompany lawyers because they would complete the tasks ""legally"". &nbsp;The lawyers would be paid double my salary.</li><li>Fellow\nmanagers who are quick to tell their subordinates good news e.g salary\nincreases but always approach HR to tell the same subordinates simple work\nethics like coming to work on time. Managers that don't manage their staff and\npush things to HR</li><li>Interview\npanellist who uses interviews to settle personal matters especially (internal\nposts)</li><li>Poor\nrecognition yet everyone runs to you when there is a crisis</li><li>Management\nwho blame HR for&nbsp; decisions they make eg on\nsalaries</li><li>Line\nmanagers who shove all issues to HR when they can handle </li><li>Working\nwith an Executive/s who are good at the blame game.</li><li>Management\nthat wants to make salary decisions on the due date.</li><li>Working\nwith Managers who always want to take credit when things come out nice but on\nthe opposite does not want to take ownership when the outcomes are bad.</li><li>Dealing\nwith line managers who studied only one HR subject and think they are now HR gurus.\n</li><li>Working\nwith this new millennial generation that won't sweat much but is very\ndemanding.</li><li>Adjusting\nsalaries to chase inflation. Seeking and justifying salary adjustment during this\nhyperinflationary environment</li><li>Culture\nchange in a COVID environment</li><li>Finding\nthe right skills from the current crop of graduates.</li><li>Employees\nwho think HR solves their retirement</li><li>Management\nthat fails to adapt to technological developments. </li><li>Collective\nbargaining is such a tedious and emotional wrecking process. </li><li>The\ndisciplinary hearing is another stressful process. </li><li>You\ngive HR advice to executives&nbsp;&nbsp; and they\nsay let's hear what the Consultant will say. </li><li>Executive\nsaying business is not performing well due to the harsh economic environment\nwhilst on the other hand employees saying they are not coping up with the harsh\neconomic environment. And you are told to handle the hungry workers. They are\nyour people handle them that's your job.</li><li>Coming\nin to fix grievances created by other departments. </li><li>Inconsistent\npolicy application. </li><li>When\nemployees ask section head policy issues, section head says go to HR.</li><li>When\nexecutives grade people instead of positions when doing job evaluation exercise.\n</li><li>&nbsp;When managers are partial in handling\ndisciplinary issues</li><li>There\nis no money for training and development </li><li>Fixed\nDisciplinary hearing 'He or she must go at all cost'</li><li>Complicated\nperformance management system eg Results based management{RBM}.</li><li>Fixed\nrecruitment and selection.' CV from CEO&nbsp;\nwith the instruction “this person must get the job”.'</li><li>Being\nblamed for the employees' poor performance and overall organisation\nperformance.</li><li>Being\nblamed by employees for management decisions when you are in the same\npredicament with them</li><li>Being\nseen as a peripheral function/profession in the organisation</li><li>Paying\nthe boss a domestic worker allowance that is equivalent to my salary</li><li>Keeping\nquiet in a Board session when one of the Director is giving factually incorrect\nstatements because he/she thinks she knows it all</li><li>Forfeiting\nthe right to collective bargaining because of the dual-role in which you are\nequally expected to be on the side of the employer </li><li>Being\nconsidered as peripheral skills of the organization than core &amp; strategic\npartners.</li><li>Line\nmanagement is always reluctant to discipline their subordinates. Even after\nbeing told that it is their responsibility. HR is there to advise and\nfacilitate disciplinary procedures.</li><li>Employees\nelecting workers committee members who are not up to the task. They choose\nmembers who only make a lot of noise without much contribution to the works\ncouncil business.</li><li>Line\nmanagement not walking the talk when it comes to organization culture</li><li>Executives\nwho try &nbsp;to manipulate policies/code of\nconduct to solve personal vendettas</li></ol>\n\n\nMemory Nguwi is an\nOccupational Psychologist, Data Scientist, Speaker, &amp; Managing Consultant-\nIndustrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd a management and human resources\nconsulting firm. <a href=""https://www.linkedin.com/in/memorynguwi/"">https://www.linkedin.com/in/memorynguwi/</a> Phone +263 4\n481946-48/481950/2900276/2900966 or cell number +263 77 2356 361 or email: <a href=""mailto:mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com"">mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com</a>&nbsp; or visit our\nwebsite at <a href=""http://www.ipcconsultants.com"">www.ipcconsultants.com</a>

41 Things that frustrate HR Professionals

The\nongoing COVID - 19 pandemics has made it tough for businesses to make\ndecisions. This because so much uncertainty surrounds the business-operating\nenvironment. Decision-making is the thought process of selecting a logical\nchoice from the available options. When trying to make a good decision, a\nperson must weigh the positives and negatives of each option, and consider all\nthe alternatives. For effective decision making, a person must be able to\nforecast the outcome of each option as well and based on all these items,\ndetermine which option is the best for that particular situation. Decision-making\nvariables can either be external to the decision system-that is, as exogenous\nvariables- or overlooks important inputs to the system from sources internal to\nthe decision, endogenous variables. Thus, one of the best ways businesses can\nuse to make decisions is to use the adaptive problem-solving approach. \n\n<h2>Problem Solving</h2>\n\nProblem-solving\nrefers to cognitive processing directed at achieving a goal when the problem\nsolver does not initially know a solution method. A problem exists when someone\nhas a goal but does not know how to achieve it. Problems can be classified as\nroutine or non-routine, and as well defined or ill-defined. The major cognitive\nprocesses in problem-solving are representing, planning, executing, and\nmonitoring. The major kinds of knowledge required for problem-solving are\nfacts, concepts, procedures, strategies, and beliefs.\n\n<h2>Adaptive Problem Solving</h2>\n\nThe\nadaptive problem-solving technique is a twenty-first-century skill that\nrequires the mental preparation an individual needs to establish and sustain\ncompetent performance in a complex and unpredictable environment. Adaptive\ntechniques for solving problems are a combination of logic and common sense.\nAdaptive problem solving is considered a crucial 21st-century skill that\ncombines cognitive and meta-cognitive processes. Mayer's in his definition of\nadaptive problem solving says, “Adaptive problem solving involves the ability\nto invent solutions to problems that the problem solver has not encountered\nbefore (Steward Bank – Kwenga). In adaptive problem solving, problem solvers\nmust adapt their existing knowledge to fit the requirements of a novel problem\n‘. \n\nThere\nare three major factors involved. First, the essence of the concept is behavior\nchange. Obstinately continuing a course of action despite significant changes\nin the circumstances is not adaptive even if it is effective. Second, whatever\nresponses are employed must be effective. It makes no sense if they make things\nmore difficult. Lastly, any response must be in reaction to a change of\ncircumstances. Change for its own sake is not adaptive.\n\nWhether\nleaders are adaptable and to what extent can be attributed nearly entirely to\nthree factors, all of which are present in every instance. The first involves\nthe personal traits and characteristics of a particular leader. Every leader\nhas a unique and infinitesimal combination of knowledge, experience, education,\ncourage, skills, imagination, intuition, ingenuity, and other attributes. These\nwork singly and in combination to inhibit or foster effective reactions. The\nsecond is the organizational rules, norms, and culture that encourage or\ndiscourage adaptive behavior. \n\nOrganizations\nthat dogmatically punish failure are not conducive to experimentation or\nexploration. Understandably, leaders that emerge from this type of environment\nare reluctant to deviate from norms. The third is the extent that a person is\ntrained to recognize and adjust to changing circumstances (Verizon has an in\nhouse school). This last factor is particularly important because of the\nimplied potential for increasing creativity, ingenuity, and effectiveness by\npreparing people to lead in chaotic and ever-changing situations. Effective\nadaptive decision-makers can be best understood to have thought the problem\nthrough further than others have.\n\nIt\nappears, however, that training in organizations can enhance abilities to\nadapt, both individually and organizationally. The most critical aspect of\nenhancing organizational adaptability is with a nurturing environment.\nOrganizations that routinely encourage and reward creativity, ingenuity, and\ninnovation not only encourage such practices among those assigned but serve to\nattract those who desire to work in such an environment. To prepare employees\nan organization can develop a training program for adaptive decision-making,\nand these have proven especially beneficial. The first is to expose students to\nchallenging scenarios simulating those expected to be encountered and which are\ndesigned to incorporate a need to recognize and adapt to a change in the\nsituation. These are normally done in one of four ways: moderated discussions,\npractical applications, decision-making exercises, and free-play exercises. &nbsp;\n\n<h2>Conceptual model of adaptive problem solving</h2>\n\nSource:\nGick, 1998\n\nAdaptive\nproblem solving involves three major stages, namely, defining a problem,\nsearching for a solution, and applying a solution&nbsp; (Gick,&nbsp;\n1998;&nbsp; Newell and Simon,&nbsp; 2002) -depicted from left to right in the\ndiagram above. Each of the stages can be characterized by different\ncognitive&nbsp; (upper part of the\nfigure)&nbsp; and meta-cognitive processes\n(lower part of the figure). This augmentation is necessary to account for the\nadaptive nature of problem-solving in today’s digitalized world,&nbsp; where a&nbsp;\nproblem solver has to continuously monitor any changes that will occur\nin the external world and regulate his/her problem-solving actions accordingly.\n\n<h2>Techniques for adaptive problem solving</h2>\n\n<ul><li>Decision staggering</li></ul>\n\n\nMake\nincremental decisions to achieve an objective and avoid total commitment to a\ndecision you cannot change.\n\nExample: Before installing air-conditioning,\ntry screens, shades, and fans. These alone may do the job. If not, these\nimprovements will still have helped cool the building and increase\nair-conditioning efficiency if later installed. \n\n<ul><li>Exploration</li></ul>\n\n\nUse\nthe information available to probe for a solution. Exploring is a modified\ntrial-and-error strategy to manage risk. Unlike a throw of dice, however, it\nrequires a firm sense of purpose and direction. Use this technique to move\ncautiously in small steps toward a solution.\n\nExample: Doctors avoid committing to\na single, incomplete diagnosis of an illness. Through tentative but precise\nexploration, they determine the cause of an illness and its cure.\n\n<ul><li>Hedging</li></ul>\n\n\nSpread\nthe risk by avoiding decisions that lock you into a single choice if you are\nnot prepared to commit.\n\nExample: astute investors do not\n""put all their eggs in one basket."" They spread risks with a balanced\nportfolio of stocks, bonds, and cash.\n\n<ul><li>Intuition</li></ul>\n\n\nCreate\noptions based on your experience, values, and emotions (your gut feelings and\nyour heart)! While often able to arrive at the truth through intuition, do not\nrely on it exclusively. It can trigger snap judgments and rash decisions. Use\nlogic first, then your intuition to make the decision ""feel"" right. \n\n<ul><li>Delay</li></ul>\n\n\nGo\nslow and/or postpone committing yourself to a course of action if an immediate\ndecision is not necessary and there is time to develop options. Sometimes doing\nnothing is the best decision; the problem will either go away, conditions will\nchange, the path may become clearer as you reflect on it, or events will change\nthe problem itself. \n\n<ul><li>Delegating\ndecision-making or action to another person or group</li></ul>\n\n\nSometimes\nwe take on problems that are not ours, or that someone else can solve the\nproblem better. One strategy towards delegation is to identify stakeholders of\nthe problem. A stakeholder is a person or group that interest in or will be\naffected by, resolution of the problem. (This is a good practice for all\ndecision-making!)Another consideration for ""out-sourcing"" a problem\nresolves to consider if your resources will be adequate to the task. Resources\nare time, money, skills, confidence, etc. \n\n<ul><li>Visioning</li></ul>\n\n\nVisioning\nis focusing on the future to uncover hidden opportunities and options that may\nresolve the problem. With options, we make better decisions. Without them,\ndecisions become forced choices. By finding tomorrow's opportunities and\ndeveloping options, you can make enduring, quality decisions.\n\nIn\nconclusion, during this COVID – 19 period and even the immediate post COVID era\nthe tactical leaders most readily able to adapt should not only be agile in\nthought but also deeply immersed in the supporting science. They should be\nfully aware of human limitations and possess domain-specific knowledge that\nenables them to more quickly identify problems. They should have developed a\nwide repertoire of experience from both actual incidents and training to enable\nthem to steer their businesses to safe waters where profitability is a\npossibility. \n\nMilton\nJack is a Business Consultant at Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd, a\nbusiness management and human resources consulting firm. \n\nLinkedIn: <a href=""https://www.linkedin.com/in/milton-jack-9798b966"">linkedin.com/in/milton-jack-9798b966</a>\n\nPhone: +263 242 481946-48/481950\n\nMobile: +263 774 730 913\n\nEmail: <a href=""mailto:milton@ipcconsultants.com"">milton@ipcconsultants.com</a>\n\n\nMain\nWebsite: <a href=""http://www.ipcconsultants.com"">www.ipcconsultants.com</a>

Using Adaptive Problem Solving To Make Better Decisions

No training program should remain\nstatic. As a company grows, its needs and perspectives change based on employee\ndemographics, external trends, and the availability of training tools and\nprograms. Possessing low self-worth can lead people to have poor moods, fall\nshort of their potential or struggle to manage relationships with colleagues.\n\nHowever, overly high levels of\nself-worth can lead to an inability to learn from experiences, including,\nimportantly, from failures. In a business sense, managing employee self-worth\nis a skill in itself. Effective line managers and team leaders use the\nresources of their organization to strike a balance of productive levels of\nemployee self-confidence.\n\n<h2>Benefits of Employee Development</h2>\n\nBefore employers can make\ndecisions regarding leading, training, personnel and employee investment, they\nmust believe that improving employee self-worth is valuable. This belief can\ncome from a range of sources.\n\nBefore assessing training costs,\nmanagers must address the following questions- Will training and development\nlead to success, and will it improve individual performance? However, the time\nand cost of developing training, motivating employees through facilitation and\nfocusing on personal development can create a setback.\n\n<h2>Self-Worth</h2>\n\nEmployees may develop low\nself-worth through reinforced feelings of inadequacy and negative talk or actions.\nA vicious cycle may occur that can spiral out of control if left unchecked by\nthemselves or others. HR and line managers have the responsibility to ensure\nthat their workforce does not suffer from low self-worth, especially given that\ntheir feelings can impact their actions at work. \n\nA business filled with people\neager to learn and develop is a sure sign that a company hired well or can motivate\nand develop employees. Achieving this environment is not as easy as it sounds,\nbut this investment in employees can harness the full value of the workforce,\npromoting loyalty and retention.\n\n<h2>Understanding What Motivates\nEmployees</h2>\n\nUnderstanding and motivating\nemployees are the keys to increasing self-worth in the workplace. Training can\nhelp employees understand how their work fits into their company’s structure,\nmission and goals. Employees often become more motivated when they understand\nhow their work matters. However, training on core skills may not be the same as\nmotivational training.\n\nEmployees often know as well as\nor better than managers when their work processes or productivity could be\nbetter. In many cases, they are missing the tools or education to achieve their\npotential. Training, particularly for departments and teams, can improve work\nquality and outcomes. As a result, employees feel happier in their work, become\nmore excited about the prospect of success and develop higher self-worth.\n\nEmployee engagement is more than\njust liking a job and wanting to do well. Employee engagement is a vital part\nof your business model. Companies with more engaged employees have a 51% higher\nproductivity rate when compared to those with a lower number of engaged\nemployees. (J.K. Harter; 2010)\n\n<h2>People Are Assets to Be Developed</h2>\n\nTraining and development\nopportunities should be seen as an investment in vital human resources. When\ncompanies offer training to their employees, they must remember the importance\nof illustrating the value their people have. Demonstrating succession planning,\na commitment to training and development, and a long-term commitment to\nemployee career progression is vital.\n\nDeveloping employees’ self-worth\ncan promote attachment, loyalty and enthusiasm. It should also make the\nmajority of employees keen to structure their learning and development so that\nit meets organizational needs. As a result, the organization will develop an\nideal atmosphere for learning and growing.\n\nMunodiwa\nZvemhara is a consultant at Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd a\nmanagement and human resources consulting firm.\n\nPhone\n+263 4 481946-48/481950/2900276/2900966 or cell number +263 783168453 or email:\nmunodiwa@ipcconsultants.com or visit our website at www.ipcconsultants.com

How to increase productivity with an engaged team

Psychometric tests are\nused in the many fields of psychology to measure psychological constructs like\nintelligence, personality and interests. In business settings psychometric\ntests are used when hiring employees and for identifying their development\nneeds. Based on my many years of experience in the field of human resources and\noccupational psychology here the reasons why I think every organisation can\nbenefit immensely from psychometric testing.\n\n\n<ol><li>No\nother methods can test for Cognitive ability, personality and integrity of a\npotential candidate. These three are the biggest predictor of job performance.\nI have shared before ample scientific evidence to show that this is\nconsistently the case. Cognitive ability is the biggest predictor among these\npsychological constructs. In an article called&nbsp;\n<a href=""https://www.forbes.com/sites/kmehta/2020/06/16/finding-the-most-exceptional-talent--the-1-of-the-1/#43d467591088"">Finding\nThe Most Exceptional Talent—The 1% Of The 1%</a>&nbsp; <a href=""https://www.forbes.com/sites/kmehta/"">Kumar Mehta</a> says &nbsp;“But through\nyears of research, we now have enough data to know what goes into becoming\nexceptional. Whether you are recruiting an athlete, or you are hiring a CEO or\nevaluating a startup founder, the qualities that lead to extreme success are\nthe same. Natural aptitude - The genes you are born with are responsible for\n50% of your outcomes. You have to determine whether the individual you are\nconsidering has a natural aptitude for the role. Some traits you cannot\ndevelop; you are either born with them or not. Examples include power, speed,\nIQ, logical-mathematical ability, linguistic ability, and others. You can\nrefine and improve these qualities, but you cannot create something out of\nnothing.” </li><li>The\nfactors that drive individual performance can not be trained. As indicated\nabove cognitive ability is the major driver of individual performance across\nall professions. It is largely hereditary and partly childhood experience. &nbsp;If you hire an individual without the right\ncognitive ability you will just be wasting your time. No amount of training\nwill change the fact that they do not have the capacity for the role. The same\napplies to personality. You can not hire an individual with the wrong\npersonality and hope to change them especially if they are an adult. &nbsp;The best way, as a first step is to ensure\nthat after shortlisting the candidates they all go for psychometric testing so\nthat you remain with individuals who have the capacity for the role. It is a\nwaste of resources to interview people who have no capacity for a role no\nmatter how much you like them.</li><li>The\npopular and most preferred method for selecting employees is not reliable and\nhas low predictive validity. Adam Grant, one of the topmost global Psychologist\nsays “<a href=""file:///C:/Users/Memory%20Nguwi/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/INetCache/Content.Outlook/CIQ2GPTG/Why%20the%20Job%20Interview%20is%20the%20Worst%20Selection%20Tool"">Interviews are terrible predictors of job performance</a>. Consider a&nbsp;<a href=""http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuy&amp;uid=1998-10661-006"" target=""_blank"" rel=""noreferrer noopener"">rigorous, comprehensive analysis</a>&nbsp;of hundreds of studies of more than 1,000 job\napplicants over 85 years by <a href=""https://www.linkedin.com/in/frank-schmidt-147ba232/"">Frank Schmidt</a> and <a href=""https://twitter.com/jackhunter74?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor"">Jack Hunter</a>.\nThey covered more than 500 different jobs—including salespeople, managers,\nengineers, teachers, lawyers, accountants, mechanics, reporters, farmers,\npharmacists, electricians and musicians—and compared information gathered about\napplicants to the objective performance that they achieved in the job. After\nobtaining basic information about candidates’ abilities, standard interviews\nonly accounted for 8% of the differences in performance and productivity. Think\nabout it this way: imagine that you interviewed 100 candidates, ranked them in\norder from best to worst, and then measured their actual performance in the\njob. You’d be lucky if you put more than eight in the right spot.”</li><li>Psychometric tests bring meritocracy into the recruitment\nprocess. When used properly and at the right place in the recruitment and\nselection process psychometric tests ensures that the organisation only gets\nthe best candidates available. A notable trend in this country is that those\norganisations that are hesitant to use psychometric testing have a&nbsp; corrupt recruitment and selection process.\nLeaders in those organisations are averse to psychometric tests because they\nmay not even pass them. As a result, they prefer a selection process which they\ncan manipulate. </li><li>It is not possible to cheat on psychometric tests if\nadministered by Registered Psychologists in terms of the current Zimbabwean\nlaws. This is the practice across the globe. Psychometric tests plug in the\nholes they would allow incompetent people to join your organisation. </li></ol>\n\n\nMemory Nguwi is an\nOccupational Psychologist, Data Scientist, Speaker, &amp; Managing Consultant-\nIndustrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd a management and human resources\nconsulting firm. <a href=""https://www.linkedin.com/in/memorynguwi/"">https://www.linkedin.com/in/memorynguwi/</a> Phone +263 4\n481946-48/481950/2900276/2900966 or cell number +263 77 2356 361 or email: <a href=""mailto:mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com"">mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com</a>&nbsp; or visit our\nwebsite at <a href=""http://www.ipcconsultants.com"">www.ipcconsultants.com</a>

5 Reasons why every organisation needs to make psychometric testing part of their recruitment and selection

Dozier\n(2013) characterises a job description as a document which indicates the clear\nkey performance areas (KPAs), core responsibilities, and job obligations. It\nregularly includes whom the employee reports to, work demands, academic qualifications,\nand competencies needed by the person applying for the job. A well-compiled job\ndescription builds a critical foundation so that the employee can comprehend\nwhat to convey to the organisation. Various organisations do not value the\ncountless uses of job descriptions and it is imperative to instantly understand\nthe practical significance of job descriptions.\n\n<h2>What is the value of the job descriptions in an organisation?</h2>\n\nThere\nare quite a several uses to which the job descriptions can be applied within an\norganisation. According to Champoux (2016), effective job descriptions\nsupport organisations to communicate responsibilities, appoint the most\nsuitable candidates, manage successful performance, and develop employees in\ntheir jobs successfully.\n\nThe\njob description acts as the contract of employment between\nemployer and employee. Goel (2012), states that a job description employment\ncontract describes job information to understand the duties and key\nresponsibilities of a particular job to fulfil the organisation’s expectations.\n\nJob\ndescriptions also play an important role in performance management.\nAccording to Pulakos, Hanson, Arad and Moye (2015), a management framework\nincorporates clear job descriptions, performance goals, and successful\nrecruitment processes; directs labour negotiations and measures productivity\noutcomes of the predefined benchmarks; addresses training needs; outlines\npayment and reward frameworks; and supports career development and direction.\n\nRecruitment is yet another area of HR in\nwhich the job description can be applied. According to Wolfe (2018), job\ndescriptions describe recruitment functions and constitute the foundation to\ncompile job interview questions, detailed job information, prevents employees\nfrom being able to refuse to execute tasks because “it is not their job”, and\nserves as a statutory and useful document.\n\nTraining\nand development\nis yet another area where job descriptions can play a significant role.\nAlabdelkarim et al (2014) concede that well-written job descriptions highlight\ntraining and development needs and therefore, potential employees noticeably\nincrease organisational effectiveness.&nbsp;\nWell-designed job descriptions promote organisational development\nprocesses to address specific matters, for example, succession planning,\nworkforce development, employee retention, organisation design, and\ntransformation management. Over and above this, job descriptions manage\norganisational planning, evaluate the organisational structure, job design, and\npersonnel forecasting.\n\nMader-Clark\n(2013), sees a job description as an excellent foundation for properly managing\nan organisation and creating an incentive value for both the employer and\nresponsible employee in the organisation; both sides contribute positively to a\nmutual understanding. Snell, Morris and Bohlander (2015),&nbsp;&nbsp; believe job descriptions represent the\nillustration of where employees fit into an organisation and make sure\nemployees correctly align their official duties to the organisational goals,\nvision, and mission. \n\nAlabdelkarim\net al (2014), the reason that job descriptions assume a key part of any\nspecific occupation as they point out job details and highlight job roles and\nspecific responsibilities. Job descriptions act as a consistent basis for compensation decisions and make it\nconceivable to instantly discover basic employment components and fundamental\nprerequisites (Bodnarchuk 2012). According to Cummings and Worley (2014),\nworthy job descriptions explain the various pay levels, different expertise\nlevels, extensive knowledge, specific responsibilities, and organisational\ncontribution goals in various effective ways.\n\nTraining\nand development\nis yet another area where job descriptions can play a significant role. Alabdelkarim\net al (2014) concede that well-written job descriptions highlight training and\ndevelopment needs and therefore, potential employees noticeably increase\norganisational effectiveness.&nbsp; Well-designed\njob descriptions promote organisational development processes to address\nspecific matters, for example, succession planning, workforce development,\nemployee retention, organisation design, and transformation management. Over\nand above this, job descriptions manage organisational planning, evaluate the organisational\nstructure, job design, and personnel forecasting.\n\nAccording\nto Mader-Clark (2013),&nbsp;&nbsp; job descriptions\nare significant assets to the employer that should not be taken lightly since\nit reveals the official duties and responsibilities of potential candidates and\njobholders. Leonard &amp; Trusty (2015), strongly argue that job descriptions\nhelp supervisors to do a realistic job preview, invent moral standards and lead\nperformance evaluations.\n\nTo\nensure the design&nbsp; of good job\ndescriptions, the job description developer must have the right knowledge and\nskills to design a job description effectively, including knowledge of the job\ndescription environment, knowledge of the job description document, research,\nand communication and training skills\n\nThe\nmonitoring of job descriptions involve processes such as checking the job\ndescriptions on an annual basis and providing training to fellow employees.\n\nIn the light of the\nabove discussion, for an effective job description process in an organisation,\nit is important to understand the value of job descriptions and to continually\nupdate, regularly evaluate, and monitor these job descriptions.\n\nNewturn Wikirefu is the Talent Acquisition Manager\nat Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd a management and human resources\nconsulting firm.\n\nPhone +263 4 481946-48/481950/2900276/2900966 or\ncell number +0784 597343 or email: newturn@ipcconsultants.com or visit our\nwebsite at www.ipcconsultants

