EMPLOYEE JOB DESCRIPTION

Job description is an essential part of every job in every organized working environment. Writing and compiling job descriptions is another very important job of a Human Resources person in an organization. It is very important because it covers details of the day-to-day duties expected from each employee in all departments of a given firm. While writing job descriptions for each position, it should cover such areas as skills, tasks, functions and general responsibilities to be carried out by employees of that department.
A typical job description should cover and clearly state the following;

• The title of the position
• The department under which the position is
• The duties/tasks/functions/responsibilities expected of the occupant of that position
• Educational qualifications needed for the position
• Experiences needed
• General and particular skills needed
• Membership of Professional bodies required
• The reporting format (who reports to who, in what order)
  
  Before a complete job description is prepared, there is need for the HR person to conduct a comprehensive job analysis. This analysis will expose answers to each of these items above and help in getting the job done faster.
  Aside from the above, abilities and competencies of the candidate is also put into consideration and has a place in the job description.
  In compiling and preparing a job description, the HR person always has an onerous task to prepare the description for each position in all departments. The HR personnel gets these information by interviewing existing staff, conducting research, asking employees to fill in an already prepared questionnaire, observing performance of certain tasks etc.
  A very good and well-prepared job description is a valuable asset to the firm because it saves cost in the long run for the firm. Summarily, a good job description can do the following for the firm;
  Helps during vacancy placement. It will assist the HR person to know exactly what to write in the advert to attract the experienced employees.
  Helps in preparing interview questions and to monitor answers given by interviewees.
  Helps to match employee skills, experiences and competencies during interview before employment.
  Draws a clear line between duties of one position from another position.
  Clarifies the issue of who reports to who.
  Helps in career path planning as well as succession planning.
  Helps to make the appraisal exercise simple and straightforward.
  It helps to draw a clear line between achievers and non-achievers in a department.
  
  In summary, job description is prepared to explain to employees what their duties/tasks are in the workplace. It also tells an employee where his duties ends and where the duty of another employee starts in order to avoid duty conflict and employee job duty related grievances.

PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL

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Performance management, Performance review or performance appraisal as used by different establishments are all talking about the same thing, it has to do with aligning the human resources with the corporate goals of the firm, evaluate their performances and recommend commensurate rewards. It involves skill planning, skill development, and maintaining a good pay for performance culture in an organization.

Over the years, effective performance management has been proven to improve employee loyalty, morale and general productivity. Due mainly to the highly competitive business environment today, there is the need for firms to boost the morale and loyalty of their employees in order to stand the heat of competition. Because of the high cost of selection, recruitment, training and developing new employees, it is imperative for firms to motivate and retain their high performing employees. What am I saying in essence as a Human resources expert, you are to have in place a good performance management system in your firm to help motivate and retain top performers, align individual performances with corporate goals thereby creating a more involved workforce, which will lead to greater productivity. A very good Performance management system must include employee and management participation for it to be non biased and fair.

There are different steps involved in performance management or appraisal depending on the type of firm or size. These steps may not be followed rigidly, but they will assist in having a good review result. The following steps will act as a guide to a good performance management;

• Define different jobs. Each job or duty should have a name. The department each duty reports to should be established and known.
• Define Job Duties. There should be clearly defined duties and responsibilities for each defined job. It should be done in a clear manner to avoid clash and interference between different jobs.
• Define Performance Goals: Performance goals should be defined with measurable outcomes.
• Define Priority for each job goal and responsibility. The main priority for each job goal should be clearly stated for easy assessment and measurement of result/outcome.
• Define performance standard: For each key component of the job, a performance standard should be defined to know when a staff has performed below or above the given standard.
• Keep Record of all staff performances before during and after every appraisal exercise. It is always good to have records kept for each staff in his file. Discussions with staff supervisors and with staff should be noted even when appraisal exercise is not on. It sure will be of help during any appraisal exercise.
• The Appraisal form should be elaborate: The form should have columns for the appraiser and a part for appraisee’s agreement or disagreement with the appraisers comments about him as well as the appriasee’s comments (Self Assessment).
• You May Provide a feedback column: This column will be used to get feedback from employee’s peers, customers or subordinates if need be.
• Very Important to have a training need column in the form: A very important aspect of an appraisal is to find out how an employee is performing in his present responsibility and if not why he is not performing as well as training needs that may be used to improve performance.

