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15 Easy Ways to be a Great HR Manager

The HR role is changing from an adminstration role to a people strategy role. As technologies and alliances change, HR managers need to adapt.

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Implement ticketing system

Tools like Zendesk help employees report issues around specific topics. Stop getting random emails about it being too cold or too hot. Have it categorized and prioritized in a ticketing system. Then you can report to leadership which issues are the biggest problem.

Having a ticketing system allows everyone to send us a message via email, app, or website that goes to a group of people. We can see who is responding and whether it needs follow up. This removes noise from our personal email and makes customer or employee issues transparent.
- WeWork Community Associate

Off-the-shelf employee recognition app

HR technology is going through another big phase of growth. No time in history has it so easy for HR professionals to step up their game by adding off-the-shelf tools, like Recognize, to their staff's workflow. Whatever you do, try to keep these third party tools in one set of app hubs, such as Sharepoint or Workplace by Facebook.

Recognize - The Recognize employee recognition app allows anyone in your company to start sending and receiving recognition. The problem with building tools yourself is the unknown unknowns. Off-the-shelf employee recognition apps, like Recognize, allow you to have all the answers solved on the first day of use. That's true if you use other types of employee apps that are plug-n-play, such as wellness or learning management.

Recognize is a great tool for us to decide the winner of our top employee of the month contest.
- Juli Pettijohn - Goodway Group

Use a pulse survey tool

Find out on a continuous basis the feelings, needs, and concerns of your employees

HR leaders can be overly risk averse to their own detriment. Fear drives mediocrity. It's necessary to take risks to move forward.
- Steve Rice, CHRO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle

Organize quarterly company townhalls

Integrate a people analytics solution

Volunteer your knowledge and expertise to your organization's executive leadership team -- HR leaders are strategic business partners and as such are responsible for decision-making with the company's top management.
- Ruth Mayhew

Read the best HR and business books

Properly manage your Glassdoor

There is nothing worse for a HR team and a leadership team than bad Glassdoor ratings. Help with onboarding and exit interviews to learn the issues people are facing or where their interests land. Why only do exit interviews when we can also interview people on the way in around their teams and hopes from a company perspective?

Exactly what you don't need.

Standardize the interview, hiring, and department lifecycle

Increase the objectivity and data entry of the human capitalize lifecycle. Make sure that the interview process is the same for every person who is interviewed and that the same questions are asked. Score and keep track of how well people interview and whether those questions lead to highly engaged, productive employees.

If you really want to get ahead, you have to sit in as many spots as possible and find your expertise. It doesn't matter whether you start out as a recruiter or a generalist, you can learn from any position.
- Steve Cadigan

Invest in learning IT terminology

There is nothing better than HR folk who can talk the talk with IT. You’ll get more respect and communicate more easily to get work done. Know what Single Sign On (or SAML) means or why SSL is important. Encourage security training in the organization. Be as knowledgeable as possible into all things technology.

Cross team collaboration

Get IT, communications, and marketing together to create initiatives. Change management and aligning culture of cultures requires great communication and proper technology integration. Use these alliances to better communicate company values in the organization or produce better results than alone.

More integrations of tools

You need to have a Learning management tool, wellness tool, HRIS, employee recognition with Recognize, Slack, and more, but how do you keep track of it all? That’s why tools like Recognize that integrate into your other tools is critical. Look for adding tools that are already inside your Sharepoint or intranet.

Be financially savvy to be a better HR manager

The more you understand the finances of your company, the better you can make the case for what you need. If an employee happiness survey finds that 80% of your workforce isn’t being recognized and looking to jump ship, that can prove an ROI if you can calculate retention. Work with your treasurer or accounting team to understand the numbers better.

Financial Intelligence - this book will make you a smarter manager. Learn the difference between an Income Statement and a Cash Flow Statement, or Non-GAAP and GAAP accounting.

Create a company library and invite guest speakers

Having a library of curated books your company can read together will enrich and engage staff. Amazon has guest speakers on a daily basis, do the same for your staff by at least bringing someone in once a quarter to inspire your team.

Andreessen Horowitz, one of the most innovative startup technology investment groups in the world, has Marc Andressen's (founder of Netscape) library in their reception. This shows a symbol of knowledge and allows staff to check out the books.

Keep managers accountable

Let your leadership know that HR is now a strategic business asset. That means using tools like Recognize, or other technology solutions that show which managers are doing quality work, remind and reward managers who do quality work aligned with the company’s vision and values.

With modern user data, HR can be informed which managers have direct reports being promoted vs which managers have direct reports quitting. Use this data to your advantage be advised on human capital management decisions.

Have fun as an HR manager

People who are excited to go back to work on Sunday evening are found to be more successful in their roles. In the words of Steve Jobs, if you wake up too many mornings in a row and aren’t happy with your life, it is time for a switch. Ask yourself how you feel about your role. Are you burnt out from bureaucracy or excited by the advent of HR technology? Make sure not to let yourself get too cynical or afraid to learn new abilities and skills.


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