How to develop good job descriptions

Dozier\n(2013) characterises a job description as a document which indicates the clear\nkey performance areas (KPAs), core responsibilities, and job obligations. It\nregularly includes whom the employee reports to, work demands, academic qualifications,\nand competencies needed by the person applying for the job. A well-compiled job\ndescription builds a critical foundation so that the employee can comprehend\nwhat to convey to the organisation. Various organisations do not value the\ncountless uses of job descriptions and it is imperative to instantly understand\nthe practical significance of job descriptions.\n\nWhat\nis the value of the job descriptions in an organisation?\n\nThere\nare quite a several uses to which the job descriptions can be applied within an\norganisation. According to Champoux (2016), effective job descriptions\nsupport organisations to communicate responsibilities, appoint the most\nsuitable candidates, manage successful performance, and develop employees in\ntheir jobs successfully.\n\nThe\njob description acts as the contract of employment between\nemployer and employee. Goel (2012), states that a job description employment\ncontract describes job information to understand the duties and key\nresponsibilities of a particular job to fulfil the organisation’s expectations.\n\nJob\ndescriptions also play an important role in performance management.\nAccording to Pulakos, Hanson, Arad and Moye (2015), a management framework\nincorporates clear job descriptions, performance goals, and successful\nrecruitment processes; directs labour negotiations and measures productivity\noutcomes of the predefined benchmarks; addresses training needs; outlines\npayment and reward frameworks; and supports career development and direction.\n\nRecruitment is yet another area of HR in\nwhich the job description can be applied. According to Wolfe (2018), job\ndescriptions describe recruitment functions and constitute the foundation to\ncompile job interview questions, detailed job information, prevents employees\nfrom being able to refuse to execute tasks because “it is not their job”, and\nserves as a statutory and useful document.\n\nTraining\nand development\nis yet another area where job descriptions can play a significant role.\nAlabdelkarim et al (2014) concede that well-written job descriptions highlight\ntraining and development needs and therefore, potential employees noticeably\nincrease organisational effectiveness.&nbsp;\nWell-designed job descriptions promote organisational development\nprocesses to address specific matters, for example, succession planning,\nworkforce development, employee retention, organisation design, and\ntransformation management. Over and above this, job descriptions manage\norganisational planning, evaluate the organisational structure, job design, and\npersonnel forecasting.\n\nMader-Clark\n(2013), sees a job description as an excellent foundation for properly managing\nan organisation and creating an incentive value for both the employer and\nresponsible employee in the organisation; both sides contribute positively to a\nmutual understanding. Snell, Morris and Bohlander (2015),&nbsp;&nbsp; believe job descriptions represent the\nillustration of where employees fit into an organisation and make sure\nemployees correctly align their official duties to the organisational goals,\nvision, and mission. \n\nAlabdelkarim\net al (2014), the reason that job descriptions assume a key part of any\nspecific occupation as they point out job details and highlight job roles and\nspecific responsibilities. Job descriptions act as a consistent basis for compensation decisions and make it\nconceivable to instantly discover basic employment components and fundamental\nprerequisites (Bodnarchuk 2012). According to Cummings and Worley (2014),\nworthy job descriptions explain the various pay levels, different expertise\nlevels, extensive knowledge, specific responsibilities, and organisational\ncontribution goals in various effective ways.\n\nTraining\nand development\nis yet another area where job descriptions can play a significant role. Alabdelkarim\net al (2014) concede that well-written job descriptions highlight training and\ndevelopment needs and therefore, potential employees noticeably increase\norganisational effectiveness.&nbsp; Well-designed\njob descriptions promote organisational development processes to address\nspecific matters, for example, succession planning, workforce development,\nemployee retention, organisation design, and transformation management. Over\nand above this, job descriptions manage organisational planning, evaluate the organisational\nstructure, job design, and personnel forecasting.\n\nAccording\nto Mader-Clark (2013),&nbsp;&nbsp; job descriptions\nare significant assets to the employer that should not be taken lightly since\nit reveals the official duties and responsibilities of potential candidates and\njobholders. Leonard &amp; Trusty (2015), strongly argue that job descriptions\nhelp supervisors to do a realistic job preview, invent moral standards and lead\nperformance evaluations.\n\nTo\nensure the design&nbsp; of good job\ndescriptions, the job description developer must have the right knowledge and\nskills to design a job description effectively, including knowledge of the job\ndescription environment, knowledge of the job description document, research,\nand communication and training skills\n\nThe\nmonitoring of job descriptions involve processes such as checking the job\ndescriptions on an annual basis and providing training to fellow employees.\n\nIn the light of the\nabove discussion, for an effective job description process in an organisation,\nit is important to understand the value of job descriptions and to continually\nupdate, regularly evaluate, and monitor these job descriptions.\n\nSources:\n\nDozier, B. 2013. Employee job description as enhancing performance\nmanagement.\n\nDoyle, A. 2018b. Typical job requirements and qualifications\n\nNewturn Wikirefu is the Talent Acquisition Manager\nat Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd a management and human resources\nconsulting firm.\n\nPhone +263 4 481946-48/481950/2900276/2900966 or\ncell number +0784 597343 or email: newturn@ipcconsultants.com or visit our\nwebsite at www.ipcconsultants

How to develop  good job descriptions

A study we did a few\nyears ago in Zimbabwe showed that less than 10% of Zimbabwean organisations\nhave a formal succession plan in place. This trend is worrying given that\ncorporate boards need to ensure business continuity in case of any\neventualities. Why is there such low compliance with the development of\nsuccession plans in Zimbabwe?\n\nWe noted that this\ntrend is not only in the corporate world but also in politics. When there is no\nformal succession plan in place, the takeover of key roles in cases where incumbents\nleave the organisation for whatever reason sometimes can be chaotic. This is\nwhy every board need to ensure that the organisation has a formal succession\nplan that is monitored periodically by the Board. \n\nHow can businesses\nensure that there are formal succession plans for executives and all other\nmission-critical roles within the organisation?\n\n\n<ol><li>Start\nwith a formal succession plan policy. This policy needs to detail why\nsuccession planning is important for the organisation. It should cover what roles\nwill be targeted for succession planning and why. The roles to be covered must\nall be mission-critical roles (MCR). The more important part is how the successor\nwill be identified and developed. If the process of identifying successors and\ndeveloping them is done haphazardly, the results will not benefit the\norganisation. Key points to take note here, are that the process of identifying\nsuccessors should be done on merit and should never be a preserve of one\nindividuals or a select group of people. The process must be extremely\ntransparent to maintain the credibility of the process. The first stage is for\nthe organisation to spell out through a &nbsp;scientifically-driven competency model, what\nthe requirements are for each target role. Use psychometric tests and\nassessments centres to select the candidates and also identify development gaps\nthe targets candidates may have. </li><li>No\none is indispensable – Most organisations make the mistake of creating certain\nindividuals as indispensable. Successful organisations across the globe make it\nclear to all employees regardless of the level that they are dispensable. Once\nthis message is made clear, no employee will then hold the organisation to\nransom especially when they get new opportunities outside the organisation. It\nis a bad policy for an organisation to counter offer employees. If you have\nbeen developing your staff with succession planning in mind, you would never\nneed to counter offer employees leaving your organisation. </li><li>Put\nall people occupying key roles on fixed-term contracts- When you put\nindividuals who occupy key roles on contract, you are sending a message that no\none is going to be here forever. This will force your organisation to develop\nskills internally to take over such roles. It also helps in putting the\nindividuals occupying such roles in the right frame of mind as they will be\naware that they will have to leave when their term is up.</li><li>Get\ninto the habit of terminating good employees when their term is up. There has\nbeen a serious debate on the tenure of executive roles. The reason why this\ndebate is here is that people have overstayed in roles. It should never have\ngotten to this situation where people have to be asked to leave through fixed-term\ncontracts. Every employee needs to know that its good for them to not exceed 10\nyears with one employer if they want to build a solid career. What has\nconstrained some well-meaning individuals not to leave sometimes has been the\ntight job market where not many job opportunities exist.</li><li>It\nis important to screen at entry-&nbsp; Get\ninto the habit of getting good people at entry. Do not bank on developing the\nindividuals once they are in the organisation. Many organisations have wasted\nresources trying to develop people who have no capacity for roles. You save\nmoney by selecting the right people at entry. Never bank on developing them,\nbecause most of them cannot change. </li><li>Create\ncompetition for roles for internal candidates. Your organisation will flourish\nonce employees know that they have an equal chance to progress within the\norganisation. If roles are occupied based on nepotism and other forms of\ncorruption, good people will never show up even in cases where they are\navailable internally. </li><li>Terminate\npoor performers – Successful organisations take a very hard stance against poor\nperformers. Yes, it is good to give them a chance but do not take too long to\nget rid of non-performers. They will cost you money and other resources and you\nmay never be able to recover such resources.</li><li>Force\nsenior executives to go on leave periodically to allow their immediate\nsubordinates an opportunity to act in their role. That will motivate\nsubordinates to develop themselves and look forward to a day they can take over\nonce they reach the right level of competency. </li></ol>\n\n\nIf you\nfollow some of the points here, you should be able to develop a sustainable\nsuccession plan policy for your business. That will ensure business continuity\nat all times. \n\nMemory Nguwi is an\nOccupational Psychologist, Data Scientist, Speaker, &amp; Managing Consultant-\nIndustrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd a management and human resources\nconsulting firm. <a href=""https://www.linkedin.com/in/memorynguwi/"">https://www.linkedin.com/in/memorynguwi/</a> Phone +263 4\n481946-48/481950/2900276/2900966 or cell number +263 77 2356 361 or email: <a href=""mailto:mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com"">mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com</a>&nbsp; or visit our\nwebsite at <a href=""http://www.ipcconsultants.com"">www.ipcconsultants.com</a>

No Employee is indispensable: Read here why this is true

Over the years I have\nnoticed things that start small but can bring the organisation down. These\nnormally start as exceptions that management in the organisation tolerates but\nthey can grow into big problems.&nbsp; Here are\nthe things;\n\n\n<ol><li>Nepotism\n– in the field of human resources recruitment and selection is one area plagued\nby nepotism and corruption. Most managers when they go into positions of\nauthority they want to surround themselves with colleagues, friends and relatives\nfor various reasons. One of the reasons is, these colleagues are unlikely to\nchallenge them should they make wrong decisions. They will be loyal to the\nperson who brought them into the organisation. Once this practice is ingrained\ninto the organisation it becomes part of the culture. The whole organisations\nwill be engulfed by this bad practice such that your organisation is viewed\nnegatively on the job market. </li><li>Do\nnot advertise for jobs that do not exist – some employers have\ngone into a very bad habit of advertising for jobs when they know there is a\npreferred candidate already. It is morally wrong for any leader of an\norganisation to promote that kind of practice.&nbsp;\nPeople in and outside your organisation will start talking about this\nbad practice. Your employer brand gets damaged in the process. Make it a policy\nthat all job candidates are selected on merit. If you check most of the\nrecruitment scandals, they surface because someone, somewhere in higher\nauthority has instructed someone to hire a preferred candidate. The surprising\nthing is that most senior people including board members prefer to keep quiet\nwhen such things happen. Such things will only stop when those in power can\ncall each other to order. </li><li>How\nyou pay your employees. When you pay your staff do not\nuse their circumstances as the key criteria. Pay and benefits must be paid to\nemployees based on the value that the employees bring to the organisation.&nbsp; Arbitrary pay adjustments for specific\nindividuals based on personal preference of the leader are a bad practice. You\nmay find in some situations people who are close to the bosses are the ones\nthat get paid more than others regardless of grade differentials. Once such a\npractice starts it affects employees perception of equity within the organisation.\nYou will spend more money trying to correct such anomalies in the future.</li><li>Blotted\norganisational structures –\nWhen people are put into positions of power and authority the first thing they\noften do is to create a blotted organogram to accommodate relatives and\nfriends. They also accommodate loyalist who may not necessarily be relatives.\nIn the majority of cases, organisational structures have nothing to do with\nfacilitating how work is done. It has everything to do with giving each other\npower and privileges. In the end, the organisation will have bloated\norganisational structures that cost the business huge sums of money without\ncorresponding value being created. Your organisational structure should aim at\nall times not to have more than 5 reporting levels from the lowest person to\nthe CEO. Aim for a wider span of control to flatten the organisational\nstructures. Structures cost money and they must be optimised for value\naddition.</li><li>A\nleadership that keeps grudges –\nThe quality of leaders matter is the success of your organisation. As John\nMaxwell said ‘everything rises and falls on leadership “. With bad leadership\nin charge, do not waste your money putting together initiatives to drive\nbusiness performance. Bad leadership is equivalent to corruption, nepotism and\ntheft of organisational resources. Such leaders will get rid of talented\nindividuals simply because they will have challenged the decisions of the\nleader. Such leaders make extremely difficult for anyone with the potential to\nthrive within the organisation. </li><li>Screen\npeople at entry – Most organisations have lost millions of\ndollars because they hired the wrong people. Invest in objective and validated\nscientific selection methods, which will allow you to identify the right people\nfor the job in the first instance. Some leaders do not prioritise ensuring that\nonly the best people are hired in the organisation. It is a waste of resources\nand time to hope that you will be able to correct bad hires when they join the\norganisation.</li><li>When\nyour time is up leave –\nLeaders must not stay for too long. On average 10 years is enough to give your\nvalue and allow others to carry on with the vision of the organisation. The\naverage tenure globally ranges from 5 to 10 years. Leaders in your organisation\nmust on their own adhere to this standard. </li><li>Hire\nPeople with high integrity.\nIntegrity cannot be taught. Select the right directors from the beginning so\nthat you do not waste time trying to correct them. It is an absolute waste of\nmoney for anyone to think that they can improve someone’s integrity through\ntraining. </li><li>Be candid – the inability of board\nmembers, executives and other senior managers to raise the red flag when things\nare going the wrong way is one of the most treacherous practices by executives.\nGood leaders question things. Good leaders raise objections when wrong things\nare taking place regardless of who is leading that bad practice. Executives\nmust be courageous enough to respectfully raise concerns when the Board or the\nCEO is involved in malpractices. Unfortunately, most CEOs hire people with\nblind loyalty. As an executive be prepared to stand with the truth and what is\ncorrect even if it means you will be on your own against your colleagues. That\nis called leadership. </li><li>Never advance your interest at\nthe expense of the organisation.\nWhen executives get into roles with power and authority, those with a weak\ncharacter are tempted to prioritise personal interest ahead of that of the\norganisation. They turn their office into a mini – home. They want to be worshipped\nas if they are in political leadership. Avoid buying the best cars and other\nperquisites when your employees are starving. </li></ol>\n\n\nMemory\nNguwi is an Occupational Psychologist, Data Scientist, Speaker, &amp; Managing\nConsultant- Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd a management and human\nresources consulting firm. <a href=""https://www.linkedin.com/in/memorynguwi/"">https://www.linkedin.com/in/memorynguwi/</a> Phone +263 4 481946-48/481950/2900276/2900966\nor cell number +263 77 2356 361 or email: <a href=""mailto:mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com"">mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com</a>&nbsp; or visit our website at <a href=""http://www.ipcconsultants.com"">www.ipcconsultants.com</a>

10 things every executive needs to know

There has been raging debate on\nwhich professions provide the best CEOs. I think to some extent this argument\nis based on a misunderstanding of what the role of the CEO should be.&nbsp; The CEO as the head of the organisation is a\nleader who must drive the organisation towards its vision and mission.\nTherefore as executives move to the top of the organisation, their technical expertise\nbecomes less and less a factor in determining success. However, what is\nrequired is for the person going to a CEO role to have the ability to\nunderstand the industry quickly even if they are coming from a completely\ndifferent industry. \n\nHistorically people from the\nfinance background have been elevated to the CEO role. The reason for this trend\nin my view is not necessarily competency in all cases. If you look at it the\nfinance role is the only role, according to most corporate governance statutes\nthat must be in the board as a board member beside that of a CEO. Naturally,\nthis has given finance people a head start in terms of understanding the\nbusiness and leading the organisation. They have an opportunity to learn from\nthe board members as they create strategies for the business. All the other\nroles attend Board meetings by invitation.&nbsp;\n\n\nSlowly we are seeing a change in\ntrend, as more and more non-finance people are being appointed to CEO. With\ntime as more data is gathered on the performance of non-finance CEOs,\ncomparisons can be objectively be made and inform policy direction going forward.\n\nWhile my view above is, yet to be tested extensively there is already evidence on what works when it comes to\nselecting CEOs.&nbsp; In an article in the\nHarvard Business Review by <a href=""https://hbr.org/search?term=art%20markman"">Art Markman</a>{ Can You Be a Great Leader Without\nTechnical Expertise?} he pointed out\nthat new evidence shows that great leaders have technical domain knowledge for\nthe sectors they are leading. &nbsp;He argues\nthat “For\nexample,&nbsp;<a href=""https://hbr.org/2016/12/why-the-best-hospitals-are-managed-by-doctors"">hospitals managed by doctors</a>&nbsp;perform better than those managed by people with\nother backgrounds. And there are many examples of people who ran one company\neffectively and had trouble transferring their skills to the new organization.”\n\nWhile\nhe&nbsp; says technical sector-specific\ncompetencies are key, he also acknowledges&nbsp;\nthere are other board competencies required for a person to succeed at\nthat level. According to him “ These\nfactors include: The ability to motivate self and others, effective oral and\nwritten communication, critical thinking skills, problem solving ability, and\nskills at working with teams and delegating tasks.”\n\nFor company Boards, I would say look at trends and do not\nover-rely on people who have a finance background and leaving out other\ntalented individuals. Look across all professions and hire the CEO on the basis\nthat they have leadership capability and not necessarily technical domain\nknowledge. Industry-specific knowledge can be easily acquired if you hire the\nperson with the right leadership qualities. You want to hire CEOs who will\nprioritise culture and performance. CEOs who know that sustainable business\nperformance is only possible if the culture is aligned with the vision and\nmission of the organisation. Many CEOs have failed because they have failed to\ngrasp the important role culture plays in the success of&nbsp; the organisation. Look the most successful\norganisations and&nbsp; you will notice that,\nthey have their organisational culture as the anchor point.\n\nThe most successful CEOs in my view are likely to be those\nwho have the capacity to open outside doors for the business. Their role is to\ncreate opportunities for the business by engaging key external stakeholders.\nThese opportunities from outside are handed level 2 executives to exploit. It\nis very likely that CEOs who have an internal focus may end up failing. The\nreason for the failure is that they are likely to miss important opportunities\noutside of the organisation. There is also a high likelihood that internally\nfocused CEOs end up creating tension within the team, as they compete for\ninternal attention with their subordinates. &nbsp;They end up doubling in politics within the\norganisation.\n\nThe board must be able to assist the CEO to refocus. This is\neasy if the board is not too operational. Unfortunately, in situations where\nthe Board is also too operational and internally focused, there is likely to be\ntension between the CEO and the Board. These are issues that can be resolved\neasily if both the CEO and the Board were appointed on merit.\n\n&nbsp;Memory Nguwi is an Occupational\nPsychologist, Data Scientist, Speaker, &amp; Managing Consultant- Industrial\nPsychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd a management and human resources consulting\nfirm. <a href=""https://www.linkedin.com/in/memorynguwi/"">https://www.linkedin.com/in/memorynguwi/</a> Phone +263 4\n481946-48/481950/2900276/2900966 or cell number +263 77 2356 361 or email: <a href=""mailto:mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com"">mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com</a>&nbsp; or visit\nour website at <a href=""http://www.ipcconsultants.com"">www.ipcconsultants.com</a>

Which Professions Provide the Best CEOs

The reason why organisations fail can be traced to the\nleadership within the organisation. In Africa, for example, most institutions\nstruggle to bring in leadership based on merit. Patronage is a key factor when\nhiring in most African businesses.&nbsp; In\nthis article, I will highlight some of the processes you need to hire the best\npeople.\n\nFirst here are the processes you need to have:\n\n\n<ol><li>Develop the right job\nprofiles based on objective information. The profile needs to reflect what you\nneed from a successful person going into that role. Never use generic job\nprofiles when hiring your executive team.</li><li>Use better selection\nmethods such as psychometric tests and assessment centres. If you look at the\ntop companies globally, they all use psychometric tests and assessments centres\nfor leadership selection. Once you have finished shortlisting candidates based\non strict criteria, do not interview candidates who have not gone through\npsychometric tests. It is a complete waste of your resources to interview\ncandidates who for example have no cognitive ability for the role they are\ngoing into. Remember general mental ability is the biggest and most efficient\npredictor of job performance. Over and above this check for personality\ndefects. There are brilliant individuals, who are technically gifted to have a\nhorrible personality that will destroy your organisation. </li><li>Do not bend your\nselection criteria to accommodate candidates who do not meet the criteria. Once\nyou start this process you set a precedent. </li><li>Be fair and transparent\nin your hiring process so that you gain the confidence of the market. That\nconfidence will help you attract the best candidates for roles in your\norganisation.</li><li>If in doubt do not hire.\nThe danger with hiring is that its easy to do but very difficult to terminate non-performers\nin most instances. </li><li>During the interview let\nthe candidates that all they are giving as answers especially where factual\ninformation is required, you will verify that information through reference\nchecks. </li><li>Never do reference checks\nbased on the people listed by the candidate on the CV. It is likely those\npeople will overlook the negatives in the candidate. There are various other\nways of doing reference checks. </li></ol>\n\n\nWhen hiring avoids hiring people with the following traits,\nespecially for leadership roles:\n\n\n<ol><li>Self-centred individuals\n– such individuals are likely to be corrupt and will make decisions in their\nself-interest. They are also likely to start to bring in close friends and\ncolleagues from outside the organisation to build their power base.</li><li>People who think they\nhave all the others to all problems. Collaborative individuals are likely not\nto have all the others. Anyone who through your objective assessments present\nthemselves as having all the answers to your problems will give you problems in\nthe long run. </li><li>Avoid taking people who\nover-promise. It is likely, such individuals may not deliver. Go for people who\nare practical and realistic. </li><li>Avoid hiring overly\naggressive people. Such people may have seriously personality defects. Remember\npersonality is a permanent disposition and it hardly changes over an\nindividual’s lifetime. Once they are in your organisation you are stuck with\nthem for good.</li><li>Avoid people who agree\nwith anything a superior says. They are likely to let problems go unreported as\nlong as a superior is involved. You want to hire people we can exercise\nindependent thinking. </li><li>Do not hire people who\ndesperate to please people. They are likely to tell you to want to hear even if\nthings are going in the wrong way. You should hire people who can acknowledge\nshortcomings early before bigger damage is done to your business.</li></ol>\n\n\nThe above guidelines will assist you when hiring leaders but\nremember the list is not exhaustive. \n\n&nbsp;Memory Nguwi is an Occupational\nPsychologist, Data Scientist, Speaker, &amp; Managing Consultant- Industrial\nPsychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd a management and human resources consulting\nfirm. <a href=""https://www.linkedin.com/in/memorynguwi/"">https://www.linkedin.com/in/memorynguwi/</a> Phone +263 4\n481946-48/481950/2900276/2900966 or cell number +263 77 2356 361 or email: <a href=""mailto:mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com"">mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com</a>&nbsp; or visit\nour website at <a href=""http://www.ipcconsultants.com"">www.ipcconsultants.com</a>

Traits you should look for when hiring leaders

Humans, in general, have a desire to be valued and appreciated. This is regardless of rank, status, profession, culture etc. A little appreciation can go a long way. In her 2013 Harvard Commencement speech, Oprah Winfrey captured the importance of appreciation and recognition to human beings. She said, <blockquote>I have to say that the single most important lesson I learned in 25 years talking every single day to people was that there’s a common denominator in our human experience. The common denominator that I found in every single interview is we want to be validated. We want to be understood. I’ve done over 35,000 interviews in my career. And as soon as that camera shuts off, everyone always turns to me and inevitably, in their own way, asks this question: “Was that OK?” I heard it from President Bush. I heard it from President Obama. I’ve heard it from heroes and from housewives. I’ve heard it from victims and perpetrators of crimes. I even heard it from Beyoncé, in all of her Beyoncéness. We all want to know one thing: “Was that OK?” “Did you hear me?” “Do you see me?” “Did what I say mean anything to you?</blockquote><blockquote>Oprah Winfrey</blockquote> Appreciation is similar to recognition but has an important distinction. In the article “Why Employees Need Both Recognition and Appreciation” Mike Robbins describes recognition as “giving positive feedback based on results or performance”. He then goes on to distinguish it from appreciation by stating that appreciation “is about acknowledging a person’s inherent value. The point isn’t their accomplishments. It’s their worth as a colleague and a human being.” This desire to be appreciated and recognised extends to the working class too. Employees long to feel that the effort they put into their work is noticed and valued. This can, in turn, increase the level of productivity and motivate them to produce their best work. Recognition is integral in creating a psychologically safe environment, where employees feel that it’s acceptable to offer feedback, make mistakes, and share contrary opinions. By rewarding strategic risks through recognition, teams can reinforce creative and innovative behaviour without feelings of insecurity or embarrassment. Being recognized releases the flow of oxytocin, the chemical our bodies create when we bond with others and feel loved. The TINYpulse Employee Engagement and Organizational Culture Report found that 58% of the happiest employees will recognise and encourage their peers' success when given tools to make it easy. With that in mind, organizations are increasingly adopting and rethinking recognition programs to improve employee engagement, reduce turnover, increase productivity, boost morale, and build purpose when used correctly. Exploring the <a href="https://www.selectsoftwarereviews.com/buyer-guide/employee-recognition-software" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">best employee recognition programs</a> can offer valuable insights into creating a culture of appreciation that resonates with employees and aligns with organizational values. A Glassdoor study, "Employers to Retain Half of Their Employees Longer If Bosses Showed More Appreciation", found that four in five employees (81%) felt encouraged to work even harder when their boss appreciated them and their efforts. A different study conducted by Emergenetics International, titled “The Psychological Effects of Workplace Appreciation &amp; Gratitude” revealed that a sense of gratitude appreciation contributes to improved wellbeing, less depression and fewer sick leave days. This shows the importance of appreciating your employees regularly. Employees that are recognised and appreciated tend to become engaged. A Gallup study showed that an engaged workforce makes it a point of turning up to work. Highly engaged business units registered 41% lower absenteeism. Highly engaged employees were found to have a\n28% reduction in inventory loss and a 40% reduction in quality deficiencies. It was also found that engaged employees&nbsp;are more mindful of their surroundings. Working organizations with commitment ratings in the top 25% achieve a 70% reduction in occupational health accidents. The following strategies will aid in appreciating and recognising employees. Employers should be clear about what behaviours or actions they would like to see from recognition programs and the impact of recognition on business objectives. Whether you are starting a new employee recognition program or updating an existing one, challenge your team to answer the following questions: What types of behaviours will be rewarded? Reference your business objectives and decide which behaviours to incentivise, and remember that effective recognition is tied to organizational values. Reward deliverables completed on time if lateness is a challenge, and applaud cross-departmental collaboration if your organization is stuck working in silos. How should the desired behaviour be rewarded? It’s important to know your team and reward behaviour accordingly – everyone prefers certain languages of appreciation over others. In general, raise should be public and can be a great learning opportunity for the whole team. Tying that praise to a tangible reward or experience can remind employees of their achievements long after praise is given. How often should recognition occur? Effective praise is frequent, so it is important to regularly recognize your team. Giving recognition on the spot is a good habit, and reiterating that praise during team meetings, especially for special achievements, can amplify the effects of recognition. Who should recognition come from? Recognition is traditionally given top-down by managers, but peer-to-peer and 360-degree recognition is even more effective. Many employers assume that employees always want money instead of non-tangible rewards, but research suggests that’s not true. Research by Deloitte, for example, identified two different types of recognition- praise and emblematic recognition and token and monetary rewards. They found that both types of recognition are important to employees, as this approach helps to constantly and frequently reinforce desired employee behaviours. Engage your employees to better understand the types of rewards they are most interested in. Once you have drafted ideas for potential rewards, it’s easy to get employee preferences by sending a survey and asking everyone to rank the options. Giving employees a say in rewards redemption can increase their investment in the program and make recognition even more enjoyable. When introducing a new system or approach, it’s important that communication around the roll-out is clear and the implementation is as painless as possible. Any team participating in a new program should be clued in on that program’s purpose, how to use it, and when\nit will take effect. Beyond measures of productivity and performance, employers can use recognition as a catalyst for widespread positive organizational change by engaging employees, connecting teams, and fostering a culture of appreciation