Reasons For Performance Appraisal in a Firm:

Apart from the general reason of increasing the morale, motivation, involvement and productivity of staff, there are other streamlined reasons why firms carry out performance appraisal exercises. These reasons include;

• To provide feedback on individual performance in a given period: Firms employ because of the need they want met. During appraisals, firms find out if employees are adding value to the firm or not.
• To plan for future Promotion: As a reward for performance, employees are promoted and given greater responsibilities and authorities. Performance appraisal or review is needed to know staff who are due for promotion.
• As a succession Planning tool: Dynamic and future oriented firms plan for tomorrow leaders today by planning how to hand over power, authority, and running of the firm in advance. Perfomance appraisal exercise showcases employees who are future leaders.
• To assess Training and Development needs of employees: A good performance appraisal exercise reveals training needs of employees.
• Provides Information for salary planning: After appraisal, some staff are promoted to the next level, which attracts salary and allowances increment. Also some staff who are not promoted are rewarded with gifts or salary increment too. This assists in planning for staff salaries.
• Career Planning: Career planning is a corporate organizational issue. After appraisals, it is always found out that most employees are working in departments they have little or no flair for. This generally affects their individual as well as general corporate performance. Performance appraisal results help in planning and repositioning employees career.

It should be noted that performance appraisal is a very important aspect of organization future growth and positioning as such it should be carried out with all seriousness and sincerity. The Human resources person should be able to advice all supervisors and managers before every appraisal exercise to avoid getting a biased result, which will ultimately affect the general productivity of the firm. Supervisor /Managers should avoid elements of favoritism or emotions during appraisals. Most Managers use appraisal exercise as a time to get back at subordinates. This is a wrong approach to appraisal. Appraisal exercises should be fair and without bias. Before a manager can appraise his subordinate, he should be able to know the employee very well, the company goals, the products /services they are handling, their customers, other colleagues, the target given to the staff etc before a fair and non biased judgment can be given.

Finally for any Performance appraisal exercise to be successful and without prejudice, the Goals set must be “SMART”. This means that the goals must be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and with a Time Frame. Individual goals must be aligned with corporate organizational goals. Employee self-evaluation/assessment must be included in the assessment form. The Supervisor and subordinate must be allowed to participate in the review. The ratings must be clearly stated with reasons for each rating. There must be a final column for the Human Resources personnel to evaluate the review and make a final recommendation for Managements approval.

CORE ROLES OF A HR PROFESSIONAL

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The human resources department is one of the most important departments in an organization. Almost all the activities of an organization revolve around the HR department. A Human resource professional must perform a lot of functions and roles in an organization towards the actualization of the corporate goals and objectives of the firm in a way to drive the organization’s vision and mission.
The core roles of a human resources person are grouped into four broad roles that must be carried out professionally. The Human resources professional must be all of these;

A STRATEGIC PARTNER TO HIS ORGANISATION.
AN ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERT.
A CHANGE AGENT.
AN EMPLOYEE CHAMPION.

As a strategic partner, the HR professional must be able to partner with the organization in developing plans that will align the human resources of the firm with the long term corporate goals and vision of the firm. He should be able to contribute to business strategy development by aligning HR jobs with strategic goals. He should be able to provide tools and create an enabling environment to actualize these goals. He is the eyes of his firm in the outside world and should be a liaison between his firm and the society, environment and government. He should be able to analyze work processes and recommend improvements where necessary. He should develop policies that will benefit the firm, Management and employees alike.

As an Administrative expert, the HR professional is expected to carry out administrative duties like providing the necessary tools needed for the organization to operate successfully. He should be able to manage the overall labour costs in his organization and plan for administrative budgets. As an administrative expert, the HR person should be an information manager. He should have at all times all data relating to employees and make same available ಅಟ್ all times. The HR person should be able to discover new and evolving trends that will be beneficial to the company and advise Management accordingly. He should always conduct research to find out what is obtainable in other firms that makes them tick and advise management. The HR person should be able ತ manage HR budgets (recruitment, selection, training and development, etc. He should be a good negotiaಟು r in times of salary decisions.