The Importance Of Appreciating And Recognising Employees

Organizations\nare slowly buying into the realization that HR is doing too much and that the\nlist of HR initiatives is far too\nlong. Behind this thinking is the notion that what employees and management are\nlooking for is more impact, with less\neffort. Employees and management are of the view that HR tends to make things complicated.\nTo establish a refreshed role, HR teams will need to be brave, challenging, and\nwork together to assert professional standards and create better and more\nconsistent systems in which people can flourish. Shaping organizations, leaders,\nand ensuring the best way to work is a huge responsibility for those working in\nHR especially now with the global COVID-19 pandemic affecting all aspects of\nthe human life businesses included. &nbsp;The\nbusiness hiatus because of the pandemic provides organizations with an\nopportunity for introspection allowing them to decide on the best hr approach\nto take. \n\nMinimalism\nis a conscious effort directed towards less. It is the practice of self-\nrestraint, it is the practice of traveling light, it is a practice of owning\nless, doing less, reducing, recycling, and simplicity (Jolly, 2019). Minimal HR\nis the bare bone practice of HR Management. It is stark, simple, based on\ncompassion, and is need-based (Jolly, 2019). The reason for the adoption of\nthis approach is there is an overwhelming amount of management literature, each\none extolling values of a concept. Selecting any one methodology or approach\ncan be taxing, intimidating, and often confusing. It can turn out to be a never-ending\nmaze, that begins innocuously small, and eventually snowballs into a process\nthat becomes time and resource-consuming with aforesaid results nowhere in\nsight.\n\nResearch\ndone by Kulik and Perry (2018) explored the possibility that devolving\npeople‐management activities to line managers might transform an HR unit and\nimprove its reputation within its organization. They examined the effect of devolving people‐management\nresponsibilities to line managers on HR managers' construed image—their\nperceptions of the internal reputation\nof the HR unit. Results revealed that a devolution strategy had a positive\neffect on HR managers' perceptions of their unit's reputation among line\nmanagers and that this effect was partially mediated by changes in the HR\nfunction. Specifically, devolution\nincreased HR's involvement in the operation of business units and the\norganization's strategic planning. In turn, this change in HR's strategic role resulted in a more positive construed image for\nmembers of the HR unit.\n\nBelow\nare some of the ways to keep it simple in HR:\n\n<ul><li>Keep your HR team small</li></ul>\n\n\nOrganizations\nshould have small corporate teams all with A-players,\nwith the ability to get high-quality work done. Such small teams with capable\npersonnel perform such that when one looks at the accomplished results, it\nlooks like the team is a lot bigger yet it’s a team made up of a few driven\nemployees. The tendency in most organizations is that most bosses or managers\nwould like to meet and brainstorm with their teams resulting in spending more\ntime in meetings. Often one of the outcomes of these meetings is more work for\nthe corporate HR team. These meetings\nresult in the HR team not being able to do real work, and as the requests for HR\nincrease, they have to hire new people into the HR team. Unfortunately,\nresearch shows that the output of the team does not increase. More time will be\nspent on-boarding the new people, and in meetings, where the head has to\ncommunicate the outcomes of the meetings with the senior team. Team fun will\ndecrease, as team members will no longer be the agile innovative team that can\nget things done. Thus organizations should always hire A-players, keep teams small, and don’t waste too much time in\nmeetings. \n\n<ul><li>Invest in HR Tech and other apps</li></ul>\n\n\nOrganizations\nshould invest in HR tech and systems that\nwill contain all the relevant HR information of their applicants and employees.\nThese HR Systems should be able to produce concise HR-reports, support with predictive analytics, and drive all the HR workflows such as performance management, talent identification,\nand succession management. This\ndramatically simplifies procedures and processes in organizations. However, for\nmost HR teams especially in developing countries such as Zimbabwe, this is still\na dream as most organizations do not see the need to invest in some simple and\nfocused solutions that make their life easier. Some numerous apps and systems\ncan help Zimbabwean organizations to simplify their operations. These include iPerform and talent hunter.&nbsp; \n\n<ul><li>Stay close to the most urgent business issues</li></ul>\n\n\nA strategy\nis more about today than about the future. Organizations should ask themselves:\nWhat are the most burning business issues that need to be tackled today? Do we\nhave the right people leading our most important strategic programs? Is our top\ntalent thrilled by the opportunities they are working on? How can we increase\nour capabilities in the region and abroad? Often HR and management are somewhat\nafraid to tackle the most burning issues, and this is where delaying tactics\ncome in handy. Organisation XYZ, for example, needs more evidence before it can\nreplace manager A. Even better: it needs a better performance management system\nso that we can better evaluate all managers, including manager A. it also\nrequires a talent management system and a global opportunity system, so that it\ncan match talent with opportunities. XYZ also needs a regional relocation\npolicy, before it can move people into the region. All good thoughts, but\ndelaying action. Action can often be taken today, and HR should push for action and have no tolerance for delay. If\norganizations are to focus on the most urgent\nbusiness issues, their life will be simpler.\n\n<ul><li>Keep\nthings simple: Yes, keep it very simple</li></ul>\n\n\nJust\nlike “The Big Consulting Firm”. Any layperson in the organization should be\nable to understand and identify with what the Management is trying to achieve.\nMaking it comprehensible makes it easier for people to adapt freely.\n\n<ul><li>Less\nis more: A thing or two at a time</li></ul>\n\n\nBombarding\nthe organization with too many initiatives is just like giving chemo for a\nsniffle (Jolly, 2019). You don’t need to nuke your organization with all that\nthe HR universe has to offer. The dosage needs to be just right for the\norganization. What works for a multi-locational, large organization may not\nhold relevance for a small-sized firm for instance. An organization of 100\npeople gets enough ‘face time” with its management/ Promoters and thus heavy HR\nintervention may not be required. Good eye contact, a pat on the back, and open\ndialogue may be all that is required. Self-restraint is the key while shopping\nand surfing for Management Concepts.\n\n<ul><li>Go\nslow and steady: There is a certain charm in slowness. </li></ul>\n\n\nThe\nslowness offers us to dig deeper, build a stronger foundation, take a measured\napproach, and then march forward on the steady ground (Jolly, 2019). Acceptance\nof any people’s initiative takes time. Unfreezing and then freezing mindsets\nisn’t overnight. Bring that comfort and ease in introducing a new process in\nthe organization.\n\n<ul><li>Have\nCore Values </li></ul>\n\n\nNo\nprocess, no methodology, or no HR Program can outdo the virtues of compassion,\nhonesty, respect, and trust. For any management to be successful the key\ningredient to success is being consistent in their approach to people when it\ncomes to respect, trust, compassion, and honesty (Jolly, 2019). The credibility\nof Management plays a vital role in the progress of its Human resource.\n\n<ul><li>Have\na time frame metric </li></ul>\n\n\nA\nwell- defined metric of progress within a time frame serves the purpose better\nof achieving the goal of bettering the HR Management.\n\n<ul><li>Knowing\nwhat is needed</li></ul>\n\n\nThis\nis both science and intuition. Too much analytics, numbers, data capture, and\njargon can be misleading. The trick is to read between the lines and use the\ninformation to establish what your gut tells you.\n\n<ul><li>Practice Detachment</li></ul>\n\n\nJust\nthrow out of the window that does not work. Never over-invest and attach\nyourself to anything that isn't looking healthy (Jolly, 2019). Never impose it\non your people. It could work in the short term, but the long term prospects\nare questionable. Keep the good things going, make them stronger, reinforce\nwhat works best. The rest are just fillers, you might just do away with time\nfillers.\n\nIn\nconclusion, HR's responsibility during the COVID-19 pandemic is not only to\nsupport their business in the short term but to use this opportunity to design\nthe business of the future. HR leaders need to take advantage of this\nopportunity, firstly to help ongoing communication during the pandemic, but\nalso secondly, to build a more effective organization that will be better\naligned with the future of work.\n\nMilton\nJack is a Business Consultant at Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd, a\nbusiness management and human resources consulting firm. \n\nLinkedIn: <a href=""https://www.linkedin.com/in/milton-jack-9798b966"">linkedin.com/in/milton-jack-9798b966</a>\n\nPhone: +263 242 481946-48/481950\n\nMobile: +263 774 730 913\n\nEmail: <a href=""mailto:milton@ipcconsultants.com"">milton@ipcconsultants.com</a>\n\n\nMain\nWebsite: <a href=""http://www.ipcconsultants.com"">www.ipcconsultants.com</a>

How to successfully adopt minimalistic HR

In response to the\nuncertainties presented by Covid-19, many companies have asked their non-essential\nemployees to work remotely. Working out of the office and separated many\nemployees and their managers from each other for the first time.\n\nAlthough it is\nalways preferable to establish clear remote-work policies and training in\nadvance, in times of crisis or other rapidly changing circumstances, this level\nof preparation may not be feasible. Fortunately, there are specific,&nbsp;<a href=""https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/amp.2014.0120"">research-based steps that managers\ncan take</a>&nbsp;without great effort to improve the engagement and\nproductivity of remote employees, even when there is little time to prepare.\n\n<h2>Common Challenges of\nRemote Work</h2>\n\nTo start, managers\nneed to understand factors that can make remote work especially demanding.\nOtherwise high-performing employees may experience declines in job performance\nand engagement when they begin working remotely, especially in the absence of\npreparation and training. Challenges inherent in remote work include:\n\nLack of\nface-to-face supervision:&nbsp;Both managers and their employees often express\nconcerns about the lack of face-to-face interaction. Supervisors worry that\nemployees will not work as hard or as efficiently (though&nbsp;<a href=""https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/19-054_2ecb5287-d0bd-4aa0-b3d8-36fb44b757b4.pdf"">research</a>&nbsp;indicates\notherwise, at least for some types of jobs). Many employees, on the other hand,\nstruggle with reduced access to managerial support and communication. In some\ncases, employees&nbsp;<a href=""https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/job.369"">feel that remote managers are out of\ntouch with their needs</a>, and thereby are neither supportive\nnor helpful in getting their work done.\n\nLack of access to\ninformation:&nbsp;Newly remote workers are often surprised by the\nadded time and effort needed to locate information from coworkers. Even getting\nanswers to what seem like simple questions can feel like a large obstacle to a\nworker based at home.\n\nThis phenomenon\nextends beyond task-related work to&nbsp;<a href=""https://hbr.org/2015/11/resolve-a-fight-with-a-remote-colleague"">interpersonal challenges</a>&nbsp;that\ncan emerge among remote coworkers.&nbsp;<a href=""https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/orsc.12.3.346.10098"">Research</a>&nbsp;has\nfound that a lack of “mutual knowledge” among remote workers translates to a\nlower willingness to give coworkers the benefit of the doubt in difficult\nsituations. For example, if you know that your officemate is having a rough\nday, you will view a brusque email from them as a natural product of their\nstress. However, if you receive this email from a remote coworker, with no\nunderstanding of their current circumstances, you are more likely to take\noffense, or at a minimum to think poorly of your coworker’s professionalism.\n\nSocial isolation:&nbsp;<a href=""https://hbr.org/2018/11/helping-remote-workers-avoid-loneliness-and-burnout"">Loneliness</a>&nbsp;is\none of the most common complaints about remote work, with employees missing the\ninformal social interaction of an office setting. It is thought that\nextraverts&nbsp;<a href=""https://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/162492.pdf"">may suffer from isolation more</a>&nbsp;in\nthe short run, particularly if they&nbsp;<a href=""http://www.na-businesspress.com/JMPP/ClarkLA_Web13_3_.pdf"">do not have opportunities to connect</a>&nbsp;with\nothers in their remote-work environment. However, over a longer period of time,\nisolation can&nbsp;<a href=""https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/orsc.1110.0661"">cause any employee to feel less\n“belonging”</a>&nbsp;to their organization, and can even result in&nbsp;<a href=""https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2008-16251-016.html"">increased intention to leave</a>&nbsp;the\ncompany.\n\nDistractions at\nhome:&nbsp;We often see photos representing remote work which\nportray a parent holding a child and typing on a laptop, often sitting on a\nsofa or living-room floor. In fact, this is a terrible representation of\neffective virtual work. Typically, we encourage employers to ensure that their\nremote workers have both dedicated workspace and adequate childcare before\nallowing them to work remotely. Yet, in the case of a sudden transition to\nvirtual work, there is a much greater chance that employees will be contending\nwith suboptimal workspaces and (in the case of&nbsp;<a href=""https://hbr.org/2020/03/how-working-parents-can-prepare-for-coronavirus-closures"">school and daycare closures</a>)\nunexpected parenting responsibilities. Even in normal circumstances family and\nhome demands&nbsp;<a href=""https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0001879105000898"">can impinge on remote work</a>;\nmanagers should expect these distractions to be greater during this unplanned\nwork-from-home transition.\n\n<h2>How Managers Can\nSupport Remote Employees</h2>\n\nAs much as remote\nwork can be fraught with challenges, there are also relatively quick and\ninexpensive things that managers can do to ease the transition. Actions that\nyou can take today include:\n\nEstablish\nstructured daily check-ins:&nbsp;Many successful remote managers\nestablish a daily call with their remote employees.&nbsp; This could take the\nform of a series of one-on-one calls, if your employees work more independently\nfrom each other, or a team call, if their work is highly collaborative. The\nimportant feature is that the calls are regular and predictable, and that they\nare a forum in which employees know that they can consult with you, and that\ntheir concerns and questions will be heard.\n\nProvide several\ndifferent communication technology options:&nbsp;Email alone is\ninsufficient. Remote workers benefit from having technology, such as video\nconferencing, that gives participants many of the visual cues that they would\nhave if they were face-to-face. Video conferencing has many advantages,\nespecially for smaller groups: Visual cues allow for increased “mutual\nknowledge” about coworkers and also help reduce the sense of isolation among\nteams. Video is also particularly useful for complex or sensitive\nconversations, as it feels more personal than written or audio-only\ncommunication.\n\nThere are other\ncircumstances when quick collaboration is more important than visual detail.\nFor these situations, provide mobile-enabled individual messaging functionality\n(like Slack, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, etc.) which can be used for simpler, less\nformal conversations, as well as time-sensitive communication.\n\nAnd then establish “rules of engagement”:&nbsp;Remote work becomes more efficient and satisfying when\nmanagers set expectations for the frequency, means, and ideal timing of\ncommunication for their teams. For example, “We use videoconferencing for daily\ncheck-in meetings, but we use IM when something is urgent.” Also, if you can,\nlet your employees know the best way and time to reach you during the workday\n(e.g., “I tend to be more available late in the day for ad hoc phone or video\nconversations, but if there’s an emergency earlier in the day, send me a\ntext.”) Finally, keep an eye on communication among team members (to the extent\nappropriate), to ensure that they are sharing information as needed.\n\nWe recommend that managers establish these “rules of\nengagement” with employees as soon as possible, ideally during the first online\ncheck-in meeting. While some choices about specific expectations may be better\nthan others, the most important factor is that all employees share the same set\nof expectations for communication. \n\n\nProvide opportunities for remote social\ninteraction:&nbsp;One\nof the most essential steps a manager can take is to structure ways for\nemployees to interact socially (that is, have informal conversations about\nnon-work topics) while working remotely. This is true for all remote workers,\nbut particularly so for workers who have been abruptly transitioned out of the\noffice. The easiest way to establish some basic social interaction is to leave\nsome time at the beginning of team calls just for non-work items. \n\nOffer encouragement and emotional support:&nbsp;Especially in the context of an abrupt shift to remote work,\nit is important for managers to acknowledge stress,&nbsp;<a href=""https://hbr.org/2020/03/how-to-reassure-your-team-when-the-news-is-scary"">listen to employees’ anxieties and concerns</a>, and empathize with their struggles. If a newly remote\nemployee is clearly struggling but not communicating stress or anxiety, ask\nthem how they are doing. Even a general question such as “How is this remote\nwork situation working out for you so far?” can elicit important information\nthat you might not otherwise hear. Once you ask the question, be sure to listen\ncarefully to the response, and briefly restate it back to the employee, to\nensure that you understood correctly. Let the employee’s stress or concerns\n(rather than your own) be the focus of this conversation.\n\nCarl Tapi is a\nConsultant at Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd, a management and\nhuman resources consulting firm. https://www.linkedin.com/in/carl-tapi-45776482/ Phone +263 (242)\n481946-48/481950 or cell number +263 772 469 680 or email: <a href=""mailto:carl@ipcconsultants.com"">carl@ipcconsultants.com</a>&nbsp; or visit our\nwebsite at www.ipcconsultants.com

How to deal with the challenges of working from home

What I find interesting is that due to\nthe lockdown situation we have been forced to allow people to work from home. I\nhave recently done my first training intervention online using Zoom, something\nthat I have always been sceptical about. Due to little preparation time, I am\nsure it was not ideal for the delegate and me but with time I could improve the\nexperience. This brings me to the question as to why we have not embraced the\ntechnology earlier and have come to the following conclusions:\n\n\n<ol><li>People’s resistance to\nchange blocks us from trying new technologies, even when the current way we do\nthings is not ideal. In 1993 the technology organisations were saying that the\npaperless society was two to five years away. We still generate tons of paper\nbecause we can make notes file it away etc. all things that are available\nwithin the technology</li><li>There is still a belief\nthat if people are not at work they will not be doing as much work as they are\nbeing paid for. Many organisations still measure input and do not have the\nsystems in place to measure output. There are still many managers who believe\nthat they need to see people control them and what work is being done.</li><li>There has not been a\ncompelling reason to change from a business perspective, because we have been\nmaking a profit and in many cases, the business has been growing. Risk\nmanagement has been required but most organisations went through the motions\nbut very few took it seriously and invested in disaster management plans and\nbusiness continuity plans. Several risk management plans that I have seen are\npaper tigers that are not practical. Many organisations do fire drills etc. but\ndo they practice how the business would continue if we lost a warehouse or the\nproduction facility etc. When the situation is norma, do we allow people to\nwork at home to find out what works and what does not work?</li><li>The labour laws of many\ncountries also create problems for organisations where if the factory staff or\nthe call centre staff have to be at work at 8 o’clock and leave at 5 o’clock\nthen all other staff need to comply with the hours as it could result in a\nsituation where the people who need to work onsite can then believe that they\nare being discriminated against. Furthermore, some Labour Laws limit the use of\ncontractors forcing organisations to employ people to positions that do not\nmerit full-time staff etc.</li></ol>\n\n\n<h2>What can we change as a result of the\nsituation we find ourselves in?</h2>\n\n\n<ol><li>From an organisational\nperspective disaster management planning and business continuity plans need to\nbe put in place followed by, practical proof of concept exercises, to ensure that\nlessons are learned when there is time and resources to learn and refine. The\nCEO of a large organisation, involved in large mining and construction\nequipment, in the United States told his management teams in 2007 to make plans\nas to what they would do if the organisation lost 50% of its income overnight. After\nthe 2009 financial meltdown, the organisation grew at a % faster than Apple\nbecause they moved their business from predominantly selling equipment to\nrepairing the equipment, that the owners used to generate an income and could\nnot afford to replace. I believe all organisations need to ask these difficult\nquestions to be prepared for eventualities</li><li>An organisation need to\ndevelop robust performance management systems that concentrate on measuring\noutput across divisions branches and individuals. I facilitate many workshops,\non an annual basis and in many I ask the question whether the delegates find\ntheir performance management systems to be fair and motivational. In less than\n10 % of the delegates do I get a positive answer? Most of the time the response\nis we cannot score more than average, and we do not know what is required to\nscore above average. I believe that most of the PM systems are too complicated\nand do not motivate. Should we allow people to work from home or employ\ncontractors to perform tasks that do not merit full-time employment we will\nneed to implement performance management systems that:<ol><li>The organisation is\nclear what is the output that is required from the work to be done remotely.</li></ol><ol><li>That the reward systems\nthat need to change, to reward output within the boundaries of quality and\ncost.</li></ol><ol><li>Technology would need\nto play a major part in the recording and reporting of output and quality.</li></ol><ol><li>HR professionals will\nneed to develop systems that cater for different job categories.<ol><li>The one contract for\nall workers will not be able to cater for the future. Contracts will need to be\ndeveloped for different types of work and positions.</li></ol><ol><li>One reward system will\nnot be able to motivate and retain your human resources. </li></ol><ol><li>How to measure\ndisparate working conditions in one organisation.</li></ol><ol><li>How to develop a policy\nof different working conditions, working in the office vs working at home etc.</li></ol></li></ol></li><li>Management training\nwould need to train managers to:<ol><li>Set performance management\nobjective and targets that will ensure that the organisation achieves its\ntargets without trying to control and dictate. In many instances how the result\nis achieved, &nbsp;individual and management\nwill not be able to control the process. What will be important is to ensure\nthat the staff consider the risk when performing the tasks.</li></ol><ol><li>How to conduct remote\nmeetings but also to distribute information without relying on meetings. At the\nsame time interactions will be reduced thus opportunities to coach and mentor\nwill be limited and every opportunity would need to be utilised to its fullest\npotential.</li></ol><ol><li>How to build trust and\nto be able to trust that the staff are doing what is expected of them and let\nthe staff know that the management trusts that they are giving their best. </li></ol><ol><li>Staff will need to be\ntrained on analytical thinking, Risk assessment, management and business\nanalysis as they will not be able to ask management for directions or speak to\ncolleagues in the office next door etc.&nbsp;\nThey would need to be equipped to think as though it is their own\nbusiness and to consider every situation from the operational, financial,\nlegal, reputational etc point of view.</li></ol><ol><li>There will be\nrequirements from our HR Professionals on how to manage the human need for\ninteraction with others in an environment where such interaction will no longer\nbe possible. How do we create the culture of “our organisation” if people are\nfeeling remote from the organisation? These are challenges that will require\nplanning. Technology although it brings great tools, it can lead to social\ndistancing. </li></ol></li><li>Governing bodies,\nexecutive management etc. will in the future need to ensure that they are ready\nfor “black swan events” and any disruptions. Stakeholders are going to require\nleaders to be prepared. After this event it would be interesting to see how\nmany stakeholders are going to hold the people, who were supposed to lead\norganisations through good and bad times, accountable for not being prepared.\nThis will entail:<ol><li>That leader prepare\nplans to protect organisations and stakeholders against adverse events but also\nto be ready to see opportunities, in a changing world, and that comes with\nthese events. These plans need to be practical and implementable</li></ol><ol><li>I believe that the\nexpectations of the stakeholders will need to be realistic. I do not believe\nthat in future shareholders can demand double-digit returns on equity, worker\ndemand double-digit increases, suppliers charging excessive mark-ups etc. The\nexpectations will refocus to sustainability within the constraints of society,\nenvironment, economic requirements etc. Future profits increase markups will be\nfocused on moderate growth but ensuring sustainability for all stakeholders.</li></ol></li><li>Organisations will need\nto develop:<ol><li>New processes, that\nwill be able to be implemented at short notice, to manage adverse events. These\nprocesses need to be practised ensuring that all the new risks are identified\nand addressed e.g. the finance staff working at home are now more vulnerable to\nbeing forced to do illegal activities because they are not in a secure\nenvironment.</li></ol><ol><li>Using technology,\norganisations would now be able to outsource jobs that would not have been\nfeasible in the past, especially where there is not enough work to justify a\nfulltime position. E.g. receptionist can with technology manage several small\norganisations reception remotely. Payroll administrator can do payroll work for\nseveral organisations</li></ol><ol><li>Individuals will need\nto prepare themselves for a new world where permanent employment may be\nreplaced by contract employment and rewards will be based on output delivered.\nThus, individuals will need to be skilled in entrepreneurial skills to sell\nthemselves and their product.</li></ol></li></ol>\n\n\nWhat I have tried to say with the above\nis organisations will need to use this crisis to build new resilient\norganisations.\n\nNic Gildenhuys\n\n\n<figure class=""wp-block-table""><table><tbody><tr><td>\n \n </td><td>\n (MAP) Wits\n Business School,\n Dip Project Management. \n &nbsp;\n Nic has extensive\n experience in the banking industry. Although he has also been involved in a\n diverse range of other industries his primary focus centres on strategic\n management facilitation where he has extensive knowledge of the Balanced\n Scorecard. Coupled with this Nic has an excellent knowledge of business\n processes and process modelling tools. He also has a solid track record in\n project management where he has been highly successful in the development and\n delivery of numerous successful training interventions. He has assisted several\n organisation in implementing Balanced scorecard and individual performance\n management, Risk management identification and assessment, process\n improvements and disaster and business continuity management.\n &nbsp;\n &nbsp;\n </td></tr></tbody></table></figure>\n

Lessons from lockdown - working from home

140	Books in my Audible Library that are worth reading for any serious business person

One of the lessons I\nlearnt very early in life is that most of the personal development should be\nself-driven. The majority of what I know as a Consultant is self-taught and\nexperimentation in real life. I read lots of books. When on the road I&nbsp; listen to one to two audiobooks. I use most\nof my idle time to listen to audiobooks and read books on <a href=""https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/hz/signup?ref_=assoc_tag_ph_1454291293420&amp;_encoding=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=pf4&amp;tag=paygenius-20&amp;linkId=ae4c29e931dbfe33eee8365a671ce51b"">Amazon Kindle</a>.&nbsp; Today I want to share the books that have\nhelped me go a gear up in what I do.&nbsp; I\nwill start with audible books and go to Kindle books. \n\n\n<ol><li><a href=""https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004EPYWMO/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B004EPYWMO&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=paygenius-20&amp;linkId=13bdca901a9d072a96bd85166f57995d"">My\nAmerican Journey by Collin Powell </a></li><li><a href=""https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PF6XTD8/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B07PF6XTD8&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=paygenius-20&amp;linkId=1d8866fddc65822bcbe49aa9a5d76e1b"">The ride of a lifetime by Robert\nIger</a>\n</li><li><a href=""https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005VREVKC/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B005VREVKC&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=paygenius-20&amp;linkId=504028a386dad8df68aac8dccf1baa49"">Organisational Culture by Naomi\nStanford</a>\n</li><li><a href=""https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004XFYWC0/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B004XFYWC0&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=paygenius-20&amp;linkId=d43b1d5772fee6e3b4659a8187c70d46"">The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson</a> </li><li><a href=""https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EQDE08/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B000EQDE08&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=paygenius-20&amp;linkId=68b069d07c51448d712689295d234c8b"">What it takes to be #1</a></li><li><a href=""https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1119546702/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=1119546702&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=paygenius-20&amp;linkId=7c3507eddd70cf54a8760d2ca1a9fb81"">Governance in the Digital Age by\nBrian Stafford and Dottie Schindlinger</a> </li><li><a href=""https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07X56F9CP/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B07X56F9CP&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=paygenius-20&amp;linkId=8b1915b336d5b0f8e57ad07541af8f73"">Be Board ready by Betsy Atkins</a></li><li><a href=""https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075FF3JDS/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B075FF3JDS&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=paygenius-20&amp;linkId=e7b647c2c4adc0d674e53f74d37184b0"">Great CEOs are lazy by Jim\nSchleskser</a>\n</li><li><a href=""https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EQDE1W/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B000EQDE1W&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=paygenius-20&amp;linkId=7196287713d7a256d46f4721bc0584d6"">What the best CEOs know by\nJeffrey Krames</a>\n</li><li><a href=""https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DWEP6KA/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B00DWEP6KA&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=paygenius-20&amp;linkId=68fa56458ee6a67e03abe569c5848db5"">Coaching for performance by Jim\nHotjie</a>\n</li><li><a href=""https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001NXK1XO/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B001NXK1XO&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=paygenius-20&amp;linkId=9ea567bb7c7384dfe0db6a27b8ce70b2"">The Drunkard’s Walk by Leonard\nMdlodinow</a>\n</li></ol>\n\n\nWhat runs through these\nbooks are practical life lessons for everyone who aspires to improve themselves.\n<a href=""https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004EPYWMO/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B004EPYWMO&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=paygenius-20&amp;linkId=13bdca901a9d072a96bd85166f57995d"">My American Journey</a>, for example, looks\nat leadership and strategy in a war situation but written specifically for\nexecutive leaders and those who aspire to go into leadership. I have never seen\na book that so rich with practical lessons that you can put to use daily in\nyour life. When I finished the <a href=""https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001NXK1XO/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B001NXK1XO&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=paygenius-20&amp;linkId=9ea567bb7c7384dfe0db6a27b8ce70b2"">Drunkard’s walk</a> my whole life changed\nconcerning how I look at facts of life and interpret them. I learnt that there\nare things that happen in life that are random and have no immediate explanation.\nThe quest for answers must always be guided by science and facts. You can not\nremain the same after going through this book.&nbsp;\nAs you go through the book “<a href=""https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07X56F9CP/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B07X56F9CP&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=paygenius-20&amp;linkId=8b1915b336d5b0f8e57ad07541af8f73"">Be Board ready</a>” you will learn what\nit takes to prepare for board appointments.&nbsp;\nBetsy takes you through a journey of practical steps you need to take to\nprepare for this journey.&nbsp; <a href=""https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005VREVKC/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B005VREVKC&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=paygenius-20&amp;linkId=504028a386dad8df68aac8dccf1baa49"">Naomi Stanford</a> takes you through a\njourney to understand in simple terms what <a href=""https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005VREVKC/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B005VREVKC&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=paygenius-20&amp;linkId=504028a386dad8df68aac8dccf1baa49"">organisational culture</a> is and how to\ntransform it. I have chosen the above books for their practical value. They all\ntalk about the problems you encounter every day and how to develop solutions\nfor them. If you are like me; self-driven, then do not miss the book “ <a href=""https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EQDE08/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B000EQDE08&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=paygenius-20&amp;linkId=68b069d07c51448d712689295d234c8b"">What it takes to be #1</a>”. \n\nOn the books I&nbsp; have personally read and benefited immensely\nfrom the Amazon Kindle books are the following 10 books:\n\n\n<ol><li><a href=""https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E6KUB6/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B008E6KUB6&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=paygenius-20&amp;linkId=a794e94ebc8e6193b852c741dd914c18"">Boards that deliver by Ram Charam</a> </li><li><a href=""https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KLT8RKM/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B07KLT8RKM&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=paygenius-20&amp;linkId=fdf62bc50fb209df345c653beb59f0b0"">The fearless organisation by Amy\nC Edmondson</a>\n</li><li><a href=""https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0794Z8475/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B0794Z8475&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=paygenius-20&amp;linkId=ccc8dd45ce7ae672ad2006a09f0c9a39"">Cognitive Capitalism by Heiner\nRinderman</a>\n</li><li><a href=""https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XIYGCDO/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B00XIYGCDO&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=paygenius-20&amp;linkId=8760b220bdd81207289b32418c88a0e6"">Originals by Dam Grant</a> </li><li><a href=""https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AXORP10/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B00AXORP10&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=paygenius-20&amp;linkId=e435ff3c6f443ec583042700b9f40397"">Hiring Talent by Tom Foster</a></li><li><a href=""https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06X963HD7/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B06X963HD7&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=paygenius-20&amp;linkId=27c912339e9fa42e59907bb8dae672e2"">Step by step Guide to OKRs by\nAlexander&nbsp; Maasik</a> </li><li><a href=""https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07V9WKTB5/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B07V9WKTB5&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=paygenius-20&amp;linkId=6297a931f88008e8b81c0f2db08cc952"">The Implementer's Starter Kit by\nWendy Hirsch</a>\n</li><li><a href=""https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FQVCX8D/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B07FQVCX8D&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=paygenius-20&amp;linkId=50dc3c2eaf2ebc24712cdf5bedb4eba5"">Why do so many incompetent men\nbecome leaders(and how to fix it) by Tomas Chamorro- Premuzic</a> </li><li><a href=""https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NAMW1FD/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B01NAMW1FD&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=paygenius-20&amp;linkId=b74279e54a013ee85842dd3953079b02"">The talent delusion: Why data,\nnot intuition, is the key to unlocking human potential</a> </li><li><a href=""https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0199396604/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=0199396604&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=paygenius-20&amp;linkId=6722fade91ad6112a9b80b080f38d9c9"">Denying to the grave – Why we\nignore facts that will save us by Sara E. Gorman, PHD, MPH and Jack M. Gorman,\nMD</a></li></ol>\n\n\nThe above 10 Kindle\nbooks are a must for everyone in a leadership position or aspiring to go into a\nleadership position. I have chosen the above books because of their practical\nvalue to everyone who wants to improve how they manage themselves and others. \n\nMemory Nguwi is an\nOccupational Psychologist, Data Scientist, Speaker, &amp; Managing Consultant-\nIndustrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd a management and human resources\nconsulting firm. <a href=""https://www.linkedin.com/in/memorynguwi/"">https://www.linkedin.com/in/memorynguwi/</a> Phone +263 4\n481946-48/481950/2900276/2900966 or cell number +263 77 2356 361 or email: <a href=""mailto:mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com"">mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com</a>&nbsp; or visit our\nwebsite at <a href=""http://www.ipcconsultants.com"">www.ipcconsultants.com</a>

20 Books that Changed my Life: A case of Memory Nguwi

<blockquote class=""wp-block-quote"">No one on his deathbed ever said, ‘I wish I spent more time at the office<cite>Paul Tsongas</cite></blockquote>\n\n\n<a href=""https://porch.com/advice/achieve-healthy-work-life-balance"" target=""_blank"" rel=""noreferrer noopener"">Work-life balance</a> describes dividing one’s time and energy between their work and the aspects of their personal lives. Achieving a work-life balance is challenging. At times, at can be difficult to make time for family, friends, spirituality personal growth or self-care, in addition to the demands of your workplace.\n\nBalanced employees tend to feel\nmore motivated and less stressed out at work, which thereby increases company\nproductivity and reduces the number of conflicts among co-workers and\nmanagement. When employees feel s greater sense of control and ownership over\ntheir own lives, they tend to have better relationships with their management\nand can leave work issues at work and home issues at home. \n\nHowever, nowadays, a work-life\nbalance seems impossible. With the advancement of technology workers are more\naccessible at any time of day or night. According to Forbes, fears of jobs loss\nincentivise longer hours at work. This includes working overtime during the\ndedicated weekdays and working on weekends when contracts do not specify that\nemployees have to come in on weekends. Following a Harvard Business School\nSurvey, 94% of working professionals reported working for more than 50 hours a\nweek and nearly half said they worked more than 65 hours per week. Stress from\nthe never-ending workday can damage relationships with friends, family and\nworkmates, health and overall happiness. \n\nCompanies who gain a reputation\nfor encouraging work-life balance have become attractive to workers and will\nattract a valuable pool of candidates for new job openings for your\norganisation. These organisations thus tend to enjoy higher employee retention\nrate, which results in less time-consuming training, more company loyalty and a\nhigher degree of in-house expertise. \n\nEmployees who have a positive\nwork-life balance do a better job at work, so stimulating this balance is\nbeneficial to individuals and the company. \n\n<h2>What can you consider offering as\nan employer?</h2>\n\nBelow are some of the different\nways that employers and employees can promote work-life balance in the office\nwithout compromising productivity or efficiency.\n\n\n<h3>Get some exercise</h3>\n\nEmployees who eat healthily and\nexercise are at less risk of getting sick and missing days from work. If you\nprovide meals or snacks like tea and lunch choose healthier food options. This\nwill limit the detraction from your organisation’s productivity. \n\nHaving gym facilities or aerobics\nclasses available to your employees will encourage your employees to use these\nfacilities if they are available. If not, perhaps consider offering your\nemployees membership discounts at a nearby gym. This will mean also making sure\nthat your working hours are considerate enough to allow employees to have time\nto go to the gym. If a non-profit organisation is hosting a charity race of any\nkind in the future, announce it to promote a good cause and encourage your\nemployees to get active and support it. Do not forget to lead by example as\nwell. \n\n\n<h3>Strive for excellence, not\nperfectionism</h3>\n\nMany overachievers develop\nperfectionist tendencies in their childhood when the demands of their time are\nlimited to school and extracurricular activities. It is much easier to maintain\nthat perfectionist habit as a child, but as you get older, life becomes more\ncomplicated. As you climb up the ladder at work and as your family grows and\nyou gain more responsibilities. Perfectionism becomes harder to each and if\nthat habit is left unchecked, it may become destructive, according to executive\ncoach Marilyn Puder-York, PhD. \n\nThe key to avoiding burnout is to\nlet go of perfectionism. Puder-York says, ""As life gets more expanded it\nis very hard, both neurologically and psychologically, to keep that habit of\nperfection going"". The healthier option is to strive for excellence rather\nthan perfectionism.\n\n\n<h3>Go out together</h3>\n\nOne of the best ways to boost\nemployee morale and help workers get to know one another in a non-stressful\ncapacity is by offering an occasional company outing. This can be as low-key or\nas extravagant as you would like. However, this must depend on your\norganisation culture, size and budget to make these things happen.\n\nAn example would be to organise a\ncompany-paid lunch either at the office or at a group-friendly restaurant. You\ncan even do this every quarter if the company reaches their target then have\none or two compulsory parties such as the anniversary party of the organisation\nand the Christmas party. Some small companies have found great success in\nbreakfast club programs in which employees take turns to bring their favourite\nbreakfast foods, which can be homemade or store-bought, to share with fellow\nemployees. This makes coming to work less dreadful for your employees. \n\n\n<h3>Boss, do something about it</h3>\n\nIf you are the owner or the\nmanager and you tend to be an overachiever or perfectionist, encourage your\nsubordinates to take breaks. This includes you as well just so you can regroup\nand regain some energy to go about the rest of your day.&nbsp; \n\nEnsure you are not holding back\nthe reigns when it comes to your employees' work-life balance. Allow your\nemployees to have personal lives rather than calling them in on weekend or\ncalling and texting them outside of working hours. Learning to let go will pay\ndividends in building dedicated and well-motivated staff members. \n\n<h2>Know that there is no perfect\nwork-life balance</h2>\n\nMost people when they hear\n'work-life' balance, they imagine having a fruitful day at work and leaving\nwork early to go home and live their personal lives. Spent adequate time with\nthemselves, their families and friends. This may seem ideal, life does not\nalways work out that way.\n\nAs an employee, do not strive for\nthe perfect schedule. What happens in life is never certain. On some days you\nmay prioritise work more, while on other days you may have more time and energy\nto pursue your hobbies or spend time with family and friends. This work-life\nbalance is only achieved over some time and not every day. Teach yourself to\nmanage your time well so you can have the best of both worlds healthily.\n\nAchieving a comfortable work-life\nbalance as a parent does not just occur randomly anymore that does a good\ncareer. It takes strategy, thought and dedication. You can make work-life\nbalance labour of love. Find out from your employees for fellow employees what\nelse they can do to encourage work-life balance for employees.\n\nSifiso\nDingani is a Talent Management Consultant at Industrial Psychology Consultants\n(Pvt) Ltd a management and human resources consulting firm. Phone +263 4\n481946-48/ 481950/ 2900276/ 2900966 or cell number +26377 551 7211 or email <a href=""mailto:sifiso@ipcconsultants.com"">sifiso@ipcconsultants.com</a>\nor visit our website at <a href=""http://www.ipcconsultants.com"">www.ipcconsultants.com</a>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Work-life balance: How to improve your work-life balance

<h2>Introduction</h2>\n\nWhen many people hear the concept\nof Psychometric Testing they become confused or sceptical about using them. The\nbiggest reason for this is probably because they do not understand what\nPsychometric Tests really are. When one is confused about something, trusting\nit is hard. Have you ever lost out on something big because you did not know\nwhat it was about? As a result, did you look back and think to yourself that\nyou should have known better or asked for some clarity on it? Yes, I am sure\neach person has that moment at some point in their life. Do not let this happen\nto your business as business mistakes can be very costly for the company. This\narticle will draw an outline on what Psychometric Test are and get managers of\nbusinesses (and anyone else interested in knowing more about them) to\nunderstand why they are important for the success of their company.\n\n<h2>What are Psychometric Tests?</h2>\n\nA psychometric test is an\nassessment that is conducted in order to evaluate a person’s performance and\nincludes, but is not limited to, skills, knowledge, abilities, personality traits,\nattitudes and job/academic potential. There are different types of Psychometric\nTests but there are three major ones that are well known and used by most\ncompanies:\n\n<ul><li>Aptitude\nTests:&nbsp;These\ntests have the goal of assessing various cognitive abilities from numeracy and\nliteracy skills to spatial awareness and more.</li><li>Behavioural\nTests:&nbsp;These\ntests are intended to highlight specific personality traits that could indicate\nsuitability for specific roles. These can come in the form of personality\nquestionnaires, leadership tests, motivation tests and situational judgement\ntests.</li><li>Assessment\nCentres:&nbsp;Assessment\ncentres are based on human interaction assessments. Various exercises utilise\njob-specific skills and simulations and are usually carried out by assessors/psychologists.</li></ul>\n\n\nMany companies use Psychometric\ntests so that they can bring in the best candidate for the position that is\nopen in the company.\n\n<h2>Why Use Psychometric Tests?</h2>\n\nPsychometric tests\nare psychological tools used by employers to benchmark candidates suitability\nfor a role against each other, to find the best fit for their company. These\ntests range in subject matter and content to measure a variety of desirable\nskill sets. Some of the most popular psychometric assessments used today\ninclude those for numerical, verbal and logical reasoning.\n\nThere are two major\nreasons companies use psychometric testing:\n\n<ul><li>The\nfirst one is to improve and reduce HR and recruitment costs and the </li><li>To\nensure that only quality of candidates is on board, thus avoiding employee\nturnover. The main goal of an aptitude or psychometric test is to ensure that a\ncandidate possesses the amount of skill and cognitive ability to perform the\nduties of a job/role. </li></ul>\n\n\n<h2>Types\nof Psychometric Tests</h2>\n\n<ul><li>Numerical Tests</li><li>Verbal Tests</li><li>Logical Tests</li><li>Technical Tests</li><li>Spatial Reasoning\nTests</li><li>Concentration Tests</li><li>Mechanical and\nElectrical Reasoning Tests</li></ul>\n\n\nThese different\ntypes of tests are used in assessing different candidates depending on the role\nthat they are applying for in the company. For example, not all roles require\ncandidates to be assessed under technical tests because that skill is not\nnecessary for them to successfully complete their job if they are chosen. There\nare although, some positions such as a Software Developer that would require\nthat a candidate have these skills.\n\n<h2>Benefits\nof Using Psychometric Tests for Potential Employees</h2>\n\n<ul><li>You do not only rely\non interviews: Although interviews\nare good for assessing potential candidates for your company, it is better to\nhave another source of information income. At times interviews may not provide\na holistic picture of what the candidate is capable of. Some candidates could be\nabsolutely perfect for your job but they just don’t interview well. This could\nbe because of nerves, because of a lack of previous interview practice, or the\ncandidate might just be having a bad day. On the other hand, some candidates may\nbe very confident in interviews and may have a range of well-rehearsed answers\nto your questions. Does this really mean that they are perfect for the job? Not\nreally. A job will not only require a person’s personality but the ability to\nactually execute the tasks that are demanded of them in that position. When\nusing Psychometric Tests followed by an interview, you get a more refined\nresult.</li><li>Psychometric Tests\nSave Time and Money: By using\nPsychometric Tests at the beginning of the recruitment process, the company\nsaves a lot of time and money. This is as a result of shortlisting the right\ncandidates from the beginning. Without using Psychometric Tests, the\nrecruitment panel takes a long time sifting through unworthy candidates for the\njob that could have been done with the use of Artificial Intelligence at the\nbeginning. In the future, managers look back and see how much they saved by\nusing these Tests. Initially, it may seem like a very costly exercise to\nundertake but the expense of hiring the wrong employee is far more than the\ninitial cost of ensuring that the right candidate is brought into the\nworkplace. When head-hunting for a new employee for your company, think long\nterm. It may be expensive now but it will really save you later. </li><li>Providing a true\nreflection of the candidates: Psychometric\ntesting gives a good overall picture of your candidates. In addition to\nassessing the skills and abilities of the candidates, you as a manager gets an\ninsight of them as a person as well. Why? Because when a Psychometric Tests is taken,\nthere is a section that assesses a person’s personality. With this information,\nyou can see what kind of person they are and if they will be the right fit for\nthe company. You are able to see someone’s conscientiousness, their openness to\nnew experiences among others. The truth in this comes from the very nature of\npsychometric tests. They are difficult to cheat so the results you get from\neach test should be true results in that they show you what your candidates are\nreally like in the workplace. This means you will also know not only their\nabilities but how well they are going to get along with other employees within\nyour company. Whether or not they will fit into the company’s culture.</li><li>Psychometric tests\nmeasure skills and ability not just education: Although\nthere is an emphasis on doing away with a strong focus on education, many\ncompanies are still doing it. Whilst this is valuable to a certain extent,\npsychometric testing can be used to fill in the gap in that academic\nachievements are not going to give you a complete picture of what your\napplicants are actually capable of in the place of work. Many people do not\nusually have the necessarily have the work experience that is needed for the\njob that they are applying for but when they are assessed using Psychometric\nTests, it is possible to see their potential in the position.</li></ul>\n\n\n<h2>Conclusion</h2>\n\nNow that you know\nmore of Psychometric Tests, it is important that you rethink using them in the\nrecruitment process. Save your time and energy and do what is right for the\nsuccess of the company. Read more on Psychometric tests and get managers to\ntalk about them in your workplace.

Is Psychometric Testing the Backbone of the Success of a Company

Every year Warren\nBuffet writes a letter to Berkshire shareholders highlighting key performance\ndevelopments. This letter draws the attention of analyst and fund managers. As\nI was reading this letter&nbsp; I noted key\nissues that were highlighted as regards to how corporate governance can be\nhandled. Below I quote verbatim some of the key highlights and how Zimbabwean\ncorporates can learn from these Knowledge nuggets.\n\nIn his opening remarks\nto the section on Board of Directors Warren Buffet says “ My credentials for\ndiscussing corporate governance include the fact that, over the last 62 years,\nI have served as a director of 21 publicly-owned companies. In all but two of\nthem, I have represented a substantial holding of stock. In a few cases, I have\ntried to implement important change.” The fact that he has served as a director\nfor all these years speaks to the level of experience and depth he as about\ncorporate governance issues. These are the lessons we want to look at below.\n\n\n<ol><li>“Over the years, many\nnew rules and guidelines pertaining to board composition and duties have come\ninto being. The bedrock challenge for directors, nevertheless, remains\nconstant: Find and retain a talented CEO – possessing integrity, for sure – who\nwill be devoted to the company for his/her business lifetime. Often, that task\nis hard. When directors get it right, though, they need to do little else. But\nwhen they mess it up,......” This so insightful. Without a good CEO, directors\ncan do very little to turnaround the organisation. My own experience shows that\nthe process of appointing a CEO is not done properly in the majority of cases,\nleading to a series of failures by the whole company. There is just too much\nself-interested by various stakeholders when appointing the CEO. This has often\nled to the wrong people being appointed to the role of CEO to the detriment of\nthe organisation. The lesson is that directors must ensure that the process of\nrecruiting and selecting a CEO is based on merit and nothing else. </li><li>“Audit committees now\nwork much harder than they once did and almost always view the job with\nappropriate seriousness. Nevertheless, these committees remain no match for\nmanagers who wish to game numbers, an offense that has been encouraged by the\nscourge of earnings “guidance” and the desire of CEOs to “hit the number.” My\ndirect experience (limited, thankfully) with CEOs who have played with a\ncompany’s numbers indicates that they were more often prompted by ego than by a\ndesire for financial gain.”\nMy view is that appointing the wrong people in the executive team can lead to\nthis type of number gaming. Directors need to be on the lookout for such shenanigans\nas in some instances the whole system from top to bottom could be in this game\nmaking it very difficult to detect such practices. </li><li>“Compensation\ncommittees now rely much more heavily on consultants than they used to.\nConsequently, compensation arrangements have become more complicated – what\ncommittee member wants to explain paying large fees year after year for a\nsimple plan? – and the reading of proxy material has become a mind-numbing\nexperience.”\n, The desire to avoid making costly mistakes has forced HR Committees to rely\non consultants. Depending on the quality of the Consultant, this can give value\nbut in the majority of cases, value is lost as some of the Consultants give no\nvalue at all. </li><li>“One very important\nimprovement in corporate governance has been mandated: a regularly-scheduled\n“executive session” of directors at which the CEO is barred. Prior to that\nchange, truly frank discussions of a CEO’s skills, acquisition decisions and\ncompensation were rare.”\nThis practice is rare in Zimbabwean organisation but a very important step in\nimproving the governance culture of the organisation. The challenge, especially\nin Zimbabwe, is that some directors are beholden to the CEO in whatever they\nsay and do. This is a practice I think will give a lot of value to Zimbabwean\norgansiations and boards must start practising this. </li><li>“Over the years, board\n“independence” has become a new area of emphasis. One key point relating to\nthis topic, though, is almost invariably overlooked: Director compensation has\nnow soared to a level that inevitably makes pay a subconscious factor affecting\nthe behavior of many non-wealthy members. Think, for a moment, of the director\nearning $250,000-300,000 for board meetings consuming a pleasant couple of days\nsix or so times a year. Frequently, the possession of one such directorship\nbestows on its holder three to four times the annual median income of U.S.\nhouseholds. (I missed much of this gravy train: As a director of Portland Gas\nLight in the early 1960s, I received $100 annually for my service. To earn this\nprincely sum, I commuted to Maine four times a year.)”. In Zimbabwe, while\ndirectors get paid retainers and sitting fees, they are nowhere near what\ndirectors earn in developed countries. The key question is; could this be\nimpacting on the performance of Board? </li><li>“Despite the illogic\nof it all, the director for whom fees are important – indeed, craved – is\nalmost universally classified as “independent” while many directors possessing\nfortunes very substantially linked to the welfare of the corporation are deemed\nlacking in independence. Not long ago, I looked at the proxy material of a\nlarge American company and found that eight directors had never purchased a\nshare of the company’s stock using their own money. (They, of course, had\nreceived grants of stock as a supplement to their generous cash compensation.)\nThis particular company had long been a laggard, but the directors were doing\nwonderfully.”\nWarren Buffet believes directors must have a stake in the company in order for\nthem to give value to the business. </li><li>“Nevertheless, many of\nthese good souls are people whom I would never have chosen to handle money or\nbusiness matters. It simply was not their game.” This is a damming assessment of\nthe quality of some of the directors. It is clear from this assessment that\nsome directors have no clue about how businesses make money and his view is\nthat they probably should not be appointed as directors?</li><li>“At Berkshire, we will\ncontinue to look for business-savvy directors who are owner-oriented and arrive\nwith a strong specific interest in our company. Thought and principles, not\nrobot-like “process,” will guide their actions. In representing your interests,\nthey will, of course, seek managers whose goals include delighting their\ncustomers, cherishing their associates and acting as good citizens of both\ntheir communities and our country.” The philosophy seems to be; get\ndirectors who have an interest in the company, who will make decisions in the\ninterest of the company. </li></ol>\n\n\nMemory\nNguwi is an Occupational Psychologist, Data Scientist, Speaker, &amp; Managing\nConsultant- Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd a management and human\nresources consulting firm. <a href=""https://www.linkedin.com/in/memorynguwi/"">https://www.linkedin.com/in/memorynguwi/</a> Phone +263 4\n481946-48/481950/2900276/2900966 or cell number +263 77 2356 361 or email: <a href=""mailto:mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com"">mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com</a>&nbsp; or visit our\nwebsite at <a href=""http://www.ipcconsultants.com"">www.ipcconsultants.com</a>

Governance Highlights from Warren Buffet's Letter to Shareholders

Employee Engagement is defined as a heightened\nemotional connection that an employee feels for his or her organisation that\ninfluences him or her to exert greater discretionary effort to his or her work.\nA study conducted by Gallup, Inc. in the 1990s identified Employee Engagement\nas the most important factor in helping companies grow. Several, if not all, organisational\nperformance indicators are significantly influenced by how much employees are\neffectively engaged in their jobs (workplaces). As such, to improve the\nperformance of the organisation, management needs to take note of which areas\nto work on.\n\nThis Employee Engagement Survey was conducted by\nIndustrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd – an independent surveyor.\n\nAlthough such surveys are critical to the performance and growth of the organisation, management should not rely solely on a single survey. Periodic surveys should be conducted. We suggest annually, so as to track the organisation’s performance and growth in relation to all employee engagement dimensions. After a series of surveys, it is only then that you can establish the link between your company’s performance and Employee Engagement.\n\n<h2>Summary of Key Findings </h2>\n\nThe overall Employee Engagement Index (EEI) is 72%. In other words, at least 7 in every 10 employees are satisfied with their organisation as their employer.\n\n The Strategic Direction Index is 96%. This suggests that approximately, all of the Zimbabwean employees have a good understanding of their organisation’s goals and targets and how their work contributes to achieving them.\n\n The Leadership Index is 75%. This suggests that on average, 8 in every 10 of Zimbabwean staff are happy with their organisation’s leadership.\n\n The Communication Index is 68%. This suggests that, on average, 7 in every 10 of Zimbabwean employees are satisfied with communication in their organisation.\n\n The Relationship with Colleagues’ Index is 84%. This suggests that, on average, 8 in every 10 of the Zimbabwean organisations` staff are happy with their relationships with workmates.\n\n The Supervision Index is 83%. This suggests that, on average, 8 in every 10 of the Zimbabwean employees are happy with their immediate supervisors in their organisations.\n\n The Learning and Development Index is 75%. This suggests that, on average, 8 in every 10 of the employees are happy with the opportunities for learning and development available for them in their organisation.\n\n 42% of Zimbabwean employees perceive remuneration systems in their organisations in a positive way. This suggests that approximately 4 in every 10 of Zimbabwean employees are satisfied with their remuneration. \n\n The Commitment and Loyalty Index is 68%. This suggests that, on average, 7 in every 10 of Zimbabwean employees are proud to work for their organisations.\n\n The Job Design Index is 76%. This means that, on average, 8 in every 10 of Zimbabwean employees believe they use their skills and knowledge at work.\n\n The Satisfaction Index is 71%. The result suggests that, on average, 7 in every 10 of the employees are satisfied with working for their organisations.\n\n The Intention to Stay Index is 59%. This suggests that, on average, 6 in every 10 of the employees indicate having no intention to leave their organisations. This dimension received the lowest positive responses.\n\n The Vigor Index is 73%. This suggests that, on average, 7 in 10 of the Zimbabwean employees show high levels of energy and mental resilience while working.\n\n The Dedication Index is 76%. This suggests that, on average, 8 in every 10 of the Zimbabwean employees are strongly involved in their work and experience a sense of enthusiasm, inspiration, and challenge.\n\n The Absorption Index is 65%. This suggests that, on average, 7 in 10 of the employees are fully concentrated and happily engrossed in their work. \n\n<h2>Download report</h2>\n\n<script async="" data-uid=""94f7a3ce07"" src=""https://sunny-musician-5883.ck.page/94f7a3ce07/index.js""></script>\n