As a Change agent, he should be able to find out new ways of doing things that can move the company forward. He should be able to convince Management on the need for the change and address employees about changes. He should coordinate and facilitate the change process. He is to provide the tools and structures needed during change period. As an expert, he should be able to create a new organizational change without disrupting the firms business.

As an Employee Champion, the HR professional should be able to manage the selection, recruitment, training, development, career planning, performance management, succession planning, and Staff retention exercises. He is to determine the long term human resources needs, assess current resources and determine area of changes. He is to determine whether human resources needs can be sourced internally or externally. He is to conduct training needs assessment, to determine the type of training that will benefit the staff and organization. Conduct and arrange for trainings and determine the training results on the productivity of the firm. The HR professional manages and carries out career management in a way to align the employees’ dreams with the organizational requirements. Also as an employee champion, the HR expert is to carry out performance appraisal exercises to determine staff performances in their present responsibilities a well as determining those that will be rewarded, promoted, demoted and recognized. As an employee champion he should be involved in grievance handling and disciplinary issues in the firm. He is to handle all employee related matters like leave issues, medicals, pension matters, housing and general welfare issues.

In summary a HR professional should be able to perform the following functions; Manpower planning, recruitment, compensation and salary issues, employee development and administration, Training and career development, labour relations and discipline management, personnel transfer and movement, performance management Human resources information system, payroll, organizational development etc.

SELECTION AND RECRUITMENT PROCESS

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The most important job of a Human Resources person is the selection and hiring/recruitment of employees. It cannot be faulted that the success of any firm depends on the quality of human resources or talents in that firm. This is why it is very important for any human resources expert to be very sure of hiring the right staff without compromising anything from the onset. The questions behind your mind while sourcing for talents should be can these staff deliver? What are their strengths? Can they fit into the corporate goal and objectives of the firm? What are their competencies? Can they be trained? Can they pursue the vision of the firm? What values are they bringing into the organization? Are they coming to use our firm as a learning ground and move on with their career somewhere else? Can we count on them to fit into the succession plan of the company? Etc. Answers to these questions and more are why selection and recruitment seems to be an onerous task. It cannot be argued that most applicants fake their qualifications and experiences just to impress interviewers and get the job. It is very important then for interviewers to look beyond the physical to determine how suitable an applicant is. This brings us to the issue of the competency analysis of those to be interviewed. Competency test is always one of the important selection strategies. This is because it goes beyond what eyes can see. It checks the behaviours of the applicants as well as their characteristics, which influences and drives their performance on the job. A competency can then be seen as the underlying characteristics of a person which enables him to deliver or not deliver superior performances in a given job, role or situation.
The competency of a candidate can be seen in his Skills, educational qualifications, Knowledge, abilities, achievements, strengths, social roles, self image, Traits and Motives. Where the candidate’s skills, educational qualifications, knowledge, abilities, achievements, strengths and weaknesses can be easily identified, his Traits and Motives are always hidden in the core of the candidate. The Motive and Traits of different candidates are always what separates the chaff from the juice. This then means that interviewers should pay more attention during selection exercises in the motives and traits of candidates more than their qualifications and experiences.
When there is an opening in a firm, it is always very important for the Human resources department to check inwardly if there is any existing staff that can fit perfectly into that position. If none, the next step should be to look outwardly. While placing the advert, it is also very important for the HR person to know the job requirements for that position, the educational qualification needed, number of years of experiences on the job, the job description, the gender of the person needed etc. These will help in knowing the content of the advert placement.
It is also always very important for the advert to specify that each candidate should have his profile and career summary in the first page of the resume. This will make the short-listing job simple.
Bearing all these in mind, the selection and recruitment process will flow as easy as ABC. For a guide, a typical selection and recruitment process should follow the sequence below:

• Be aware that there is a vacancy / opening in your organization.
• Analyze the position/s requirements. Learn everything about the job, the processes, performance; the skills needed, the traits, the competencies, salary range etc.
• Vacancy announcement. Place the vacancy in your website as well as in one or two dailies as the case may be. Be sure the daily you are to use has wide readership.
• Start your short listing, having in mind the job description and requirements.
• Depending on the number you have in mind, shortlist many candidates for the pretest selection to give you a variety of choice.
• Conduct the test exercise (for entry job levels mostly).
• Prepare interview questions for the pre-screening interview.
• Conduct the pre-screening interview (to trim down the number of candidates.)
• Prepare more practical questions for the next stage of the interview.
• Make your selection and present to the Management for the final selection.
• Conduct your background checks/reference checks on the successful candidates.
• Recruit the successful candidates.
• Conduct employee orientation.
• Hand over a copy of the employee Handbook to each of them.
• Place them on probationary period before confirmation of appointments.
  