Zimbabwe 2019: National Employee Engagement Benchmarking Report

We all know that\nexcessive stress is a health hazard. The effects of employee burnout in the\nworkplace have been seen to affect business performance. Workplace stress has\nbeen seen to make people nearly three times as likely to leave their jobs,\ntemporarily impairs strategic thinking and dulls creative thinking. Research\nhas therefore shown that burnout is a threat to an organisations bottom line.\nIn the US alone the cost of burnout was more than $300 billion a year in\nabsenteeism, turnover, and diminished productivity, medical, legal, and\ninsurance costs. Burnout in the workplace usually creeps in subtly, over time,\nimpacting workers in a way that they almost do not notice.\n\nAccording to the World\nHealth Organisation, burnout is defined as “… a syndrome conceptualized as\nresulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.\nIt is characterized by three dimensions:\n\n<ul><li>feelings\nof energy depletion or exhaustion;</li><li>increased\nmental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related\nto one's job;</li><li>reduced\nprofessional efficacy.”</li></ul>\n\n\n<h2>Causes of Workplace Burnout</h2>\n\nThere are many things\nthat can lead to job burnout, and it differs for every person. But there are\ncommon factors that have been identified as reasons behind burnout and\nstressors at your workplace. Areas of Worklife model (drawn from research by\nChristina Maslach and Michael P. Leiter of the University of California at\nBerkeley and Acadia University, respectively) identifies six areas where one could\nexperience imbalances that lead to burnout: \n\n\n<ol><li>Workload- When you have a\nworkload that matches your capacity, you can effectively get your work done,\nhave opportunities for rest and recovery, and find time for professional growth\nand development. When you chronically feel overloaded, these opportunities to\nrestore balance don’t exist.</li><li>Perceived\nlack of control- feeling like you lack autonomy,\naccess to resources, and a say in decisions that impact your professional life\ncan take a toll on your well-being. If you find yourself feeling out of\ncontrol, step back and ask yourself, “What exactly is causing me to feel this\nway?” For instance, does your boss contact you at all hours of the day and\nnight, and make you feel like you need to always be on call? Are the priorities\nwithin your workplace constantly shifting so you can never get ahead? Or do you\nsimply not have enough predictability in terms of your physical or people\nresources to effectively perform your job?</li></ol>\n\n\n<ul><li>Reward- If\nthe extrinsic and intrinsic rewards for your job don’t match the amount of\neffort and time you put into them, then you’re likely to feel like the\ninvestment is not worth the payoff.</li></ul>\n\n\n<ul><li>Community-Who do you work with\nor around? How supportive and trusting are those relationships? In many cases,\nyou can’t choose your colleagues and clients, but you can improve the dynamic.\nIt could be as simple as taking the time to ask others how their day is going —\nand really listening. Or sending an email to someone to let them know you\nappreciated their presentation. Or choosing to communicate something difficult\nin a respectful, nonjudgmental way. Burnout can be contagious, so to elevate\nyour individual engagement, you must shift the morale of the group. If you’ve\nfound that once you’ve done all you can, others can’t improve or don’t want\nimproved relationships, then you may want to consider a job change.</li></ul>\n\n\n<ul><li>Fairness-Think about whether\nyou believe that you receive fair and equitable treatment. For example, do you\nget acknowledged for your contributions or do other individuals get praised and\nyour work goes unnoticed? Does someone else get regular deadline extensions or\naccess to additional resources when you don’t?</li></ul>\n\n\n<ul><li>Values\nmismatch-If\nyou highly value something that your company does not, your motivation to work\nhard and persevere can significantly drop. Ideals and motivations tend to be\ndeeply ingrained in individuals and organizations. When you’re assessing this\nelement of burnout, you need to think carefully about how important it is to\nyou to match your values with those of the organization.</li></ul>\n\n\n<h2>Workplace Burnout Solutions</h2>\n\nIn a recent study,\nresearchers found that while there is an expectation that wellness programs\nwill improve issues of absenteeism and employee healthcare, they often do not.\nInstead, employers need to shift to organization-level approaches for reducing\nstress at work, ones that foster employee well-being while simultaneously\nimproving business performance. According to Natalia Peart, a clinical psychologist\nand Fortune 1000 executive leadership consultant, burnout prevention requires\nreducing workplace stress while also improving employee engagement. She\nrecommends the following in dealing with issues of burnout in the workplace:\n\n\n<ol><li>Create a Work Environment\nThat Decreases Stress- When\nemployees are ar4e put in a high-stress situation their ability to think,\nstrategize and innovate decreases. Organizations need to build a secure work\nenvironment and incorporate stress reduction habits into your team’s daily\nworkflows. </li></ol>\n\n\n<ul><li>Increase psychological\nsafety-&nbsp; &nbsp;When an organization lacks psychological\nsafety it is likely to cause stress for employees as they are not free to share\ntheir opinions and ideas. In her book, The Fearless Organization, Amy Edmondson describes three steps you\ncan take to build psychological safety. First, make your expectations obvious\nby giving your employees clear goals. Second, make sure everyone feels like\ntheir voices are heard, and that everyone knows that you want their voices to be\nheard. You can do this by inviting people to speak up in meetings and\nconducting brainstorming sessions more than you impose top-down decisions.\nThird, develop a work environment that is both challenging and unthreatening.\nLet people know it is okay to fail. Recognize team members who think outside\nthe box, and ask your employees for feedback regularly to show you’re all in it\ntogether.</li></ul>\n\n\n<ul><li>Build regular break\ntimes into the workday- The\nhuman brain can focus for around 90-120 minutes before it needs to rest. It’s\nimportant to encourage your employees to take occasional breaks to allow them\nto mentally reboot.</li></ul>\n\n\n<ul><li>&nbsp;Encourage\nthe use of private workspaces when team members need to focus- Open offices\nare prone to distractions, increasing stress and decreasing productivity.\nEncourage employees to find private spaces when they need to focus and get work\ndone without distractions. They can use a meeting room if available and put a\n‘do not disturb’ sign.</li></ul>\n\n\n<ul><li>Look into flexible\nwork policies- If\nyou want a highly adaptive team, then create an adaptable work environment.\nGive your employees flexibility by allowing them to work staggered hours,\ntaking into account their varying needs. This approach will help employees\nmaintain a work-life balance. </li></ul>\n\n\n<ul><li>Build Employee Engagement- Decades\nof data have confirmed that higher employee engagement, or the strength of the\nmental and emotional connection an employee feels toward their workplace, has\nmany positive benefits — including reduced stress, improved health and job\nsatisfaction, as well as increased productivity, job retention, and\nprofitability.</li></ul>\n\n\n<ul><li>Be Transparent- If your team members\nare confused about how their work connects to and serves both the short- and\nlong-term company goals, they will naturally become more stressed and less\nproductive — especially in times of uncertainty. Part of your job is to help\nthem see the big picture or the role they play in helping the company achieve\nits larger goals.</li></ul>\n\n\n<ul><li>Make sure people are\nin the right roles-If\nyour team members loathe doing their jobs, then they are naturally going to be\nless engaged. To ensure that their talents and strengths are aligned with the\nexpectations and responsibilities of their roles.</li></ul>\n\n\n<ul><li>Give as much autonomy\nas you can- When\npossible, give your team control over how they manage their projects. Employees\nare 43% less likely to experience high levels of burnout when they have a\nchoice in deciding what tasks to do when to do them, and how much time to spend\non each.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>Demonstrate\na commitment to your employee’s growth and progression-Give\npeople the chance to move around, or move on, if it’s the right next step for\ntheir careers. Your commitment to their growth will deepen the sense of trust\nbetween you and them.</li></ol>\n\n\nBurnout may originate\nwithin the workplace, affecting productivity and creating a hostile work\nenvironment- its effects go beyond the walls of the workplace. Research has\nshown that burnout goes as far as affecting an employee’s home life. To battle\nthis growing epidemic and create healthier work environments, leaders need to\ncommit to changing what “workplace wellness” looks like.\n\nTatenda\nSayenda-Havire is a consultant at Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd a\nmanagement and human resources consulting firm. Phone +263 4\n481946-48/481950/2900276/2900966 or email: tatenda@ipcconsultants.com or visit\nour website at www.ipcconsultants.com

How to make the workplace less stressful and more engaging

Decision making is influenced by\nheuristics and biases. Heuristics are commonly known as ""rules of\nthumb"". Heuristics influence how people make decisions by lowering the\namount of information to be processed when dealing with recurring issues. One\nexample of a heuristic is the status quo bias. This explains why people are\nmore willing to favour the status quo to be less inclined to change their\npreset or popular option. Understanding the psychology behind decision making\nis very important to any business or marketing professional or anyone involved\nin change management. Psychologists have been studying this area and many\npeople have found it enlightening to distinguish between two groups of cognitive\noperations within the human brain. These two groups of cognitive operations\nform two systems of thinking. System 1 is fast and intuitive. System 2 is slow,\ncalculative and deliberative. This idea of two systems is somewhat not cast in\nstone and there invokes some murmuring across the scientific fraternity though\nNobel prize winner Daniel Kahneman did extensive work on it.&nbsp; However, it is very useful in helping us\nunderstand what goes on in the human brain, so we can use it as a reference or\nas a metaphor at most to understand better.\n\nUnderstanding what happens under the\nhood when one makes a decision helps us in designing effective nudges, more so\nin this digital era. In his book, Human Agency and Behavioural\nEconomics-Nudging fast and slow, Cass Sustein divides nudges into two groups,\neducative and not educative. We are being nudged every day. You walk into a\nsupermarket today, if it is a smart supermarket, you will realise goods with\nthe highest mark-up are placed at the eye-level position on shelves. This is\nnudging unsuspecting customers into making unplanned purchases. Of course, when\nyou end up making that purchase, it is you who have made the decision, right?\nThe beauty of nudges is that they are tailored to in such a way people have\ncontrol. Though they may steer you in a certain direction, they permit you to\ngo your own way. They can be ignored. However, a perfect effective nudge takes\ninto account all the heuristics and biases involved in a single context. That\nway, the maximum percentage of the desired results is achieved.\n\n<h2>Digital Nudging</h2>\n\nThe birth of behavioural economics\nand nudge theory has given rise to professionals known as choice architects.\nGovernments and corporations big and small are realising the need for\n""nudge units"" and are building such teams. Digital nudging builds\nupon nudging in the real world. It speaks to programmers and system designers,\nUI/UX designers paying attention to the science of decision making, the\nheuristics and biases earlier mentioned.&nbsp;\nDigital nudging works by making moderations to the choices presented and\nthe visualisation of such choices. Take for example the earlier mentioned\nscenario where the placing of goods on shelves can either motivate customers\ninto making more purchases than they would normally do or have planned to.\nSimilarly, systems can be designed in such a way that when users visit a system\nor web platform, the choices they are presented to make, the call to action\nbuttons are in such a way to promote the overall goal of such a system.\n\nTake for example an eCommerce site's\nmain goal is to increase sales.&nbsp;\nUnderstanding the heuristics involved in this case and designing\neffective nudges can produce an increase in the number of sales on the\neCommerce platform. There are common nudging frameworks used in designing\nnudges. These are:\n\n<ul><li>Behaviour\nChange</li><li>NUDGE</li><li>MINDSPACE</li><li>Tools\nof a choice architecture</li></ul>\n\n\nThe most exciting feature about\ndigital nudging is it gives you the capability to test and check results if\nnudges in real-time and making moderations are fairly simple and fast. A\nwebsite click-through rate data can be tracked and different nudges tested. It\nis important to note in the digital world, the colour scheme used on an\napplication can act as a nudge as well. All these features can be tested using\nlive traffic to see what works best and produce the desired result. Selecting\nan appropriate nudge depends on the type of choices to be made.\n\nJerry Ndemera is a consultant at\nIndustrial Psychology Consultants. Send him an email at jerry@ipcconsultants.com

These Are The Exciting Facts About Nudging In The Digital Era

Good corporate\ngovernance now calls on Boards to look at their own performance. I have perused\na number of corporate governance codes and practices across the globe and all\nof them now encourage board performance evaluations. There are two main reasons\nwhy&nbsp; these evaluations are crucial:\n\n\n<ol><li>It\ngives the board an opportunity to reflect on how the board is adding value to\nthe business. </li><li>It\nallows the Board to address the shortcomings in how the board and individual\nmembers are adding value to the business. </li></ol>\n\n\nWhile Board\nevaluations are prevalent in well-managed organisations, the story is different\nin organisations with poor governance structures which rarely carry out Board\nperformance reviews. If you want to know the level of governance in an\norganisation just ask how frequently board performance reviews are done? \n\nThe Havard Law School\nReview, in a paper by <a href=""https://assets.ey.com/content/dam/ey-sites/ey-com/en_us/topics/cbm/ey-how-companies-are-evolving-board-evaluations-and-disclosures.pdf"" target=""_blank"" rel=""noreferrer noopener"">EY Center for Board\nMatters: How Companies are Evolving Board Evaluations and Disclosures</a> list the following as\nthe major focus areas for Board Performance reviews:\n\n<ul><li>Board composition,\n including skills and diversity</li><li>Review efficiencies\n and effectiveness of board leadership</li><li>Director independence </li><li>The handling of\n meetings </li><li>Information sharing\n processes and their effectiveness</li><li>Gauge the quality of\n boardroom discussions </li><li>Asses relationships\n among directors and also the relationship between executive directors and\n the board </li><li>The strategic nature\n of discussions </li><li>Board diversity; age,\n tenure, gender</li><li>Committee\n responsibilities and effectiveness</li><li>Rotation of Committee\n compositions </li><li>Individual director\n effectiveness. </li></ul>\n\n\nThe best way to carry out Board evaluations is to use an independent\nConsultant. The valuation should focus on evaluating the performance of various\nfacets of the Board operations. The following are some of the focus areas\ndepending on the objective of the evaluation. \n\n\n<ol><li>Board Evaluation&nbsp; - This assessment focuses on the performance\nof the board in terms of how it is fulfilling its role. This is where issues\nlike quality of discussions, diversity, adherence to general good governance by\nthe whole board are assessed. This can be done through a questionnaire to be\ncompleted by all Board members. Over and above the questionnaire you may want\nto consider doing interviews with each board member to gain more qualitative\ninformation. There is also an opportunity to review Board minutes by the\nConsultant to gauge how the Board operates. </li><li>Committee evaluation – This assessment\nfocuses on the quality of input of each committee into the board decision\nmaking process. Committee members do a self-assessment of their committee but\nalso other non-committee board members are given an opportunity to assess the\ncommittee. Interviews can also be carried out to dig deeper into the operations\nof each committee and how effective it is. </li><li>Board members evaluation &nbsp;- This assessment now focuses on the\nevaluation of each Board member on pre-agreed competencies important to the\neffectiveness of the board. The member will evaluate themselves and each board\nmember will also evaluate each of the board members. </li><li>Chairman evaluation &nbsp;- This evaluation focuses on the leadership of\nthe chairman. The chairman will do a self-assessment and all other board\nmembers will evaluate the chairman. This can also be followed by in-depth\ninterviews to gain qualitative data on the leadership of the chairman. </li></ol>\n\n\nThe outcome of the four assessments above is detailed reports which show\ncurrent performance and performance gaps. The report may also include action\nplans to address the identified performance gaps. \n\nMemory Nguwi is an Occupational Psychologist, Data\nScientist, Speaker, &amp; Managing Consultant- Industrial Psychology\nConsultants (Pvt) Ltd a management and human resources consulting firm. <a href=""https://www.linkedin.com/in/memorynguwi/"">https://www.linkedin.com/in/memorynguwi/</a> Phone +263 4\n481946-48/481950/2900276/2900966 or cell number +263 77 2356 361 or email: <a href=""mailto:mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com"">mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com</a>&nbsp; or visit our\nwebsite at <a href=""http://www.ipcconsultants.com"">www.ipcconsultants.com</a>

Board Performance Evaluation: Everything you need to know

Last week I shared the challenges related to collective bargaining. This week I will focus on the strategies that can be used to deal with some of the challenges. Collective Bargaining is supposed to contribute to productive, stable and sustainable commercial operations. Collective Bargaining at the NEC level sometimes takes too long. Bargain at the firm level but ensures the increases given at the firm level are incorporated when NEC finally agrees on something. Have a formal agreement. If the worker's committee becomes difficult – have individual employees sign to the conditions. &nbsp;Some more specific strategies. \n\n<ul><li>Embrace Strategic Collective Bargaining - approaching collective bargaining armed with the necessary information, with a clear understanding of your priorities as an employer, with a clear bargaining strategy. The outcome should be more sustainable organisations.</li><li>Shift towards bargaining for a total package instead of the current itemized system where issues are itemized&nbsp; </li><li>Employers must be proactive. Understand your industry trends and plan in advance. Most negotiations on wages tend to be driven by the Unions. The nudging comes from the Union. Sometimes do it when unions have not prompted for it&nbsp; </li><li>Research – More sustainable collective bargaining comes from evidence-based positions by both employers and unions. Invest in collecting credible data to support your positions.</li><li>Understand in advance what your unions will be seeking from the collective bargaining process. If you have some idea you can establish in advance your capacity to agree or not agree to particular positions.&nbsp;This means you can go into collective bargaining negotiations armed with an understanding of what you can and cannot agree to, and what you can and cannot negotiate upon.&nbsp;</li><li>Both Union and Employer representatives need formal training on collective bargaining. Currently haphazard in some sectors </li><li>Employers must show they have a better understanding of the business environment specifically that businesses go through cycles. Never enter into a CBA agreement that has no life span.</li><li>Consider using collective bargaining to link pay, and pay increases, to improved company performance.&nbsp;&nbsp;An outright pay increase (which is what your employees will usually want) simply increases the wage with no operational improvements for your organisation.&nbsp;&nbsp;It is expressly an increase in your labour costs for the same level of output, service, and operations.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li>Shift collective bargaining to the firm level where you have more control. Workout a mechanism that still allows you to integrate into sector-level bargaining without being constrained by it. </li><li>Productivity or performance-based wage negotiations are a hard call at the NEC level. Most unions will resist it</li><li>The only way to sustain higher wages is to link wage negotiations to productivity or some form of firm performance. The unions need to wake up now or else we are entering another period of massive retrenchments </li><li>Senior executives must lead by example. Do not spend big on luxuries when employees are wallowing in poverty. </li></ul>\n\n\nMemory Nguwi is an Occupational Psychologist, Data Scientist, Speaker, &amp; Managing Consultant- Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd a management and human resources consulting firm. <a href=""https://www.linkedin.com/in/memorynguwi/"">https://www.linkedin.com/in/memorynguwi/</a> Phone +263 4 481946-48/481950/2900276/2900966 or email: <a href=""mailto:mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com"">mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com</a>&nbsp; or visit our website at <a href=""http://www.ipcconsultants.com"">www.ipcconsultants.com</a>

Collective Bargaining in the current volatile environment – Part 2

Q n A with Dave Millner on People Analytics

<h2>Introduction</h2>\n\nIndustrial Psychology Consultants (IPC) has carried out a survey to evaluate the state of corporate leadership in Zimbabwe. The aim of the survey was to gauge how employees generally evaluate the quality of leadership in organisations. Two hundred and twenty-seven (227) participants across all sectors responded to this survey. \n\n<h2>Key Findings</h2>\n\n\n<ol><li>68.3% of the Participants have confidence in the leadership of the Chief Executive Officer or Managing director.</li><li>59.04% have confidence in the leadership of senior executives/managers.</li><li>The majority of participants (53.1%) &nbsp;indicated that they have confidence in the leadership provided by their Board. </li><li>On the competencies, assessed leaders were rated highly on putting customers first </li><li>Respondents cited poor corporate governance and top-heavy structures like the two biggest obstacles constraining the success of the organisation. &nbsp;</li><li>The&nbsp; CEO/MD&nbsp;was rated highly on Business Acumen {makes profitable business decisions}.</li><li>The Board was rated highly on &nbsp;Strategic Planning Review</li><li>The results from this survey indicate that on average 40% of the employees are not confident in the leadership in their organisations. However, some dimensions were rated positively. </li><li>For Board members, focusing on relevant matters, overseeing major transactions, holding strategic planning reviews, as well as, CEO Management &amp; Succession Planning were found to drive confidence in employees.</li></ol>\n\n\nDownload the complete report for free using the link below.\n\n<a href=""http://ipcconsultants.com/sdm_downloads/the-state-of-zimbabwean-corporate-leadership-survey/"" target=""_blank"" rel=""noreferrer noopener""> http://ipcconsultants.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/The-State-of-Zimbabwean-Corporate-Leadership-Survey-2020.pdf</a>

The State of Zimbabwean Corporate Leadership Survey

One of the most important\nassignments for any Board of Directors is to hire the right CEO and the right\nsupporting executives. This is not an easy job. Most boards are left frustrated\nafter completing the processing of hiring the CEO. The frustration stems from\nthe fact that the person fails to deliver as expected. More frustrating is that\ngenerally, Board members may not have consensus on what performance for a CEO\nlooks like. They may also not have a consensus on what failure or non-performance\nis for the role of a CEO. When the Board has no consensus on these issues\ncompany performance deteriorates very fast. If the Shareholders are vigilant the\nBoard will be fired. How then can Boards hire the best candidate for a CEO\nrole? “Just three in five\nnewly appointed CEOs live up to performance expectations in their first 18\nmonths on the job.” Eben Harrell, “Succession planning: What the research\nsays,”&nbsp;Harvard Business Review, December 2016, pp. 70–74,\nhbr.org.\n\n\n<ol><li>The first step in hiring a great CEO is to\nagree on what they will be doing. The job profile of the target CEO needs to be\ndone thoroughly. Boards have the tendency to copy generic job descriptions from\nother companies or from the internet. How do you get the right profile for the\nrole? You may need to interview Board members {provided they have an in-depth\nunderstanding of the business and where it is going}. This information should\nbe combined with what scientific research says about successful CEOs. The other\nway is also to look at literature and what it says about CEOs that failed. Do\nthey have a certain profile? Once you find the profile of unsuccessful CEOs you\ncan then avoid hiring one.</li><li>In the job profile avoid overemphasising experience as experience has no\nrelationship with performance. Some organisations miss exceptional talent\nbecause in the job profile they have put requirements such as; 10 years\nexperience at the CEO level. In\nan article by Alison Beard {Harvard Business Review}, she reports on a study\nby&nbsp; Chad H. Van Iddekinge {et al}&nbsp; of Florida University, they reviewed 81\nstudies to investigate the connection between an Individual’s prior work\nexperience and performance in a new organisation.&nbsp; The results are revealing; they found no\nsignificant relationship. What is even more worrying is that even in cases\nwhere people had worked in exactly the same role in other organisations, they\nfound no significant relationship.&nbsp; What\nthis means is that scientific research shows that candidates who have more\nexperience do not perform better than those with less experience in a job.&nbsp; What this means for employers is that they do\nnot overemphasize years of experience when hiring as that has no relationship\nwith actual job performance. Most employers prefer to put arbitrary experience\nrequirements that are not backed by research. This makes the selection process\nbased on this criterion more unstandardized leading to the selection of the\nwrong people for the job. </li><li>Do\nnot put unrealistic educational requirements. Remember years of eduction only\ncontribute 1% to job performance variance. As people move into senior roles\ntheir technical knowhow matters less and less. What you need is a visionary\ncapable of executing your strategy.&nbsp; You\ndo not necessarily need a miner to run a mine.&nbsp;\nYou do not need a medical doctor to run a hospital. What would be\nimportant on qualifications is to indicate the first degree as a requirement. You\nmay also want to include for example 5 major verifiable achievements that\nchanged the course of business. I notice some put a Masters degree as a\nmandatory requirement or an added advantage. This adds no value. It does not\nfollow that your best candidates will have a master degree. The situation is\nworse in Zimbabwe where qualifications are easy to obtain, properly or fraudulently.\nThere is no added advantage in demanding a Master degree for a CEO role. </li><li>You\nneed to consider first time CEOs. There is a tendency to want to hire people\nwho are already CEOs. There is a pool of talented people at the executive level\nwho are never given a chance to be CEOs. As a board, you must always give\nopportunities to people at the executive level who have never been CEOs as long\nas they are capable </li><li>After shortlisting\nyour CEO candidates based on their CVs, take them through psychometric\nassessment to check if they have the cognitive power and the right personality\nto handle the role. It is bad practice to start with the interview then send\npeople for psychometric tests. &nbsp;Research\nshows that the interview methods on average only explain 8% of the variation in\nperformance. This means that if you hire 100 people using an interview there is\na chance you will find only 8 of these people being good performers despite\nyour interview results have confirmed all the 100 candidates as performers.&nbsp; </li><li>After\npsychometric assessments, the successful candidates must then be taken through\nassessment centers. In an assessment center candidates goes through simulations\nof the target role, in this case, the CEO role.&nbsp;\nThey will be assessed in those simulations by trained assessors. Some of\nthe exercises are role-playing, leaderless group discussion, presentation and\nthe in-basket exercise. In the assessment center, you are now assessing a\nvariety of leadership competencies required in the role. </li><li>The\nlast important part is the interview. Given the shortcomings in an interview\ndoing it as the last part reduces your risk of hiring the wrong CEO. You would\nneed standardized questions and a standardised environment for the interviews.\nThe people who will be part of the interview panel&nbsp; need to be trained so that they are equipped\nwith interview skills </li></ol>\n\n\nThis process above\nwill ensure that you get the right CEO for your organisation. Remember good\nCEOs tend to hire good lieutenants as well. \n\nMemory Nguwi is an Occupational Psychologist, Data\nScientist, Speaker, &amp; Managing Consultant- Industrial Psychology\nConsultants (Pvt) Ltd a management and human resources consulting firm. <a href=""https://www.linkedin.com/in/memorynguwi/"">https://www.linkedin.com/in/memorynguwi/</a> Phone +263 4\n481946-48/481950/2900276/2900966 or cell number +263 77 2356 361 or email: <a href=""mailto:mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com"">mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com</a>&nbsp; or visit our\nwebsite at <a href=""http://www.ipcconsultants.com"">www.ipcconsultants.com</a>