  Thank you for reading and don’t fail to read about the CORE ROLES OF A HR PROFESSIONAL in my next blog.
  

SUCCESSION PLANNING IN ORGANISATIONS

Great firms and entrepreneurs always plan for the future of their businesses today. There is one popular Ibo saying that says, “Nothing stays forever”. Check out all the successful businesses in the world today, the secret of their success stories will not be far from good leadership and governance. The question then is what happens to these businesses when these good leaders are no more? The truth is that one day, somehow they will leave these businesses. That very agile and hardworking Director today will someday grow old, weak and retire. On the other hand, death they say is a necessary and an inevitable end, which must come when it must. We are also faced with that same question, “what happens to these companies when these good, vibrant, successful and hardworking Directors, Managers, Supervisors and Officers are no more active or in the system? This brings us to issue of Succession Planning. I have said it before in one of my blogs that he who fails to plan is planning to fail.
Succession planning can be defined in many ways, but they all boil down to making the necessary preparations and dotting all the I’s and crossing all the T’s towards who steps into a given position in a company at any future time. In a more professional approach, Succession planning can be seen as the process of preparing in advance to hand over power, authority, responsibilities and control in a professional manner without disrupting the operations, values, culture and goals of the organization.
It is always advisable to have succession plans written and documented in advance so that at any future time it will not be a Herculean task to have somebody succeeding another if the need arises. Succession plans should not be made available to all staff to avoid people pushing their ways through to a given position.
The ugly truth is that most businesses in the world today do not have formal and written succession plans. This normally causes problems when there is need for replacement of an exiting Officer.
In most cases succession planning is more difficult in one-man businesses. Succession plans should be of paramount importance to family businesses because of the informal ways such businesses are carried out. Assuming the sole owner of a vibrant business is retiring, the question is what happens to the business when he retires? Does he have grown up children who can manage the business? If yes, which of them will hold which position? What if the youngest of them all has the best experience and most hardworking of the children? On the other hand, does he want to sell the business? Well all these questions will be taken care of through a very thorough succession plan. Even if the sole owner dies without informing his family about this plan, the company lawyer can still implement this plan when he is no more. Succession plan is even of high importance in a one-man business because of the family attachment and emotions involved. Most one-man businesses die with the sudden death of their owners because of non-existence of a formal succession plan. There is no doubt that succession plans give way to smooth transition programs.
In case of a sole proprietorship, the plan takes care of who takes up which Management position, who inherits what share of the business and so on. The owner may decide to hand over the Management to his last child if he shows the best trait of leadership and have all his children share equally in the shares of the business.
In public firms, succession planning helps the firm to identify talented staff and develop them for future higher responsibilities through trainings and development especially when they show leadership traits. The plan ensures you can fill the key roles of your organization within the talents you have in the organization.
In other words, we can say that succession plan entails choosing tomorrows leaders today. Due to changes in technology and advancements in global strategies, there is the need to identify future managers who can meet up with such challenges.
This is also true for small firms as well as large ones. It's not just succession to the top positions. It's about getting the right person in place for every job. It may happen that some of tomorrow's key jobs may not even exist now. If a firm plans to double in size and business line say in the next five or ten years, they will need more talented managers to take over during the growth period.
Succession plan involves leadership development. The only way to attract and keep good staff is to have a good career plan that has good succession plan in place, which will make them not to look elsewhere.

It is very important for firms to see succession plan as a very important organizational growth strategy. It is always a job that is carried out by the Human Resources department in conjunction with the Directors, CEO’s and Management team as the case may be depending on the type and size of the firm.
When there is a formal succession plan in place, it builds confidence in employees and reduces incessant employee turnover as what they are looking for elsewhere is already in the organization they are working for.
Like earlier said, Succession planning is the job of top executives in conjunction with the HR department and some times, some consultants are engaged to contribute in the decision. It is supposed to be updated periodically because an employee who is found eligible today may not be in the next few months or years. We can also notice a situation where those eligible staff who have been drafted to take over certain positions in the future leaving the company before that time.
From the foregoing, we can conveniently say that Succession planning involves identifying and monitoring the pool of talent in the organization and matching them with the future needs.
In succession planning, those who are always considered fit to be in the system are always decided through their inbuilt talents, competencies (both hidden and clear cut competencies), their leadership traits, their exposure to new technologies and innovations, the ability to develop themselves (educationally, training wise etc), their inbuilt potentials, ability to lean new things and to adapt to changes etc.
While planning for succession, gender, tribe ,age or number of years put in the organization should never be a yardstick for decision making.
In a nutshell, Succession planning should be carried out systematically for a good result following the steps below;

• Deploy a succession management process.Make it a corporate issue in the organization that will be linked with the general organizational goals and objectives.
• Human resources department should be responsible for the tools and processes associated with successful succession planning and should liaise and work hand in hand with the line managers for best results.
• Identify your talent pool and discover the future leaders. (Note that this should be a continuous exercise).
• Start focusing on the identified future leaders.
• Engage the identified future leaders with greater responsibilities than they had before.
• Keep an eye on them to match their results with the assignments given to them.
• Always find out what they have flair for and try to align their responsibilities in that direction.
• Train and develop where necessary for better results.
• Monitor and assess performance and make your decision.
  
  The truth is that most companies today do not have any succession plan. That is really a wrong approach to business, especially for those businesses that want to grow and stand the test of time. Today is the right time to start. Start planning today to avoid future organizational wreck.
  See you next time.

INTERVIEW TIPS TO GET THAT DREAM JOB

Interview sessions are always very stressful and full of tension. It does not matter how many years working experiences you have or the number of interview sessions you have attended in the past. The simple truth is that no matter the number of interviews you have attended in the past, two interviews can never be the same. You meet different types of interviews at every interview. Some interviewers are naturally friendly and give you lead to answers to their questions and check out how you manage them, but others are unfriendly and harsh and put you under pressure even when you feel you are well prepared for the interview. The worst thing that can happen to an interviewee is when he is not prepared for an interview or when he does not know anything about the company he wants to work with or still when he does not even know the position he is about to be interviewed for. You may see this as strange but as an interviewer, we see these things happen every time. Before you go for any interview, take time to prepare. Ask your self this question, even if you are a genius, before you go in for an exam, don’t you read and get your self-ready for the exam? Of course you will otherwise you are doomed. There is this popular saying that "if one fails to plan, he has planned to fail". There are no two ways about success. YOU MUST PLAN.
Take time to review relevant job possible interview questions and answers. Give your self a mock interview. Prepare as many questions as possible that you expect to be asked and get ready answers to these questions.
It is very important to know all about the company you are being interviewed for. You will look like one who is not serious when you are asked simple questions like, what the company is into, and you don’t have an answer to that. It simply tells the interviewer that you are not ready for the interview and it also shows that you don’t even know what you want.
Make sure you are well qualified for the position you are being interviewed for. Be ready to know all your skills, competencies, abilities and how you can use them to add value to the company. Note that the company is not employing you because you are handsome/pretty, or because you have the necessary qualifications, no it is because you can fill the gap the have by adding value to them. It can be compared with somebody going to the market to buy a product. One buys a product because that product will be able to fill his need and give him satisfaction. If the need is not filled and satisfaction is not attained, the product is a waste.