How to select the right CEO to upscale your business

Competency\nProfiling is a method of breaking the job into its constituent\nparts and identify specified skills, knowledge, personalities and behaviours\nneeded to perform the same successfully. Competency profiling determines the\nextent to which the various competencies related to a job are possessed by an\nemployee. A competency Model is\na&nbsp; set of competencies and includes\nassociated behaviours that link directly to overall strategic priorities and\nthe work that needs to be done to achieve them, as well as to levels of\nproficiency for each behaviour. According to Roe (2002), competencies\nare a set of personality traits,\nknowledge, skills, abilities and behaviours that an employee applies in\nperforming his/her work and are the key employee-related levers for achieving results that are relevant to the\norganisation’s business strategies.\n\n<h2>Why is it important for you\nto have a Competency Framework?</h2>\n\n<ul><li>It gives you guidance\non how to assess, plan, and manage the development of your employees.</li><li>It provides a means to\ntranslate your organisations’ vision and goals into expected employee\nbehaviour.</li><li>It Identifies&nbsp; areas for employee development that are\ndirectly linked to desired outcomes and organisational objectives</li><li>It provides a platform\nfor an objective dialogue between managers and their subordinates about\nperformance, development and career-related issues.</li><li>It provides an\nassessment process that allows you to identify the strengths and development\nneeds of your employees within the competency framework</li></ul>\n\n\n<h2>What\nare the objectives of Competency Profiling?</h2>\n\n<ul><li>To align your\ncompetency framework to the vision, mission, values, and strategy of your\norganisation</li><li>To create the &nbsp;job families in your organisation</li><li>To identify&nbsp; organisational, functional and job-specific competencies</li><li>To define proficiency\nlevels for each competency cluster</li><li>To classify the\ncompetencies into clusters and sub-clusters</li><li>To measure the gap in the required and existing\n level of competencies and recommend solutions to develop them.&nbsp; </li><li>To develop personal\ncompetency development paths for your employees</li><li>To map your competency\nframework to your human resources processes and systems</li><li>To validate&nbsp; the competency framework for your\norganisation</li></ul>\n\n\n<h2>What\nare the Key Deliverables of Competency Profiling?</h2>\n\n<ul><li>Synchronization&nbsp; of your vision, mission, values, and strategy\nwith your competency model</li><li>Creation of job\nfamilies</li><li>Identification of\norganisational, functional and job-specific competencies</li><li>Definition of\nproficiency levels for different competency clusters</li><li>Classification of\ncompetencies into clusters and sub-clusters</li><li>Assessment of\ncompetencies among your staff</li><li>Calculation of\ncompetency gaps among your staff</li><li>Development of personal\ncompetency development paths</li><li>Mapping of your\ncompetency model to your human resources systems and processes</li><li>Validation of your\nCompetency Framework</li></ul>\n\n\n<h2>Tentative\nPhases for Developing and Validating your Competency Framework</h2>\n\n\n<h3>Step 1: Organisational Context Review</h3>\n\nThis stage involves the review and assessment &nbsp;of all the factors that influence the employee\nbehaviors the model is trying to improve and these include among other things:\n\n<ul><li>Organisational culture</li><li>Organisational structure</li><li>Organisational processes and systems</li><li>Customers</li><li>Employee relations</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h3>Step 2: Definition of your &nbsp;Business Goals and &nbsp;Objectives </h3>\n\nThis step involves the review of your vision, mission, values, strategy,\nand &nbsp;identification of your\norganisation’s&nbsp; goals and breaking them\ninto your competencies.\n\n\n<h3>Stage 3: Creation of Job Families</h3>\n\nA job\nfamily is a collection of related jobs that\nrequire employees having similar knowledge, skills and abilities at different\nlevels. Thus, a job family has jobs at progressing levels defining a career\npath for an individual, with an incremental requirement of similar knowledge,\nskills and abilities. All jobs in a given job profile require\na similar educational background, experience, competences, and market value.\nThis phase involves the identification and classification of jobs into families\nbased on the following criteria:\n\n<ul><li>&nbsp;similar knowledge, skills, and abilities</li><li>have a continuum of\nknowledge, skills, and abilities that represent a career path from the lowest\nto the highest level job</li><li>possess associated and\nrelated key behaviors</li><li>have similar market\ncompetitive pay characteristics and conditions</li></ul>\n\n\nThe\nclassification of jobs into families allows your organisation among other\nthings to:\n\n<ul><li>determine whether it\nhas the capabilities needed to achieve maximum impact and to locate where those\ncapabilities are found</li><li>set job requirements at\nthe corporate level for similar jobs</li><li>view potential matches\nand bridges for in-house mobility</li><li>provide corporate\nlearning opportunities</li><li>design structured\ncareer development&nbsp; programmes</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h3>Stage 4: Identification of&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Competencies </h3>\n\nThis\nstage involves theidentification\nand specification of competencies at organisational, business unit, team and\njob level. The competencies will be further decomposed into core\ncompetencies, job family competencies, technical competencies, and leadership\ncompetencies and behavioural indicators.\n\nOrganisation specific -competencies reflect the core\nvalues of the organization and are usually specified by the founders. People\nare the face of the organization. They are expected to exhibit a set of\ncompetencies and behaviors that reflect organizational character to certain\nstandards that are non-negotiable and these include &nbsp;among others ethical conduct and integrity. Core Competencies are those competencies that\ncontribute the most towards achieving strategic results. Technical/Functional Competencies are job-specific competencies\nneeded to perform a particular position.\nThey\nare determined by responsibilities and the accountability levels of that role. Leadership Competencies are related to managing an\norganisation or department and leading people. Behavioural Indicators describe the actions required to demonstrate\na particular competency.\n\n&nbsp;The following methods will be used for\ngathering the data.\n\n<ul><li>Strategic Job Analysis</li><li>Key Expert&nbsp; Interviews</li><li>Focus Group discussions</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h3>Stage 5: Classification of Competencies</h3>\n\nHaving identified the\nvarious competencies, they need to be categorised into competency\ntype, sub- competency cluster, competency definitions,\ncompetency level and appropriate behavioural indicators which are categorised\nin a logical structure\n\n\n<h3>Step 6: Define levels &nbsp;of &nbsp;Proficiency on Competencies</h3>\n\nThe\nlevels of competency mastery will be defined to reflect the progression of the level\nof expertise. Each competency level will be associated with a&nbsp; specific set of indicators to describe the\nbehavior and skills required at that particular level. The level of mastery\nexpected for a given competency increase as the responsibility and scope of the\nposition dictate.&nbsp; Both core and\nfunctional competencies are therefore further differentiated by levels to\naccount for these differences in scope, breadth and depth of responsibilities.\nHowever, it is important to note that competencies are cumulative i.e. the\nbasic behavioral indicators at lower levels also apply to all subsequent\nlevels. Below is an illustration\nof how we are going to differentiate the different competence proficiency\nlevels for each functional area.\n\n\n<h3>Step 7:&nbsp; Assessment of Competencies</h3>\n\nThe\npurpose of the assessment is to identify areas of strengths and weaknesses to\ndetermine how further development could improve competence and results. At this stage, all the affected employees\nwill be assessed against performance competencies and personal competencies.\nThis&nbsp;&nbsp; will be done by administering\nscientifically validated instruments to the employees that are outlined below:\n\n<ul><li>Psychometric Tests&nbsp; </li><li>Assessment Centres</li><li>360-degree feedback</li><li>Personality Tests</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h3>Step 8:&nbsp; Establishment and Calculation of Competency Gaps</h3>\n\nCompetency Gap is the difference between the current competency level\nof your employees and the required competency level. This will be calculated\nusing a mathematical formula.\n\n\n<h3>Step 9: Development of Personal Competency Development Paths</h3>\n\n&nbsp;This stage involves the development\nof personal competency development plans to bridge the competency gaps\ndetermined at step 8. The plans will prescribe activities that seek to bridge\nthe competency gaps that will have been identified in stage 4.\n\n\n<h3>Step 10: Validation of the Competency Model</h3>\n\nHaving identified the\ndistinguishing characteristics of superior performers, the model should be\nvalidated.\n\n<ul><li>Concurrent cross-validation: This involves collecting\ndata from a second criterion sample of superstars and average performers.\nScores from this group can then be used to see if the competency model based on\nthe first study predicts the superior and average performers in the second sample\n<ul><li>Development of tests: Tests can be designed to\nmeasure the competencies described in the model and used to test people in a\nsecond criterion sample of superior and average performers </li></ul><ul><li>Predictive validity: Given that the primary\nobjective of a competency model is to predict performance, the most powerful\nway of validating the model is to train people in using the competencies and\nsee if these people actually perform better in the future</li></ul></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h3>Stage 10: Mapping the Competency Model &nbsp;to Human Resources Processes and Systems</h3>\n\nCompetency Mapping is the process of identifying critical\ncompetencies and incorporating them in all people management processes like\ntraining, performance management, succession planning, recruitment and\nselection. Competency\nmapping is integral to competency management.\n\n\n<h3>Stage 11: Develop a Competency Monitoring and Evaluation Plan</h3>\n\nIt is\nthe process by which individual competencies are assessed periodically with\nrespect to required skills, their competency gaps and changes are monitored,\nand suitable actions are taken to address them.\n\n<h2>Why Competency Tracking is\nNecessary?</h2>\n\n<ul><li>Competency\ntracking validates—or reveals the shortcomings in a company’s workforce\ntraining and development efforts. <ul><li>Competency\ntracking can help in predicting productivity. A competency management system\ncan assist in matching employee competencies to role requirements and predict\nproductivity by using information about the number of years of experience of an\nemployee.</li></ul><ul><li>It\nhelps to keep up with advances in technology, enabling the development of a\nwider range of capabilities. </li></ul></li></ul>\n\n\nNewturn\nWikirefu is the Talent Acquisition Manager at Industrial Psychology Consultants\n(Pvt) Ltd a management and human resources consulting firm.\n\nPhone +263 4\n481946-48/481950/2900276/2900966 or cell number +0784 597343 or email:\nnewturn@ipcconsultants.com or visit our website at www.ipcconsultants.com

Guidelines to Developing A Competence Model

Deciding what to pay Non-Executive Directors is not an easy task. The Executive Management and remuneration committee members need to be careful when recommending NEDs fees. The likely impact of paying your Non-Executive Directors below general market practices is that they will rarely commit themselves to the business of the organisation. The dilemma is that if you pay way too much above market practices, it is likely to be viewed by other key stakeholders as self-enrichment and may attract unnecessary negative publicity. Employees and other stakeholders tend to view above-market Director’s fees as greediness.\n\n<h2>What is a Non-Executive director?</h2>\n\nA Non-Executive Director is a member of a company's board of directors who is not part of the executive team. Non-Executive Directors are typically not involved in the day-to-day management of the organisation but are involved in policymaking and strategic leadership. Non-Executive Directors' responsibilities include monitoring of the executive directors and acting in the interest of the company when making decisions. Non-executive directors carry significant potential risk and liability. This requires special skills, knowledge, experience and business focus, for which they need to be remunerated fairly.\n\n<h2>Determining Non-Executive Directors’ fees</h2>\n\nDetermining what you should pay your Non-Executive Director is not easy. A number of factors will need to be evaluated first when determining what to pay your Non-Executive Directors. Some of the factors are:\n\n<ul><li>The size of the organisation;</li><li>The industry and complexity of the business;</li><li>The number of meetings attended</li><li>The time commitment required of the Non-Executive Director.</li></ul>\n\n\n<h2>Best Practices in non-executive directors fees </h2>\n\n<ul><li>Non-Executive Directors’ fees should correlate with company size. Larger companies should generally pay higher director fees. The median total annual director compensation of S&amp;P 500 companies (approximately $285,000) is 63% higher than the median total director pay for the rest of the Russell 3000. (ISS Analytics)</li><li>Non-Executive Directors’ fees should reflect in industries where specialised skills and expertise are required from NEDs. According to the ISS Analytics, among S&amp;P 500 companies in US, those in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms offer the highest non-executive director pay packages with a median pay figure of approximately $347,000 per annum.</li><li>Non-Executive Director pay levels should generally correlate with CEO pay since both figures are typically determined by the size and complexity of the company.&nbsp;</li><li>Time commitments for Non-Executive Directors must correlate with revenue size.</li><li>According to Pearl Meyer’s Non-Employee Director Pay Practices survey, respondents in the $3 billion or more category cited longest time commitments whilst respondents under $500 million category recorded lowest.</li><li>Approximately one-third of respondents in the Pearl Meyer’s Non-Employee Director Pay Practices survey compensate for activities such as special committee meetings, &nbsp;and unusual events.</li><li>Industry and company size are the most important factor to consider for NED compensation benchmarking. According to Pearl Meyer’s Non-Employee Director Pay Practices survey, approximately half of respondents pay their Non-Executive Directors at the market 50th percentile while 25% target above the 50th percentile.</li><li>Differentiation can be made in the fees paid to resident versus non-resident directors.</li><li>&nbsp;Providing additional compensation for example meeting fees and per diems in situations where time requirements are significantly greater than normal is also an emerging trend.</li></ul>\n\n\nIn conclusion, companies should ensure their Non-Executive Directors' fees are sufficiently competitive to attract and retain highly qualified directors.\n\nTaurai Masunda is a Business Analytics Consultant at Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd a management and human resources consulting firm. https://www.linkedin.com/in/taurai-masunda-b3726110b/ Phone +263 4 481946-48/481950/2900276/2900966 or email: <a href=""mailto:taurai@ipcconsultants.com"">taurai@ipcconsultants.com</a>&nbsp; or visit our website at <a href=""http://www.ipcconsultants.com"">www.ipcconsultants.com</a>

Best practices when paying Non-Executive Directors fees

All\nbusinesses regardless of their size and sector, depend on human capital to\nsucceed. Despite its importance, human capital is often not carefully planned,\nmeasured or optimized. It is a common rule that workforce planning and\noptimisation is one of the key roles of every leader.\n\nWorkforce planning is a term used to\ndescribe the planning process\nundertaken to ensure that an organisation has the right people with the right\nskills at the right time performing the right tasks. It is simply a methodical\nprocess that documents the directions in which an organisation is heading and\nprovides managers with a tool for making human resource decisions now and into\nthe future. \n\nA\ntalented and aligned workforce is crucial for bringing strategy to life and\nensuring an organisation delivers on its objectives. Great workforce planning should balance both workforce demand and supply. There is a number of techniques used\nto forecast both workforce demand and\nsupply but the overall goal is to\nmake sure you don’t have workforce\nsurpluses or shortages.\n\nWorkforce demand forecasting is the process of estimating the future quantity and quality of manpower requirement. In demand forecasting, one should consider\nproduct demand, economics, technology, financial resources, absenteeism,\nturnover, organisational growth and philosophy. \n\nKnowledge\nof the present situation on manpower requirement is essential if a satisfactory\nforecast is to be made. After knowledge of present situation, future forecasts can be made from long\nterm corporate plan which are translated into activity levels for each function\nand department.&nbsp; \n\nFor\nexample, in a manufacturing company, the sales budget would be translated into\na manufacturing plan, giving the numbers and types of products to be produced\nin each period. From this information the number of man-hours, by skill and\npersonality categories, required to set the target for production would start\nfrom the production plan setting out a programme for installing new machinery.\nIn an insurance company, forecasts of new business would be translated into the\nnumber of proposals that would have to be processed by the underwriting\ndepartment. In a mail order company, forecasts would be made from the number of\norders that are to be processed, assembled and dispatched.\n\nThe\nfactors that influence workforce demand\ninclude; External Environmental Challenges (challenges that arise from economic\ndevelopments, political, legal, social, technical changes, and the\ncompetition.), Organisational decisions (the organization’s strategic plans,\nsales and production forecasts and new ventures.), and Workforce Factors (for\nexample retirements, terminations, resignations, death and leave of absence,\namong other reasons).\n\nOnce\nan organization has forecast its future requirements for employees, it then\ngoes on to determine how it can fulfil its requirements. Workforce supply forecasting involves determining if there are\nsufficient numbers and types of employees eligible for the positions in\nquestion. It scans the internal and external environment for the best-fit\ncandidate for the positions in question.\n\nInternal supply includes staffing\ntables, markov analysis, skills inventories, management inventories,\nreplacement charts and succession planning. External supply includes\ndemographic changes, education of workforce, new graduates, labour mobility,\ngovernment policies and unemployment rate.\n\nGap\nanalysis is the process of comparing your current workforce supply to your workforce\ndemand and identifying gaps (deficits or surpluses). The process of\nidentifying the differences between supply\nand demand establishes the roadmap for your organisation’s Workforce Action\nPlan. One should prioritise those gaps that are critical to the delivery of\nyour organisation’s future goals. The focus should be on these gaps at least\ninitially.\n\nMicrosoft\nand Shell Oil (which used to operate in Zimbabwe) are some of the organisations\nthat have a good reputation on workforce\nplanning. For example, Shell in the 90s used scenario planning to generate a number of possible options for their\nfuture workforce. This benefited them\nin the next crisis that stroke the oil industry and most of their competitors\nsuffered because they were not prepared.&nbsp;\n\n\nIn a nutshell, a balance between workforce demand and supply will allow\nfor a more effective and efficient workforce.\nWell forecasted and planned supply helps an organisation to ensure that replacements\nare available to fill important vacancies in the right time and with the right\nskills. \n\nAfter proper workforce\nplanning, realistic budgets for recruitment, training or retraining,\ndevelopment, career counselling and succession planning can easily be done.\nOther activities such as restructuring, reducing or expanding your workforce\ncan be done objectively. \n\nA\nnumber of organisations are now starting to realise the value of workforce planning. The billionaire Bill\nGates once said, “Bringing together the right information with the right people will\ndramatically improve a company’s ability to develop and act on strategic\nbusiness opportunities”. It is time for organisations to utilise the\nbenefits of workforce planning.\n\nBenjamin\nSombi is a Data Scientist, Entrepreneur, &amp; Business Analytics Manager at\nIndustrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd a management and human resources\nconsulting firm.

How does supply and demand affect workforce planning?

<h2>Designing a Competency Model for your organisation</h2>\n\n\n<h3>What is &nbsp;a Competency Model?</h3>\n\nA Competency Model is\na&nbsp;&nbsp; set of key behaviours required for\nexcellent performance in a particular role. Excellent performers on the job\ndemonstrate these behaviours much more consistently than average or poor\nperformers. These characteristics include the key behaviours that primarily\ndrive excellent performance. They are usually presented with a definition and\nkey behavioural indicators.\n\n<h2>Historical\nSnap Shot of Competency Modelling</h2>\n\nThe root of competency modelling can be traced back to\nthe work of a noted psychologist called David\nMcCelland. In his article &nbsp;‘Testing for Competence Rather Than\nIntelligence’ McCelland (1973), strongly argued that assessment tools such\nas intelligence tests predict academic performance more than success on the\njob.&nbsp; He further argued that\norganisations should not concentrate on testing for traits related to\nintelligence that are divorced from practical outcomes,&nbsp;&nbsp; the best test for selection and employment\npurposes would be one that assesses real job skills. According to Schippmann\n(2000), the notion of competency modelling has gathered such\nmomentum that in 1997, The Society for Industrial and Organisational Psychology\ncommissioned a task force to investigate and review the practice of Competency\nmodelling.\n\n<h2>What\nAre the&nbsp; Driving Forces Behind Competency\nProfiling?</h2>\n\nAccording to&nbsp; Schippmann (2000), the competency\nmodelling process includes a substantial effort to understand an organisation’s\nbusiness context and competitive strategy. It establishes a direct line of\nsight between individual competency requirements and the broader goals of the\norganisation.\n\n<ul><li>To\n translate the organisations’ vision and goals into expected employee\n behaviour.</li><li>To\n identify areas for employee development that are directly linked to\n desired outcomes and organisational objectives</li><li>To\n identify the gap between present skills sets and future requirements.</li><li>To\n set more effective criteria for developing and evaluating performance.</li><li>To\n provide a platform for an objective dialogue between managers and their\n subordinates about performance, development and career related issues.</li></ul>\n\n\n<h2>What\nare the measures of success for competency profiling?</h2>\n\n<ul><li>Determination of clear\n competencies for your organisation requirements</li><li>Identification of competence\n gaps</li><li>Development of competence\n development plans that address identified gaps</li><li>Improved efficiency and\n productivity across all levels within ZUVA Petroleum by ensuring that\n employee competencies are developed to desired levels</li><li>Development of learning and\n development plan and provision of resources to impact on relevant\n competencies for each employee</li><li>A detailed report with individual employee\n current competencies compared with required role competencies and\n individual competencies gaps if any.</li><li>A detailed set of recommendations on the closure of employee competency gaps where\napplicable.</li></ul>\n\n\n<h2>What\nare the key milestones underpinning &nbsp;the\nprocess of competency profiling?</h2>\n\nBelow is a brief\noverview of the steps&nbsp; that you as an\norganisation might need to consider when designing your competency model.\n\n\n<figure class=""wp-block-table""><table><tbody><tr><td>\n NUMBER\n </td><td>\n DELIVERABLE\n </td><td>\n APPROACH\n </td></tr><tr><td>\n D-1\n </td><td>\n Project Inception Report\n </td><td>\n Convene a Project Kick –Off Meeting\n </td></tr><tr><td>\n D-2\n </td><td>\n Collection of relevant data\n </td><td>\n Literature Review of relevant documents\n </td></tr><tr><td>\n D-3\n </td><td>\n Identification of Competencies at each level\n </td><td>\n Key Expert Interviews\n </td></tr><tr><td>\n D-4\n </td><td>\n Assessment of Competencies\n </td><td>\n Psychometric TestsInterviewsAssessment Centres\n \n \n &nbsp;\n </td></tr><tr><td>\n D-5\n </td><td>\n Data Analysis and Interpretation\n </td><td>\n Using scientifically validated tools like&nbsp; Cronback Alpha\n </td></tr><tr><td>\n D-6\n </td><td>\n Benchmarking and Validation of the Competencies\n </td><td>\n Comparative analysis of competencies you desire\n against competencies of organisations of similar standing\n </td></tr><tr><td>\n D-7\n </td><td>\n Development of a competency dictionary\n </td><td>\n Define all the respective competencies\n </td></tr><tr><td>\n D-8\n </td><td>\n Development of a\n Transition and&nbsp;\n Sustainability Plan\n </td><td>\n Design an Implementation Plan\n </td></tr></tbody></table></figure>\n\n\nIn\nthe light of the above it is foolhardy for any competent manager to wake up &nbsp;one day and say here are the competencies of\nthis particular job. What should happen first is that your organisation needs\nto conduct a validated process of coming up with competencies for &nbsp;its respective roles&nbsp; rather just pluck from the internet\nirrelevant competencies. It is a matter of regret that most organisations use\ncompetencies which are not aligned to their strategy.\n\nNewturn\nWikirefu is the Talent Acquisition Manager at Industrial Psychology Consultants\n(Pvt) Ltd a management and human resources consulting firm.\n\nPhone +263 4\n481946-48/481950/2900276/2900966 or cell number +0784 597343 or email:\nnewturn@ipcconsultants.com or visit our website at www.ipcconsultants.com

Competence Profiling made simple

Artificial intelligence is closing the gap between humans and machines. More often than not humans and machines are working together to achieve great goals. However, there is room for improvement, and top executives want it yesterday. A recent survey conducted by Price Waterhouse Cooper found that 72% of executives believe AI will offer sizeable business advantages soon. In another survey conducted by IBM, 66% of CEOs believe AI can drive significant benefits in HR. Some are already exploring those opportunities. Uber, for instance, completed the world’s first cargo delivery using a truck controlled by AI! Below are some the ways AI is adding value to HR \n\n<h2>Tracking and assessment</h2>\n\nMost machine learning applications are used for applicant tracking and assessment, as there is a great number of companies that deal with an enormous amount of job applications daily. HR management personnel work with the latest HR tools to track a candidate’s journey through the interview process.\n\nA great solution for calculating if a candidate fits the position is called Peoplise. It uses digital screening and online interviews to help hiring managers decide on the potential hire. Of course, although the use of HR software eliminates the possibility of human error, the technology still needs to be supervised by the hiring managers.\n\n<h2>Employee Turnover Detection</h2>\n\nThis is probably the most difficult challenge, and one of the most important missions of the HR department. Employee turnover detection is achieved with the use of advanced pattern recognition technology which surveys a list of relevant variables.\n\nThese variables are countless, and it would take ages for an HR professional to analyze all of the data. The AI conveniently connects the dots between these variables much more quickly than a human would, so the professionals now have time to address other, important employee concerns.\n\n<h2>Data-based Decision Making and Enhanced Behavior Tracking</h2>\n\nAs stated by Ben Waber, we will see an increase in IoT wearables within the office. This kind of technology is already considered standard practice in large enterprises. Companies use Bluetooth headphones, smart ID badges, and sensor technology to collect valuable data regarding their employees. If you run a medium-sized company, maybe it would be a smart choice to make a bulk order, consult Yak Portal or another 2b2 search engine to get ahead in the game of workplace wearables.\n\nSmart badges collect relevant information such as dialogues between employees, networks in the company, where people spend their time, interactions, etc. One thing that is an issue is privacy. Nevertheless, companies such as Atmel introduce state of the art machine learning HR apps for Android phones. According to Weber, they offer a kind of behaviour tracking that can let the management know whether the marketing department communicates regularly with the HR department, and so on.\n\n<h2>Individual Skills Management and Performance Development</h2>\n\nMachine learning has displayed great power when it comes to honing the individual skills of employees and improving their performance. Of course, the area still needs some improvement, but already it gives HR professionals more time to focus on other things while the program gives providers the necessary actionable analytics.\n\nThis kind of technology still needs improvement, because it cannot scale well. When used in large organisations, it has difficulty with processing huge amount of data and making sense of all the variables. Workday is an example of a company that uses machine learning to give employees personalized training recommendations.\n\nThe future of work is here. New technology enables HR professional to measure things like effectiveness, efficiency, and employee experience by analyzing hiring decisions, personal development, and overall team climate. Although some HR departments utilize AI in their decision-making processes, the technology still needs to be developed to the full extent.\n\nFor now, small to medium enterprises can enjoy data-based insights that will drive their company forward and provide them with valuable information about how their employees and teams should behave at work. The technologies, however, still cannot scale well and be applied in large corporations. However, utilizing these apps will help the manufacturers go forward, but will also help you understand your employees better and focus on new challenges.