TIPS ON HOW TO GET THAT DREAM JOB:
· Make sure you are prepared.
· Be sure you know much about the company (what they do, their business, their Vision and Mission statements etc)
· Know the requirements for the position you are to be interviewed for.
· Arrive at worst 30 minutes before the interview time.(it will make you to relax and reduce tension in you)
· Don’t sit idle while waiting to be called in, you can read newspapers or ask questions about some things you want to know from either the receptionist or any one you meet in the company)
· A few minutes before you go in for the interview, visit the rest room, check your hair, suit, tie and practice that confident smile. (This will reassure you of your confidence).
· Men make sure your hair is well cut and ladies have a good hair do.
· When you walk into the Interview room, be confident and put on an attractive smile.
· Greet the panel members.
· PLEASE DO NOT SIT DOWN unless you are asked to.
· When they have returned your greetings and still did not ask you to sit, politely ask, “can I sit down sirs/Madam?”
· Manage the interview.
· Be in control (Talk only when you are asked to, but be in control and manage the interview by letting them know what you want them to know about you. Use every question to portray the value you are bringing into the firm).
· Sell your self. If you don’t say I am, remember no body can say “You Are” so go ahead and tell them what they want to hear.
· Talk about your achievements. Show value to the employer. That is what he wants to employ and not you, but your value.
· DON’T LIE. Say the truth only about your achievements. A lie may take care of the present, but remember a lie has no future. (Its better you say you don’t know but are willing to learn, than you know and they find out that you don’t know. (Integrity).
· Ask a lot of questions relating to the jobs you will be doing. Show interest in working with them and prove your readiness to add value.
· VERY IMPORTANT: Make sure all you have in your resume/c.v are true and that you can defend them anywhere any time.
· Most interviewers invite you for an interview because of what you claim you have in your resume/C.V. (it will be too bad if you can’t prove what you have in your resume. (Integrity)
· Always have copies of your resume available during an interview.
· Always come with your credentials even if you are not told to bring them.(Originals and Photocopies of each).
· During the interview don’t avoid eye contact with the interviewers.
· Always put on a smile while answering questions (Employers like happy people).
· Do not ask about salary or remunerations unless you are asked to. (Otherwise it will seem as if you are only interested in money and not the job. Remember they want to hire you for what you will do for them).
· NEVER SAY BAD ABOUT YOUR FORMER OR CURRENT EMPLOYER. (Even if they are not treating you well).

MOST THINGS EMPLOYERS ARE LOOKING FOR IN A CANDIDATE:

• Somebody that is experienced.
• A responsible person
• One who can be trusted
• One who can be led or who can lead.
• A team player or Team builder.
• One that is willing and able to do his job.
• One that has great listening and communication skills.
• One that can fit into the culture, goal, dream and vision of the company with ease.

SOME COMMON AND GENERAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS:

To get that your dream job, you should be able to expect such questions as these ones discussed here. There are no stereo typed ways of answering them. Make sure you prepare them before going for an interview and have ready answers to them incase they are asked during the interview session. Before you set off for an interview, make sure that you have gone through them and are very confident that if they come you can handle them with ease. The good thing about these interview questions is that even if they don’t come direct, you can figure them out and manage them in your own way.You should be able to handle such questions about;

• Your employment History. (Name or names of companies you have worked with in the past, Positions you held, Dates of holding such positions, your remuneration packages, why you left those job/s, your achievements.)
• You should be able to know the responsibilities you carried out, your achievements etc.
• The major challenges you faced and how you where able to handle them.
• Your greatest Strengths and Weaknesses.
• Your biggest accomplishment and Failure in your last job.
• Why you left your last job
• What you have been doing since you left your last job
• If you are still working, why do you want to leave your current job.
• If you where fired, why where you fired?
• You should be able to describe your typical day at work.(what you do from arrival at the office till you close for the day).
• How do you handle stress from work and home and still keep afloat?
• You should be able to know what motivates you. (Please never mention money).
• If you are asked about yourself. (You should be able to manage the question well to say about your achievements so far).
• You should be able to know your salary expectation. (Remember, do your enquiry before hand so that you will not under price or over price your self)
• How can you describe your self as a team player ( Give examples of how you have been involved in team work and your contributions in that team.)
• What do you want in a job? You should be able to establish the things that interest you in the job, but don’t forget to manage it to suit what the employer likes.
• Why should we hire you? You should know your qualifications, your attributes, your skills, your competencies and job accomplishments.
• What do you know about our company? Of course you should have done your research before hand, so you should be able to tell them what their business is, and lot more.
• What can you contribute to this company? Just like the other question, your knowledge, competencies, skills and abilities are what they are looking for to fill that need.
• Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?, What are your goals for the next 5 years?, etc These questions are just trying to find out if you have a plan to grow with them or just to get the job today and jump out tomorrow.

Interview questions are limitless. Just take your time and go through these questions. Prepare answers that will favour you, Manage the questions put to you to favour yourself and believe me, you are already waiting for your employment letter. But dont forget, the employers need you because of what you can do for them,because of that need they have which you can fill. So let them know how you can add value to their establishment .GOOD LUCK AND SEE YOU NEXT TIME.

EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK

Employee Handbook can be seen as a policy or guide document in a company that details what is expected of a staff, his dos, don’ts, rights, expectations etc. It is a document that contains all the employee needs to refer to at all times to meet the terms and conditions of his/her employment. The content of an employee handbook varies from company to company. This variation may be because of type of company, size of the company and the overall objective and goal of the firm. A well-prepared employee handbook removes the confusion and doubt resulting from what employers should expect from their employees or vise versa.
For a small entrepreneurship business, the sole owner normally writes the handbook to align with his reasons for establishing the business and all that he expects from his employees. In the case of a large establishment, this is normally the work of the Human Resources department or any other committee that may be formed for the sole purpose of preparing the handbook.
Preparing an employee handbook is always a very tedious and sensitive job to do, as it has to put into consideration the expectations of both employers and employees alike. It is so because once the handbook is prepared and circulated as a working document, the information therein becomes policies and guides to action for both the employees and employers.
Policies, procedures, rules, guides, and regulations are always decided in advance and agreed upon by those formulating them and passed on to the Management or decision makers for final approval before they are put down in print and circulated as working documents. These ideas agreed on are always presented in simple and straightforward manner by choosing short words that represent the actual reasoning and ideas of those formulating the rules.
The contents and policies in an employee handbook should be reviewed periodically by the Human Resources department and amendments effected to reflect the corrections and additions to the existing handbook.
New staff after going through the process of recruitment and orientation is always handed over a copy of the employee handbook to guide him and expose him to all that is expected of him and his rights as an employee of the company. Also, any time the employee handbook is reviewed, the updated version is always circulated to both the existing and new staff alike to keep them abreast of the changes and additions. In most cases, it is advisable to get feedback from existing staff during review periods to assess their opinions on the policies in the handbook. Such feedbacks will help Management to decide on the type of changes and additions to be made to improve working conditions as well as productivity.
When employee handbook is being drafted, it is always important to be sure that the policies to be added are in conformity with the company’s growth plans, philosophies, goals and objectives.
It is always good to include disclaimers at the introduction of an employee handbook to avoid staff seeing the handbook as an employment contract. This is done normally to avoid future litigation from employees whose employment may be terminated. It is always very necessary and advisable to have your legal department or your company lawyer to review the handbook before it is circulated to make sure it conforms with the current federal, state and local government laws of employment.

The employee handbook is a very important document in an organization because it communicates to the employee what the employer expects him to do at all time as well as what the company has to provide for him to assist him in carrying out his duties.
Another importance of employee handbook is that it makes the employer to abide by the laid down policies as stipulated in the handbook instead of favouring one staff over another for no just reason.
The employee handbook also provides a very good teamwork environment, as employees know that they will be treated equally as stated in the policy document (handbook).

A very good and well-written employee handbook should start its introduction like this;

“ This Employee Handbook establishes Laws, Policies, Procedures, Rules and Regulations, Guides to action, Benefits and Working Conditions that will be followed by all XYZ Co. Ltd. Employees as a condition for their employment at the company.
Note that this XYZ Co Ltd. Employee handbook is not a contract of your employment and is not intended to create a contractual obligation in any way for the company.
The Regulations, policies and procedures outlined in this employee handbook will be applied at the discretion of XYZ Co Ltd. Note also that XYZ Co Ltd reserves the right to deviate from the policies, procedures, benefits, and working conditions described in this handbook. Furthermore, the Company reserves the right to withdraw or change the policies, procedures, benefits, and working conditions described in this handbook at any time. But the Company will make every effort to notify employees when an official change in policy or procedure has been made though employees are responsible for their own up-to-date knowledge about changes in the Company policies, procedures, benefits, and working conditions…………………………………..”.