Artificial Intelligence in HR: Everything you need to know

Business is like sports. The best team wins. But how do leaders build great teams? This is the challenge that every leader faces every day. There are a number of ways to build a great team and data analytics is one of the methods.\n\nHow\nmany organisations know which employee or employees?\n\n<ul><li>Can\nefficiently build cross-boundary teams; </li><li>Can\nallow new employees to know and get used to the organization fast; </li><li>Are\nat risk of burnout;</li><li>Can\nstimulate innovation within the organization;</li><li>Are\nlikely to stay or leave the organisation and will that attrition leave the\norganization at risk of losing knowledge, skills, and connections; </li><li>Can\nfit into the team(s) and how does informal communication move around the\norganisation. </li></ul>\n\n\nHow\nmany organisations understand which informal team that may not necessarily be\nrepresented on the organisational structure exist within their organisation? In\nthis article, we will discuss some of the applications of organisational social\nnetwork analysis (ONA) to build sustainable organisations and teams.\n\nChief\nTalent Officer of GM AI Adamsen once described ONA as a new lens to evaluate how\npeople show up in an organisation. Similarly one of the world’s foremost expert\non the subject, Professor Rob Cross explained that “ONA can provide an x-ray\ninto the inner workings of an organisation – a powerful means of making\ninvisible patterns of information flow and collaboration in strategically\nimportant groups invisible”\n\nEmployee\nvalue that enables organisational success is a result of a combination of human\ncapital which comprises of the traits &amp; skill sets that enable employees to\nperform and social capital which is the relationships &amp; networks employees\nbuild to enable them to get work done. Employees with rich Social Capital can contribute\nmore meaningfully to business value-creation. Although Human Capital is\nvisible, easily quantifiable and usually quite static, Social Capital is\ndynamic but intangible and difficult to quantify.&nbsp; &nbsp;\n\nAnalysing\nnetworks allows the organisation to understand who is influential both positively\nand negatively. When an organisation wants to drive change within the organisation\nthey have to use people who are influential to make sure everyone accepts that change.\nAfter analysing networks of communication either via emails, calls or face to\nface, the organisation will understand who is at the center of every\ncommunication and is highly likely to influence others in both negative and\npositive ways. General Motors use ONA to disrupt itself from the inside. An\narticle by MIT Sloan Management Review outlines how the different role brokers,\nconnectors and energisers play in a network in discovering, developing and\ndiffusing innovation within an organisation and essentially how to disrupt from\nthe inside. Microsoft also combined data from Workplace analytics (email and\ncalendar Metadata, not content) with engagement and business data to better\nunderstand manager effectiveness.\n\nUnderstanding\nwho is turning to who for information within the organisation help to enhance\nlearning and development for both new hires and people within the organisation.\nInstead of using old methods of learning, an organisation can identify hidden\nexperts in different areas and allow them to train and mentor all the other\nteam members that need capacitation. This is more effective not only because\nthe experts will be able to explain and mentor effectively, but because the\nother employees or team members will be able to listen and absorb the knowledge\nsince they trust and are used to getting all information from them. Motivating\nthese employees at the center who may be high performers will likely push\nengagement for the whole team upward. A European Retail Bank applied ONA and\ndiscovered that, despite employees in each branch having the same training and\nsimilar demographics, the performance was very different. They used digital\nbadges to assess whether there was a correlation between network strength and\nbranch performance. The results indicated that the highest performing branches\nhad the most cohesive, interconnected social networks.\n\nIn\nterms of preparing people for succession, analysing networks will enable an\norganization to identify which of the employees’ potential new leaders are\nbasing on influence and knowledge. These people will then be coached, trained\nand rewarded to allow them to pull more team members with them hence building a\nstrong team.\n\nOrganisations\nare able to use past employee networks or communication data to predict who is\nlikely to leave the organisation in the future. Who will leave the organisation\nhas an impact on the organisation in terms of information flow, driving change,\nknowledge transfer and organisational revenue. Ways of retaining these\nemployees if they are good performers may then be implemented.\n\nUsing\nONA to uncover a number of issues that are hidden within the organisation. These\ndata-driven insights will help organisations build strong teams that can allow them\nto survive this era of disruption. There are many ways to build a strong\norganization but definitely using data-driven insights from your employees and\nbuilding a strong team gives a competitive advantage to the organisation. \n\nBenjamin Sombi is a Data\nScientist, Entrepreneur, &amp; Business Analytics Manager at Industrial\nPsychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd a management and human resources consulting\nfirm.

Using organizational social networks data to build strong teams

The Harvard Business Review has released its annual list of the world’s top Chief Executive Officers for 2019. Topping this year’s list is 56 years old Huang, the CEO of NVIDIA an American technology company. In the words of Robin Sharma “Leadership is not about a title or designation. It’s about impact, influence, and inspiration.” What makes the 100 men and women that make up these top-ranking lists unique is the fact that they have faced an array of outside forces-demanding customers, profit hungry investors, savvy competitors, political and economic turmoil. Nonetheless, their companies have managed to perform remarkably well. \n\nAccording to Stephen\nHahn-Griffiths of the Reputation Institute (a reputation measurement and\nmanagement services firm involved in coming up with the ranking of the top\nCEO’s), one of the qualities that pushed up some CEOs in this year’s rankings\nis the issue of corporate responsibility. He goes on to say “There was a time\nand a place when it was good enough for leaders to deliver on financial\nperformance, new products, and innovative agendas, but that paradigm has\nchanged,” he explains. “Social responsibility, employee responsibility, and\nenvironmental responsibility—that’s 32% of the weight of reputation of any\ngiven CEO.” In a Forbes article of May 2019, an example is given of one CEO who\nhas been able to rank high again this year, Estee\nLauder CEO, Fabrizio Freda. On becoming CEO of Estee Lauder in 2009, Freda\nwas faced with a big branding challenge, which was convincing millennials that\nEstee Lauder has something to offer them. He realized that re-branding would\nnot yield the results they wanted so he implemented a global reverse-mentoring\nprogram to promote perpetual learning and development for employees and\nprioritised the hiring of more Millennials, who now reportedly make up 67% of\nthe Estée Lauder workforce. Such shifts have enabled the company to make\nattention-grabbing moves on the global stage.\n\nAnother top performing CEO, is Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos, not only is a\ntop CEO but he is one of the richest men in the world and has managed to make\nAmazon the second most valuable company in the world. His success can be attributed\nto the risk he decided to take when he was 30 years old. It was while serving\nas a vice president at the hedge fund D. E. Shaw in the 1990s that Bezos came\nup with the idea to sell books over the Internet. Doing so, though, would mean\ntaking a significant risk and perhaps sacrificing his stable job. A risk which\nhe ended up taking with the willingness to either fail or win without any\nregrets. Other world renowned top ranking\nCEOs that you may be familiar with are the following (in no particular order):\n\n\n<ol><li>CEO of Tesla &amp; Space X-Elon\nMusk</li><li>CEO of Apple- Tim Cook</li><li>CEO of Walmart- Doug McMillon</li><li>CEO of Alibaba-Jack Ma</li><li>CEO of Berkshire Hathaway-Warren\nBuffet</li><li>CEO of Facebook-Mark Zuckerberg</li></ol>\n\n\n<h2>What are the qualities of a good CEO?</h2>\n\nThe question now is what these\ntop CEOs could possibly have in common that sets them apart from other CEOs.\nAccording to Forbes, the following\nare 7 personality traits every CEO should\nhave in order to remain successful in the long run:\n\n\n<ol><li>Curiosity- According to Cameron Herold,\none of the leaders in the world of business growth and C-suite leadership, “The\nsmartest CEOs are vulnerable, open to hearing what they don't know, and are\nalways trying to learn.” In order to be a great CEO, one must be curious and\nwilling to learn new things and move away from the norm.</li><li>Purpose- According to McKinsey, CEOs tend to show a greater\nsense of purpose and passion for what they do than other members of company\nleadership. A good CEO is driven and ensures that they uphold standards and\ntheir duties as a leader.</li><li>Risk-A great CEO is not afraid to\ntake a risk. Successful CEOs have been seen as being able to embrace risk in a\nway that differs from other leaders in an organisation. According to a study\nconducted by Harvard Business Review a willingness to take risks was found to\nbe a dominant trait for those playing the role of CEO.</li><li>Organisation- CEOs must be organized in their\napproach to problem solving in the organisation. Without organized thinking, a\nCEO can fail to lead and may fail to address core issues.</li><li>Communication- According to a Navalent study,\ntop executives share an ability to remain consistent in their forms of\ncommunication. They are able to convey information in a language that keeps\nparties neutral, does not cause or instigate conflict and is easily\nunderstandable so that effective action can be taken.</li><li>Realistic Optimism-Great CEOs are able to draw the\nline and remain curious and grounded at the same time. They are able to tell\nhow certain moves will affect the position of the company and are also willing\nto consider solutions others might consider as unconventional.</li><li>Vision- Without vision, a CEO is merely a\ncelebrated facilitator. The\ngreatest CEOs find ways to continue exploring and nurturing their vision. They\nremain open to feedback so that they are better able to refine and nurture the\nvision. In order to\nbe an effective CEO, you have to be both confident in your abilities and\nwilling to admit your faults. Great CEOs are dedicated to their vision and\ncontinue to ask questions and look at possible outcomes. </li></ol>\n\n\nBecoming a great CEO takes hard work\nand dedication. The ones we admire did not just wake up great but it took\ndedication and in some cases failure in order to reach the great heights they\nhave reached.\n\nTatenda\nSayenda-Havire is a consultant at Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd a\nmanagement and human resources consulting firm. Phone +263 4 481946-48/481950\nor email: tatenda@ipcconsultants.com or visit our website at\nwww.ipcconsultants.com

Profiles of Top-Performing CEOs: Rising above the rest

Getting a new job is exciting. Most people become stuck when they are asked to come and negotiate a salary package. Most people are unprepared to negotiate for a pay package even if they are on a job hunt. &nbsp;Once you get a job offer here are some of the hints you need to take into consideration as you go through the job offer. \n\n<h2>Salary negotiation\ntips </h2>\n\n\n<ol><li>When you get an\noffer letter do not rush to sign it. Take your time and go through the offer.</li><li>Highlight all the\nthings the employer is offering. Do a total of the package even for the items\nnot given in monetary terms e.g. a company vehicles</li><li>Do not bass your\nexpectations on what you are currently earning. Base your package on the value\nthat you anticipate to bring to a role. </li><li>Take into\nconsideration what the market pays for similar roles and place yourself in the\nrange depending on your skillset. </li><li>Do not be greedy.\nYour demands must be realistic </li><li>Do a background check\non how the company offering you a job has been performing versus competitors.\nCheck if they will be able to afford and sustain your salary demands. There is\nno point in getting a huge salary package that you are only able to earn for a\nfew months, and thereafter the company closes or can not afford it.</li><li>Depending on the\ntype of organisation you can include other perks outside the salary notably\nschool fees, education loans, motor vehicle, and housing loan. </li></ol>\n\n\n<h2>How do you negotiate\na higher salary?</h2>\n\nBy higher salary, means highly competitive\nsalary. A salary probably in the 75th percentage range for your type\nof role. Here is how you can get a higher salary.\n\n\n<ol><li>Start the\nnegotiations with what value you will bring to the organisation </li><li>Agree on key targets\nupfront and if you achieve them your salary can be adjusted to a certain level </li><li>If you put the above\ntwo points on the table it is very difficult for a normal employer to refuse</li><li>Make all agreed\nitems are put in the contract. Do not be fooled when they say do not worry it is\nour normal policy school fees will be paid to you as an example. Demand that\nall terms and conditions be put in the contract. </li></ol>\n\n\n<h2>How do I reject a job offer?</h2>\n\nThere are signs that show your new employer is\nnot serious and may breach the employment contract in the future. Here are some\nof the signs that show the employer is not genuine:\n\n\n<ol><li>Bad employers do not\nwant to commit in writing to terms of employment they are offering or promising\nyou. Once you see such tendencies do not take the job offer. It is a clear sign\nthat more problems are awaiting you.</li><li>When an employer\nstarts shifting dates when some of the benefits will take effect. As an example\nwhen the employer says your new car will only be available six months from now.\nIn the meantime please use a pool car. With cashflow challenges you may end up\nusing the pool car forever. </li></ol>\n\n\nIf you take the above advice when\ndealing with a new job offer, you may find it easy to then sign the contract. \n\nMemory Nguwi is an Occupational\nPsychologist, Data Scientist, Speaker, &amp; Managing Consultant- Industrial\nPsychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd a management and human resources consulting\nfirm. <a href=""https://www.linkedin.com/in/memorynguwi/"">https://www.linkedin.com/in/memorynguwi/</a> Phone +263 4\n481946-48/481950/2900276/2900966 or cell number +263 77 2356 361 or email: <a href=""mailto:mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com"">mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com</a>&nbsp; or visit our\nwebsite at <a href=""http://www.ipcconsultants.com"">www.ipcconsultants.com</a>

How to negotiate for a salary when offered a job

Intelligence can be defined as\nthe competency for logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional\nknowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving.\nIt is also simply the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills.\nEveryone does have a certain level of intelligence, but does it decrease as you\ngrow, or do you acquire more in the process.\n\nThere are nine types of intelligence\nwhich are logical-mathematical, linguistics, naturalist, interpersonal, intra-personal, spacial, existential,\nbodily-kinaesthetic and musical\n\nIn the 1960s, Raymond Cattal\ndivided intelligence into two kinds; Fluid\nintelligence and crystallized\nintelligence. Fluid intelligence\nis the knowledge acquired by reasoning and solving problems in a novelty way. Both types of&nbsp;intelligence&nbsp;increase throughout childhood and adolescence.\nSome of the features of fluid&nbsp;intelligence&nbsp;peak\nin adolescence and begin to&nbsp;decline&nbsp;progressively\nbeginning around&nbsp;age&nbsp;30\nor 40. Examples of fluid intelligence include solving puzzles, identifying\npatterns, etc.\n\nA study by Jaeggi, Buschkuehl,\nJonides, and Perrig,&nbsp;published in 2018,&nbsp;Improving Fluid Intelligence with Training on Working Memory, proved\nthat intelligence can be increased to a significant degree through training.\n\nCrystallized\nintelligence\nis the knowledge acquire through experience and education. While fluid\nintelligence decrease with aging, crystallized&nbsp;intelligence&nbsp;continues to grow\nthroughout adulthood. Examples of crystallized intelligence include knowing the\nDNA system, degrees at which water boils and many more. Crystallized intelligence can, therefore, be measured through\nvocabulary, grammar, reading comprehension and other similar tests, as well as\nquizzes, game shows and trivia games\n\nNew researches has shown that not\nall aspects of intelligence age in the same way, and while some peak during\nhigh school and college, others continue to improve after 40.\n\nTo investigate how intelligence\nchanges with age, psychologists from Massachusetts Institute of Technology\n(MIT) and the Massachusetts General Hospital in the US ( 2015) tested 48,537\npeople between the ages of ten to eighty-nine who had visited the sites\nGamesWithWords.org and TestMyBrain.org, where they conducted language, IQ and\nmemory tests that measured their emotion-recognition, working memory, number\nskills, and vocabulary.\n\nJoshua Hartshorne and Laura\nGermine presented evidence from 48, 537 people from standardized IQ and memory\ntests. The results revealed that processing speed and short-term memory for\nfamily pictures and stories peak and begin to decline around high school\ngraduation; some visual-spatial and abstract reasoning abilities plateau in\nearly adulthood, beginning to decline in the 30s; and still other cognitive\nfunctions such as vocabulary and general information do not peak until people\nreach their 40s or later\n\nThey found that, depending on\nyour definition of intelligence, the skills peak at very different times\nthroughout your life. While young participants mostly did the best on the\nnumber-to-symbol coding tasks, with a peak age of around 19 to 20 years old,\nworking memory peaked between the mid-20s and mid-30s, before starting to\nslowly decline. And while 20-somethings were really good at recognizing\nsomeone's emotions from simply looking at a photo of their eyes, this ability\nkept improving all the way up until the age of 48, after which the skill\ndropped very, very slowly. Vocabulary just kept getting better with age,\nfinally peaking in the 60s or 70s, without any obvious sign of decline.\n\nTherefore, from the researches\nabove , intelligence does not decline but partly decrease with age while part of\nit increases with age\n\n&nbsp;A few things you can implement in your day to day\nlives that will help you train and improve your fluid intelligence are trying\nto learn from others, seeking out new challenges, reading widely and tacking\nnew problems with new strategies.\n\n\n<ol><li><a href=""https://www.sciencealert.com/"">https://www.sciencealert.com/</a></li><li><a href=""https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/"">https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/</a></li><li><a href=""https://blog.mindvalley.com/"">https://blog.mindvalley.com/</a></li></ol>\n\n\nKeithley Tongai is a\nConsultant intern at Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd, a business\nmanagement and human resources consulting firm.

Does intelligence really decrease with aging?

One\nof the scariest part of job hunting sets in when you are invited for a job interview.&nbsp; Both experienced job seekers and new entrants\nto the job market tend to experience this level of anxiety. The anxiety\nnormally arises because the job seeker does not know what to anticipate in a job interview. \n\n<h2>How can I be successful in an interview?</h2>\n\nHere are the tips you can use to be successful\nin a job interview\n\n\n<ol><li>You must have a\nthorough understanding of the job and build enough confidence to show the\ninterview panel that you know what the job entails. This information is\nnormally provided in the job advert. If this information is not available, you\ncan try to get more information from the Human Resources department. </li><li>Research about the\ncompany and the department you will be working for should you be successful.\nMost of this information will be available through the company’s website or\nother sources. Do whatever you can to get as much information about the\norganisation. In this search for information focus on how the business is doing\nin general. Specifically look at the challenges they have faced or continue to\nface and how you are going to come and assist through your role. </li><li>Anticipate the\nquestions likely to be asked in the interview. Companies differ in their\napproach to interviews. Organised and mature organisations may use competency-based\ninterview methods. In that case, you have an opportunity to display what you\nknow and the value you are likely to bring to the organisation. If you are\nunlucky you may find the panel disorganised and asking uncoordinated and random\nquestions. In such a case take control, and stick to factual information in\nyour responses.&nbsp; </li><li>Stick to facts and be\nprecise when answering questions. Generally, interviewers get put off by people\nwho waffle.&nbsp; </li><li>If they ask you provocative\nquestions, stay calm and stick to information. Never show your anger in the\ninterview no matter how provocative the panel is.</li><li>Have a good night\nsleep a day before your interview. It is important to take a full day off so\nthat you have no pressures from your current workplace.</li></ol>\n\n\n<h2>How do you introduce yourself in an interview?</h2>\n\nThe focus on your responses to the first\nquestion which is normally “tell us about\nyourself” is why you think you are the right candidate for the job. How\ndoes your job experience help you in this particular role? Do not waste time on\nthings that are too personal like what primary school you attended. Tell me\nabout yourself interview answers should always focus on why you think you are\nthe right candidate for the job. It’s your best opportunity to impress the\ninterview panel. \n\n\n<h2>What do you say in an interview?</h2>\n\nWhen responding to interview questions this is\nwhat you need to do:\n\n\n<ol><li>Only stick to facts and evidence. The evidence\nmust come from your previous jobs. Display what you did yourself and the\nresults that you achieved.</li><li>Do not give speculative answers that will\nallow inexperienced interviewers to ambush you with speculative questions. </li><li>Never take more than a minute to answer\nan interview question. If you take more than that you are likely going to\nwaffle. </li><li>If asked a question you do not know you\nmust say, “I do not have an answer for that one for now. It would probably need\nme to do more research.” </li></ol>\n\n\nIf you take some of the advice\nabove on preparing for a job interview, you will win.&nbsp; The job interview gives you the best\nopportunity to sell yourself. Do not waste this opportunity. \n\nMemory Nguwi is an\nOccupational Psychologist, Data Scientist, Speaker, &amp; Managing Consultant-\nIndustrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd a management and human resources\nconsulting firm. <a href=""https://www.linkedin.com/in/memorynguwi/"">https://www.linkedin.com/in/memorynguwi/</a> Phone +263 4\n481946-48/481950/2900276/2900966 or cell number +263 77 2356 361 or email: <a href=""mailto:mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com"">mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com</a>&nbsp; or visit our\nwebsite at <a href=""http://www.ipcconsultants.com"">www.ipcconsultants.com</a>

Here is the best way to prepare for a Job Interview

Every person charged with running\nan organsiation carries an enormous task on half of the key stakeholders.\nOthers take this role as a way to enrich themselves personally while others\ntake this role as an opportunity to do well for the benefit of society. At the\ncore of leading an organsiation are the people. Without a strategy of leading\nthe people that work for you regardless of the size of your organisation any\nsuccess you may enjoy is likely to be short-lived. &nbsp;Here are the issues that every CEO must\nreflect on:\n\n\n<ol><li>Hire\nthe best people available\n– regardless of the pressure from anyone, the best favour you can do for\nyourself, as a CEO is to hire the best people. Talent is what formulate and\ndrive sustainable strategy. Any company short of quality thinking will\nstruggle. “If you want Singapore to succeed…you must have a system that enables\nthe best man and the most suitable to go into the job that needs them…” This\nwhat Singapore’s first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew said. He was right;\ncountries that recruit and select people on merit to fill in public service\npositions tend to do well economically.&nbsp;\nThe same principles apply to private organizations. Get the best people\nfor the job and never compromise on who joins the organsiation. </li><li>Pay\npeople differently\n– Pay your top performers far much more than your average performer. Do not\nunderpay your top performers in the name of equity or some policy. Good\nperformers give more when there is a big difference between them and average\nperformers. Every benefit an employee gets must be a reflection of their value,\nnothing else. </li><li>Empower\nyour top team –\nIf you have good people in your executive team things move. Empower them to\nmake decisions within policy and only consult you on big issues that require\nCEO or Board approval. The challenge in practice is that most of the people who\nhave the title “executive” have no decision making power. Such an arrangement\nretards progress.&nbsp; Good CEOs share power\nwith their executive team. However, this should only be done when the executive\nteam is competent.</li><li>Humility\n– Be kind and\ntough on results. There is no need to harass your team including other levels\nof employees. You can be extremely tough on results with a very kind heart.\nRemember the exit from the CEO role is not always smooth. You will need your\nsubordinates for support one day. </li><li>Performance\nis everything –\nCultivate a high-performance culture throughout the organisation. Be tough on\nperformance targets. Remember all targets must be agreed between the managers\nand those they manage. Do not allow a situation where targets are dictated no\nmatter how powerful you. </li><li>Know\n– When its time up\n- You must decide when you want to exit the organsiation at the beginning of\nyour tenure. Do not wait to be pushed. Even when performance is good, it is\nbetter to leave at the height of good performance. Do not be persuaded to stay.\n</li><li>Succession\nPlan – Have a\nsuccession plan in place. Identify at least 3 to 4 people who can take over\nfrom you. Prepare all the candidates for the role. When the time comes, the job\nmust go to the best person among your chosen successors. </li><li>Leave\na good legacy-\nwhat are the people going to remember you for? Is it going to be performance or\ngreedy and plunder of company resources? CEO roles wield so much power. Some\nincumbents are tempted to abuse this power for personal gain. Always make a\ndistinction between company resources and your own. Never take more than what\nis provided for in your employment contract. It will catch up with you and\nnormally it does not end well.</li><li>Build\na sustainable Culture\n– If you build a good culture, half your job is done. Culture is the engine of\nsustainable company performance.&nbsp; Invest\ntime and resources in building the right culture for your organisation. </li></ol>\n\n\nThis list is not exhausted, but I\nsee these as the major issues CEO must deal with in order to build successful\norganisations. \n\nMemory Nguwi is an Occupational\nPsychologist, Data Scientist, Speaker, &amp; Managing Consultant- Industrial\nPsychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd a management and human resources consulting\nfirm. <a href=""https://www.linkedin.com/in/memorynguwi/"">https://www.linkedin.com/in/memorynguwi/</a> Phone +263 4\n481946-48/481950/2900276/2900966 or cell number +263 77 2356 361 or email: <a href=""mailto:mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com"">mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com</a>&nbsp; or visit our website at <a href=""http://www.ipcconsultants.com"">www.ipcconsultants.com</a>

My advice to Chief Executive Officers

The balanced scorecard is a strategy execution framework developed by Robert Kaplan and David Norton. It is comprised of four perspectives namely the finance perspective, customer perspective, internal processes perspective, and the learning and growth perspective. The perspectives of the Balanced Scorecard are&nbsp;not just the visual containers&nbsp;for the goals – they help to explain the cause-and-effect logic of the strategy.\n\nThe balanced scorecard brings about several advantages which include:\n\n1. Better Strategic Planning\n\nThe Balanced Scorecard provides a powerful framework for building and communicating strategy. The business model is visualized in a Strategy Map which helps managers to think about cause-and-effect relationships between the different strategic objectives. The process of creating a Strategy Map ensures that consensus is reached over a set of interrelated strategic objectives. It means that performance outcomes, as well as key enablers or drivers of future performance, are identified to create a complete picture of the strategy.\n\n2.&nbsp; Improved Strategy Communication &amp; Execution\n\nHaving a one-page picture of the strategy allows companies to easily communicate strategy internally and externally. A picture is worth a thousand words and this facilitates the understanding of the strategy and helps to engage staff and external stakeholders in the delivery and review of the strategy. It is important to remember that it is difficult for people to help execute a strategy which they do not fully understand.\n\n3.&nbsp; Better Alignment of Projects and Initiatives\n\nThe Balanced Scorecard help organizations map their projects and initiatives to different strategic objectives.\n\n4.&nbsp; Better Management Information\n\nThe Balanced Scorecard approach helps organizations design key performance indicators for their various strategic objectives. Research shows that companies with a BSC approach tend to report higher quality management information and better decision-making.\n\n5. &nbsp;Improved Performance Reporting\n\nThe Balanced Scorecard can be used to guide the design of performance reports and dashboards. This ensures that the management reporting focuses on the most important strategic issues and helps companies monitor the execution of their plan.\n\n6.&nbsp; Better Organisational Alignment\n\nThe Balanced Scorecard enables companies to better align their organizational structure with the strategic objectives. In order to execute a plan well, organizations need to ensure that all business units and support functions are working towards the same goals. Cascading the Balanced Scorecard into those units will help to achieve that and link strategy to operations.\n\n7.&nbsp; Better Process Alignment\n\nWell implemented Balanced Scorecards also help to align organizational processes such as budgeting, risk management and analytics with the strategic priorities.\n\nHowever, mistakes that could be made when developing the balanced scorecard, which therefore hinders the success of its implementation include:\n\n1) Not having buy-in and understanding of the tool across the company before you implement it.\n\n2) Starting the Balanced Scorecard development with metrics and key performance indicators instead of the strategy. Measures cannot be relevant if they are not firmly based on strategic objectives. The Strategy Map is the first and most important component of any Balance Scorecard, key performance indicators follow once the strategy is clear.\n\n3) It is important to note that the strategy map template is a framework to guide your thinking and not one you simply customize with your own words.\n\n4) A strategy map has to be a unique representation of your company's strategic objectives at this point in time. It has to be developed with close senior executive engagement and represent the distinctive challenges your company is facing today. It should not be a copy of another company’s strategy.\n\n5) Not revising and refreshing the Strategy Map, Key Performance Indicators or Action Plans. We all know that your company's priorities shift over time and therefore the Strategy Map, Key Performance Indicators and Action Plans have to reflect that.\n\n6) Only using oversimplified Key Performance Indicators to track progress. It is important that the Key Performance Indicators help to track your strategic objectives but instead of developing the most relevant Key Performance Indicators companies often choose the ones that are most easy to measure or the ones everyone else seems to be tracking. More effort has to go into developing truly relevant and meaningful Key Performance Indicators.\n\n7) Not having Action Plans linked to the Balanced Scorecard.\n\nIn conclusion, to successfully implement the balanced scorecard, companies should set up their&nbsp;<a href=""https://www.toolshero.com/strategy/strategic-planning/"">vision, mission, and strategic objectives</a>. Thereafter companies should perform a&nbsp;<a href=""https://www.toolshero.com/project-management/stakeholder-management/"">stakeholder analysis</a>&nbsp;to gauge the expectations of customers and shareholders. From there an inventory of the&nbsp;<a href=""https://www.toolshero.com/strategy/critical-success-factors/"">critical success factors</a>&nbsp;should be made. Strategic objectives should then be translated into (personal) goals. Key Performance Indicators to measure the objectives should be set up. Thereafter the values for the objectives that are to be achieved should be determined and lastly the objectives should be translated into operational activities.\n\nIfeoma is a Business Analytics and Research Consultant at Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd, a business management and human resources consulting firm.\n\nLinkedIn:&nbsp;<a href=""https://www.linkedin.com/in/ifeoma-obi-92b4b9121/"">https://www.linkedin.com/in/ifeoma-obi-92b4b9121/</a>\n\nPhone:&nbsp;+263 242 481946-48/481950\n\nMobile:&nbsp;+263 775 187 283\n\nEmail:&nbsp;<a href=""mailto:ifeoma@ipcconsultants.com"">ifeoma@ipcconsultants.com</a>\n\nMain Website:&nbsp;<a href=""http://www.ipcconsultants.com/"">www.ipcconsultants.com</a>

The relevance of the Balanced Scorecard System in Companies

Employee\nturnover has a huge impact on organizational success. When an employee leaves\nthe organization, the effects are felt in all departments. Directors and HR\nleaders are trying their best to solve this problem. But, before they try to\nsolve it, they have to understand clearly with an unbiased mind what is really\ncausing employee turnover within their organisation. Employee turnover is the\nproportion of the employees who leave an organization over a set period. It’s\nalso referred to as churn and includes both voluntary leavers (those that\nresign or retire) and involuntary leavers (as in the case of redundancies, poor\nperformance, or other cases where the employee was forced to leave the\norganization).\n\nWe\ncan all agree that the success of many businesses relies on positive employee\nretention. When companies experience high employee turnover, their budget and\noperational capabilities are affected. Turnover costs involve recruiting,\nselecting and training new hires. When vital positions remain unfilled for\nextended periods, current staff become taxed and productivity suffers.\n\nWhen\nkey employees that other employees rely on to get help or work done leave, it\ndisrupts all social and communication structures. This disruption results in\nloss of productivity. A research done by Sagie and team in 2002 found that a\nhigh-tech firm lost 2.8 million US dollars or 16.5% of before-tax annual income\nbecause of employee turnover. These researchers also found that turnover\nreduced profits, increased the organization’s total risk, and triggered more\nturnover among the organization’s other employees.\n\nOne\nof the surveys we did at a workforce planning workshop pointed out that many\norganisations do not use analytics to reduce employee attrition. This is\nbecause they do not know-how. There are some steps that can be followed to\ncarry out an employee attrition project. \n\nFirst,\nyou have to identify relevant data from within your organization. This data is\ndata concerning your employees. The data may include employee position,\nexperience, age, income, marital status, maternal leave, number of sick days\ntaken, and performance reviews. This combined data should include both\nemployees who left and those still within the organization. Clean and make sure\nthe data is ready for analysis to avoid the issue of garbage in garbage out.\n\nSecond,\ndiscover what happened. We call this descriptive analytics. The first step in\nsolving most problems is figuring out what’s going on. Did into the data and\ntry to find out who exactly is resigning: Is it your top performers? Senior\nmanagers? How much revenue did we gain or lose? Amount of costs incurred by the\ndepartment or location? When many of the employees who leave are your best and\nbrightest, they take all their skills, knowledge and connections with them,\nputting your organization at a disadvantage. \n\nThird,\ndiscover why it happened. We call this diagnostic analytics. Using the\ninformation you discovered above (descriptive analytics), you might be able to reach\nsome conclusions about the situation. For example, from the above analysis, you\nmay discover that contract employees are leaving the organization more than\npermanent employees. The conclusion might be because contract employees are not\ngetting overtime pay. \n\nForth,\ndiscover what will happen. We call this predictive analytics. Here you will be\ntrying to find out what will happen if one factor is changed. You will be\ntrying to be proactive by seeking our future trends.\n\nFor\nexample, offering overtime payment will positively impact retention. As with\nmany companies, you don’t have to make all the changes once. You need to implement\nthe changes logically manner and use the resources wisely. It also helps\nindividuals accept and embrace change.\n\nFifty,\ndiscover what you should do. At the prescriptive analytics stage, decisions are\nmade. You have to consider all the options as an organization. All the action\nplans provided at this stage should be data-backed. For example, an overtime\nrate of two times the normal hours will increase tenure.\n\nMany\nstudies have shown that employee turnover significantly affects an\norganization’s performance. It changes the organisation’s direction when a top\nexecutive leaves. For example, when Steve Jobs was fired from Apple, the\norganization changed direction and lost its actual cause. The same happened to\nStarbucks when Howard Schultz. With all the benefits and savings that come with\napplying analytics, it’s time for organisations to apply this technique in\nmanaging their employees.\n\nBenjamin Sombi is a Data\nScientist, Entrepreneur, &amp; Business Analytics Manager at Industrial\nPsychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd a management and human resources consulting\nfirm.

Retaining Your Top Talent Through Analytics

In an article published by Harvard Business Review, they studied\n356 U.S. companies from 2000 to 2010. They measured CEO tenure and calculated\nthe strength of the firm-employee relationship each year by assessing things\nlike retirement benefits and layoffs. The strength of the firm-customer\nrelationship was also assessed by evaluating things like product quality and\nsafety. The study also measured the magnitude and volatility of stock returns. This\nresearch led them to conclude that for a CEO to be very effective their optimal\ntenure length should be 4.8 years.\n\nIn a typical\ncorporate setting, a CEO is analogous to the captain of a ship with the ultimate\nauthority vested in him by the board of directors of the firm. By virtue of\nbeing in the role of a trustee, a CEO would be expected to make wise decisions that\nbenefit the firm in the long or short term. Executive tenure is calculated by\nthe number of years a CEO spends in office in that capacity of a CEO. However,\nthe length of the tenure varies to a great degree from firm to firm.\n\nThe norm is usually that a CEO takes office, begins gaining\nknowledge and experience, and is soon launching initiatives that boost the\nbottom line. Fast-forward a decade, and the same executive is risk-averse and\nslow to adapt to change—and the company’s performance is on the decline. New\nresearch examines the causes of this cycle. It has been discovered that CEO\ntenure affects performance through its impact on two groups of\nstakeholders—employees and customers—and has different effects on each. The\nlonger a CEO serves, the more the firm-employee dynamic improves. However, an\nextended-term strengthens customer ties only for a time, after which the\nrelationship weakens and the company’s performance diminishes, no matter how\nunited and committed the workforce is.\n\nThe underlying reasons for the pattern are believed to do with\nhow CEOs learn. Prior research has shown that different learning styles prevail\nat different stages of the CEO life cycle. Early on, when new executives are\ngetting up to speed, they seek information in diverse ways, turning to both\nexternal and internal company sources. This deepens their relationships with\ncustomers and employees alike. Nonetheless, as CEOs accumulate knowledge and\nbecome entrenched, they rely more on their internal networks for information,\ngrowing less accustomed to market conditions. Due to CEOs having more invested\nin the firm, they favor avoiding losses over pursuing gains. Their attachment\nto the status quo makes them less responsive to vacillating consumer\npreferences.\n\nThese findings have several implications for organizations.\nBoards should be watchful for changes in the firm-customer relationship. They\nshould be aware that long-tenured CEOs may be skilled at employee relations but\nless adept at responding to the marketplace; these leaders may be great\nmotivators but weak strategists, unifying workers around a failing course of\naction, for example. Finally, boards should structure incentive plans to draw\nheavily on consumer and market metrics in the late stages of their top\nexecutives’ terms. This will motivate CEOs to maintain strong customer relationships\nand to continue gathering vital market information firsthand.\n\nThe CEO's term can also serve as\na market signal for investors, with high tenure indicating the high credibility\nof the CEO certification. Based on agency theory, CEO tenure provides managerial\nincentives to maximize corporate value. It is possible that long tenure can\nhelp the CEO develop a high reputation, leading to greater commitment to the\ncompany. However, the CEO who stays on his job for a very long time may be too\nsecure in their work. Van Ness et al. (2010) in the study in America found that\nthe average term of office of the board members has a positive and significant\nimpact on the company performance. Therefore, in conclusion, it is important\nthat CEOs stay long enough that their impact on the company’s performance can\nbe noted and they should not be evaluated on the company’s performance after\nhaving left the company. \n\n&nbsp;Ifeoma is a Business Analytics and Research Consultant at Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd, a business management and human resources consulting firm. \n\nLinkedIn: <a href=""https://www.linkedin.com/in/ifeoma-obi-92b4b9121/"">https://www.linkedin.com/in/ifeoma-obi-92b4b9121/</a>\n\n\nPhone: +263 242 481946-48/481950\n\nMobile: +263 775 187 283\n\nEmail: <a href=""mailto:ifeoma@ipcconsultants.com"">ifeoma@ipcconsultants.com</a> \n\nMain\nWebsite: <a href=""http://www.ipcconsultants.com"">www.ipcconsultants.com</a>

CEO Tenure: A Definite Determinant of Company Performance

The OECD defines country or\nnational competitiveness as “the degree to which a country can, under free and\nfair market conditions, produce goods and services which meet the rest of the\ninternational markets, while simultaneously maintaining and expanding the real\nincomes of its people over the long term.” &nbsp;In order for Zimbabwe to achieve the level of\ncompetitiveness required in this definition we need to overhaul the whole\nsystem; just the way we do things around here. I am not going to focus on\nnational competitiveness but on the competitiveness of local firms which\ncontribute to country competitiveness. &nbsp;We can’t even talk of national competitiveness\nbecause so far it seems we have no capacity to leverage on the resources we to\nmake Zimbabwe a very competitive country. \n\nIt is known and it has always\nbeen known that Zimbabwean products are uncompetitive for various reasons.&nbsp; The recent press reports coming from the\nmanufacturing sector are indicating that the oil industry like many other\nsectors will find it difficult to export due to uncompetitive prices.&nbsp; \n\nThe sources of competiveness for\nZimbabwean products can be traced directly to the fact that Zimbabwean\norganisations are un-productive.&nbsp; I have\nseen stakeholders celebrating the coming in of SI64. Yes SI64 gives relief from\noutside competition and will lead to increased capacity utilisation but it will\nnot help the local companies to be more productive. CZI and other industry bodies\nneed to encourage their members not to rely on regulatory protection as a\nstrategy to sustain their business performance. The CZI has tended to focus on\ncapacity utilisation instead of productivity. Capacity utilisation is just but\none component impacting on productivity but to a larger extend it has nothing\nto do with efficient use of resources which is at the centre of productivity\nimprovement. &nbsp;The industry’s major thrust\nhas been to increase capacity utilisation with the hope that it will increase\ncompetitiveness. This strategy which has been tried many times will not result\nin Zimbabwean products being competitive. \n\nInstead CZI and the government\nmust focus on productivity measurement and enhancement. At the present moment\nno one knows the level of productivity in the manufacturing sector. A few\nguesses here and there but most of them seem completely off the mark\nconsidering what we are observing on the ground. \n\nLet me dispel a few myths about\nproductivity before going back to competitiveness and its link to productivity.\nThe first myth is that production equal productivity.&nbsp; Most people including those in high offices\ncelebrate a rise in production and equate that to productivity. Productivity\nhas to do with the efficient use of resources to produce products and services\nthat the market is willing to pay for. &nbsp;There are companies that have 100% capacity\nutilisation but very unproductive. There are companies that are exceeding their\nproduction targets but also highly unproductive. &nbsp;\n\nThe second myth is that most\npeople think that every company that is profitable must be highly productive.\nWhile that logically make sense, in practice it does not follow that a company\nthat is profitable is highly productive. Profitability in companies can change\nfor reasons that have little to do with productivity. Such factors include\nprice inflation or cost may bear no relationship to the efficient use of\nresources. In the Zimbabwean situation it is very likely that most companies\nare being profitable by increasing their prices at a much faster rate than the\nprice of inputs (price over recovery).&nbsp;\nZimbabwean companies are over recovering prices but they always blame\nthis on high cost of labour and other inputs. Instead of reducing prices of\ntheir products when prices of inputs decrease they celebrate the higher margins\nthat make the products very uncompetitive outside our borders. \n\nProductivity focuses on value\ncreation for all stakeholders and not just for a few stakeholders. Instead of\nreducing product prices to benefits the customers and allow more customers to\nbuy their products they are looking for regulatory protection. We must all\naccept that we cannot regulate ourselves to competitiveness as a country.&nbsp; Imagine even if the government was to protect\nevery product that we produce locally we will still fail to export because we\nare very unproductive.&nbsp; Why have all\nthose who are protected by S64 not reduced their products to enable more local\npeople to but local.&nbsp; Instead in some\ninstances we have seen upward price movements because of people who a greedy\nwho think they now a captive market.&nbsp; \n\nThe first thing we need as a\ncountry is to start measuring productive at national level, sector level and at\ncompany level. This will show the areas where we are getting productivity gains\nand t5he areas where we are making productivity losses. &nbsp;It is important for people to also understand\nthat productivity is measured between two periods (year to year, quarter to\nquarter or month to month). You cannot make meaningful conclusions from\nproductivity measurement results based on one period. The best approach to\nmeasure productivity at sectorial and company level is to use the profit linked\nproductivity approach.&nbsp; This approach\ntells you how much productivity gains or losses are impacting your\nprofitability over two periods. It will also show you how much your\nprofitability is impacted by out or resources prices movements. \n\nWhich areas will our local\nindustries need to focus on to increase productivity and competitiveness.&nbsp; A business friendly regulatory environment\nwill help but it is unlikely to be the major source of competitive advantage.\nThe first area that can give us competitive advantage to look at our capital\nstructure. How modern are the tools we use and are they backed by latest\ntechnology?&nbsp; With a “highly educated”\nworkforce what stops Zimbabwe to leverage on this if this is a true competitive\naverage of the country. Automation, modernisation and ICT are core areas we can\nleverage on. This must even start with the government. If the government was\nmodernised it would never need the current levels of employees it has which add\nto the cost of doing business.\n\nThe other factor that can give us\ncompetitive advantage is to improve on the quality of labour we have. We have a\n“highly educated” workforce that is running down companies.&nbsp; The quality of management is appalling and\nthis is the hurdle we have to face as a country. Poor leadership and management\nmisuse resources thereby impacting in productivity significantly. Poor managers\nborrow money and instead of financing the business they squander the money on\nnon-core activities.&nbsp; In the areas of\nskills development we need to shift the focus to training hands on people who\nare going to make things work instead of the current focus where 90% is on\ntraining office people who are all aspiring to be managers to manage other\nmanagers.\n\nDemand intensity is the other\narea we need to focus.&nbsp; We need to create\nproducts that can sell beyond our borders.&nbsp;\nSome industries and products need to be allowed to die so that we can\ncreate new ones. It’s not unique to Zimbabwe that companies close. In every\npart of the world business close sometimes in order to start afresh in a\ndifferent area. There are companies here that are still depending on archaic products\nand business models because these worked 50 years ago. What a shame. We must\nbuild industries and products that can compete in any part of the world. \n\nTechnical progress is the other\narea we can focus on specifically technological advancement.&nbsp; If I we go into our manufacturing sector do\nwe find the same technology that you find in Finland, Singapore, and USA etc?\nIf not should that not be our focus? Research and development are another key\nareas under this cluster.&nbsp; How many\ninnovative ideas or products are coming out of Zimbabwe into the open global\nmarket?&nbsp; Until we start working on these\nkey areas we will remain uncompetitive. \n\nI know our wage system is a\nhindrance but considering that our NEC recommend wages that are not in line\nwith productivity. In Zimbabwe minimum wage is less than $2 per our but in the\nhighly competitive markets its $13 to as high as $18 an hour. With such high\nwages how come these countries and companies from there are highly competitive?\nThe trick in relation to labour is to get the best people for each role and pay\nthem well to produce the maximum output. The opposite is currently obtaining;\nwe pay people for showing up even if they no nothing and add no value. \n\nIn Zimbabwe which product our we\nknown for on the global market? Tobacco and minerals which we are exporting in\nraw form. We cannot gain competitive advantage from those products because we\ndo not influence the prices. If we are as “clever” as we claim why not build\nour competitive advantage around the brain power we have.&nbsp; We are too much worried about being protected\nwhen the world has moved miles ahead of us. In other parts of the world you get\ninputs to your product from the cheapest source in any part of the globe.&nbsp; Why on would sofa bean grown here be more\nexpensive than from any other part of the world? The reason is the farms are so\nunproductive that they would want to make their money in one season. They want to\nhide under a price umbrella that cripples the whole value chain.&nbsp; This problem is not limited to this industry\nalone it’s a common problem across all sectors. \n\nZimbabwe has no option but to\nraise the level of productivity so fast so that we can compete with other\nnations. India produce information technology engineers in abundance and they\nexport to all parts of the globe. Why cant’s Zimbabwe produce its own engineers\nbe they mining engineers, agriculture engineers, data scientist etc. and export\nthe skills.&nbsp; Currently we have exported\nlow level skills that bring some diaspora remittances but we could get more if\nwe export highly skilled individuals. Imagine if we had let’s say 50 000 mining\nengineers all over the world. The benefits would be enormous. Yes we claim to\nhave highly educated workforce. If I may ask; which field are we blessed with\nhighly skilled and educated people except politics? We need to accept that we\ndo not have the skills to raise the level of productivity and develop a\nstrategy to up the levels of skills across key strategic areas. The STEM project\nby the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science &amp; Technology\nDevelopment is a step in the right direction but its one part of a big puzzle.\n\nZimbabwean companies must go out there and hassle with everyone. That way they develop the right level of managerial skills and technology required to compete on the global stage.\n\nMemory Nguwi is the Managing\nConsultant of Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd, a management and\nhuman resources consulting firm. Phone 04-481946-48/ 481950/ 2900276/ 2900966\nor cell number 0772 356 361 or email: mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com or visit our\nwebsite at <a href=""http://www.ipcconsultants.com"">www.ipcconsultants.com</a>

Why Zimbabwean Products are not Competitive: A Productivity Perspective

In early 2018,\nFacebook was implicated in a political scandal known as The Facebook–Cambridge\nAnalytica data scandal.&nbsp; It was revealed\nthat Cambridge Analytica, had accessed personal private information of users,\nand used it without their consent for political advertising purposes. These\nallegations were first reported by Harry Davies, who reported that Cambridge\nAnalytica was working for a United States Senator, allegations to which\nFacebook refused to comment on. &nbsp;In March\nof the same year, however, a former employee of Cambridge Analytica,\nChristopher Wylie, exposed how the information was accessed and used. He\ndescribed how the CEO, Alexander Nix, attracted support and help to access\nmillions of Facebook profiles, which were in turn used for political\nadvertising purposes without the users’ consent. The result was a massive fall\nin Facebook's stock price and calls for tighter regulation of tech companies'\nuse of personal data. \n\nThe Facebook scandal\nis one of many examples in which corporates have engaged in unethical business\npractices time and time again in the quest of getting ahead.&nbsp; In doing this, there is a major disregard of ethical\nregulations that are meant to guide business practices.&nbsp; Some individuals upon assuming positions of\nauthority, neglect to adhere to codes of practice, and use their assumed\npositions to advance their own personal agendas.&nbsp; The example of the Facebook scandal sheds\nlight on three psychological dimensions that lead to unethical behaviour;\nomnipotence, cultural numbness, and justified neglect.\n\nOmnipotence is the\nbelief in an individual that they have unlimited power, so much so that rules\nof accountability do not apply to them. &nbsp;This happens in the corporate world on a daily\nbasis, when decisions are made based on an individual’s own interests more than\nthe best interests of the organisation.&nbsp;\nBefore someone makes a decision, they are more likely to ask the\nquestion, “what’s in it for me?” The\nresult of this is decision making influenced by personal needs, hampering the\nsuccess of the organisation at large.\n\nThe second dimension\nwe find in this instance is Cultural Numbness.&nbsp;\nThis is when individuals observe the unruly behaviour, go along with\nthis behaviour, and gradually come to accept this behaviour as normal.&nbsp; In the Cambridge Analytica Scandal,\nChristopher Wylie highlighted how the CEO had help from the Breitbart editor\nand Cambridge Professor in accessing this personal information and making it\navailable for illicit use.&nbsp; In doing this,\nthe accomplices knew they were indulging in unethical behaviour, but\nparticipated regardless, as they realised they could potentially gain\nfinancially from this.&nbsp; Scandals of this\nnature are uncovered on a regular basis in the corporate world.&nbsp; Disregard for ethical practices continues to\npersist, despite there being guidelines on conducting business practices.\n\nThe third dimension,\njustified neglect, is also covered in the scandal.&nbsp; Justified neglect is when people do not\nexpose unethical behaviour because they are more concerned about staying on the\n‘good side’ of the authority figure.&nbsp;\nStaying on the good side would potentially mean benefits which may\ninclude increased remuneration, promotion to similar positions of authority and\nstaying in employment.&nbsp; An individual may\ndo a cost-benefit analysis, and find that it is more beneficial for them to\nparticipate in the activities, as opposed to exposing them.&nbsp; \n\nIn light of all this, the question that remains is where do we draw the line in our practices?&nbsp; How much are we willing to break codes of conduct in advancing our own interests? Are we willing to incur major financial loss before we draw the line somewhere in conducting ourselves? The Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal is a good example of how costly breaching ethical guidelines can be on an organisation, and why it is always important to be compliant in all business practices&nbsp; \n\nLindah\nMavengere is a Business Consultant at Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt)\nLtd, a business management and human resources consulting firm. \n\nLinkedIn:\n<a href=""https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindah-mavengere-552b32b2/"">https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindah-mavengere-552b32b2/</a>\n\nPhone:\n+263 242 481946-48/481950\n\nMobile:\n+263 717 988 319\n\nEmail:\n<a href=""mailto:lindah@ipcconsultants.com"">lindah@ipcconsultants.com</a> \n\nMain Website:\n<a href=""http://www.ipcconsultants.com"">www.ipcconsultants.com</a>.

Ethical and Unethical Practices: Where do we draw the line?

The increasing stakeholders’\nexpectations, difficult economic conditions, pressures of globalization and\nincreased regulatory requirements have put Company Boards performance on the\nspotlight. Boards have recognized that it would be important for them to\ncontinually assess how effectively they are performing their roles against set\nobjectives and goals. \n\nA Board performs three major\nroles in a company. Firstly, it provides direction i.e. sets the strategic\ndirection of the company. Secondly, it monitors the performance of the senior\nmanagement team. Thirdly, a board provides support and advice to the senior\nmanagement team. Board evaluation examines these roles of the Board, its responsibilities\nand assesses how effectively these are being fulfilled by the Board.\n\nUnless\na board has completely relinquished its responsibility, its performance must\nhave a significant impact on the performance of the company, particularly over\nthe longer term. Improving the effectiveness of the board and raising its\nperformance is important in ensuring the ongoing prosperity and survival of the\norganization. If the Board is not as effective as it needs to be in today’s fast-changing\nand demanding environment, it will have an impact on the company. \n\nA\ncomprehensive approach to improving a board’s performance starts with a\nfundamental review of the board, what it does and how? This must be done from a\nstrategic perspective, against the changing background and needs of the\ncompany. The Board Evaluation should explore the following:\n\n\n<ol><li>Board Structure - its composition, constitution, diversity of skills, competencies of the\nmembers, Board and Committee charters, frequency of meetings and procedures.\n</li><li>Dynamics and Functioning of the\nBoard -&nbsp; annual\nBoard calendar, information availability, interactions and communication with\nCEO and senior executives, Board agenda, cohesiveness and the quality of\nparticipation in Board meetings; </li><li>Business Strategy Governance -&nbsp; Board’s\nrole in company strategy; </li><li>Financial Reporting Process,\nInternal Audit, and Internal Controls - The integrity and\nthe robustness of the financial and other controls.</li><li>Monitoring Role - Monitoring\nof policies, strategy implementation, and systems; </li></ol>\n\n\nThe\nresults of a board evaluation must be assessed by the Board and consideration should\nbe given to various ideas and options for improvement and change. The best way\nforward can then be agreed and plans made, followed by implementation and\nfurther review. It is recommended that boards use an external expert\nfacilitator to help in carrying outboard evaluations to ensure objectivity of\nthe findings. Whatever\nappraisal procedure a board adopts, it should identify areas where individual\ndirectors could and should improve their effectiveness. \n\nIn addition, every director\nshould understand his or her specific role and function as part of the board\nand be familiar with the roles and functions of the other directors.\nFamiliarity with a company balance sheet and profit and loss account, sources\nand methods of funding, cash flow and other financial parameters is essential\nfor every board member.\n\nAny board member who is uncertain\nof any of these matters should put the time aside for some structured learning,\noften in the form of a board induction, courses or workshops. This is a\nprerequisite for any person who is being appointed a director for the first\ntime. In addition to these basic requirements, directors need to develop\ncertain personal skills, acquire knowledge appropriate to their role and be\nconstantly aware of the changing environment in which they and the company\noperate.\n\nUnderperforming directors that\nare identified through the board evaluation process should be carefully\ncounseled. The board improvement action plan, like all performance appraisal\napproaches, should include specific and measurable KPIs and the chair of the\nboard, or a relevant committee of the board should be responsible to oversee\nits implementation over the ensuing year. The board’s improvement action plan\nforms the basis, or at least the starting point, for the following year’s board\nevaluation process.\n\nCarl Tapi is a Consultant at\nIndustrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd, a management and human resources\nconsulting firm. https://www.linkedin.com/in/carl-tapi-45776482/\nPhone +263 (242) 481946-48/481950 or cell number +263 772 469 680 or email: <a href=""mailto:carl@ipcconsultants.com"">carl@ipcconsultants.com</a>&nbsp; or visit our website at\nwww.ipcconsultants.com

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