A Typical Employee Handbook should have all the following;

• Your Company Logo
• Your Company Name
• Company Mission Statement
• Company Vision Statement.
• Title Page
• Introduction
• Disclaimer
• Career Opportunities

About Employment Strategies:

Everything under employment guidelines including, but not limited to the following should be addressed under employment:

• Equal Opportunity Employment
• Eligibility For Employment
• Familial Employment
• Part-Time Employment
• Minimum Wage
• Criminal Convictions
• Violence Weapons
• Alcohol, Drugs & Illegal Substance Abuse
• Sexual and Other Unlawful Harassment
• Domestic Violence
• Statement of Job Postings
• Seniority ,Grade Levels
• Union
• Employment Evaluation
• Bonus
• Personnel File

Rules and Regulations:
The rules and regulations to be included in the handbook should cover such areas as, but not limited to;

• Absenteeism
• Accidents
• Benefits
• Dressing/Dress code for both sexes
• Coffee break/Lunch break
• Complaints
• Confidentiality of work
• Decorum
• Discrimination
• Conflicts
• Termination
• Resignation
• Dismissals
• Emergencies
• Fire
• Intoxication
• Misconduct
• Discipline
• Office supplies usage
• Ordering of supplies
• Organizational chart
• Orientation
• Overtime
• Allowances
• Parking for employees
• Resumption Time
• Closing Time
• Pay periods
• Pension plans
• Housing Plan
• Medicals
• Annual Leave
• Sick Leave
• Casual Leave
• Leave allowance
• Compassionate Leave
• Personal mail
• Personal phone calls
• Personal visitors
• Probationary periods
• Professional ethics
• Promotions
• Re-employment rights
• Retirement
• Salary calculations
• Salary deductions
• Schedule of work
• Smoking policies
• Tardiness
• Temporary employment
• Work evaluation /Appraisal
• Work habits
• Work periods
• Working hours
  Etc.

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

Training and Development is the framework for helping employees to develop their personal and organizational skills, knowledge, and abilities. The focus of all aspects of Human Resource Development is on developing the most superior workforce so that the organization and individual employees can accomplish their work goals in service to customers.

All employees want to be valuable and remain competitive in the labour market at all times. This can only be achieved through employee training and development. Employees will always want to develop career-enhancing skills, which will always lead to employee motivation and retention. There is no doubt that a well trained and developed staff will be a valuable asset to the company and thereby increasing the chances of his efficiency in discharging his or her duties.
Trainings in an organization can be mainly of two types; Internal and External training sessions. Internal training involves when training is organized in-house by the Human resources department or training department using either a senior staff or any talented staff in the particular department as a resource person.
On the other hand External training is normally arranged outside the firm and is mostly organized by training institutes or consultants. Whichever training, it is very essential for all staff and helps in building career positioning and preparing staff for greater challenges.

Employers of labour should enable employees to pursue training and development in a direction that they choose and are interested in, not just in company-assigned directions. Companies should support learning, in general, and not just in support of knowledge needed for the employee’s current or next anticipated job. It should be noted that the key factor is keeping the employee interested, attending, engaged, motivated and retained.

For every employee to perform well especially Supervisors and Managers, there is need for constant training and development. The right employee training, development and education provides big payoffs for the employer in increased productivity, knowledge, loyalty, and contribution to general growth of the firm. In most cases external trainings for instance provide participants with the avenue to meet new set of people in the same field and network. The meeting will give them the chance to compare issues and find out what is obtainable in each other’s environment. This for sure will introduce positive changes where necessary.

REASONS FOR EMPLOYEE TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT:
The reasons behind employee training and development cannot be overemphasized. From our discussions so far, one can easily deduce some reasons behind firms engaging in training and developing their staff. We will summarize some of the reasons thus;

• When needs arise as a result of findings from the outcome of performance appraisal.
• As part of professional development plan.
• As part of succession planning to help an employee be eligible for a planned change in role in the organization.
• To imbibe and inculcate a new technology in the system.
• Because of the dynamic nature of the business world and changing technologies.
  
  SOME TOPICS TREATED IN EMPLOYEE TRAININGS:
• Communications: The increasing diversity of today's workforce brings a wide variety of languages and customs, thus staff should be able to be very good in both written and verbal communication.
• Computer skills: Computer skills are becoming a necessity for conducting administrative and office tasks. In this era of technological advancement, computer skills are very necessary for almost of departments in an organization.
• Customer service: Increased competition in today's global marketplace makes it critical that employees understand and meet the needs of customers. The firm that stands out from the crowd is that firm that puts its customers first before every other goal. Then the need to always train staff on customer service.
• Diversity: This includes explanation about people and their different perspectives and views, and how this can be handled.
• Ethics: There are divergent ethics in different firms. Some firms attach more importance to certain issues like moral, work period, latness etc than other issues. Today's society has increasing expectations about corporate social responsibility. Also, today's diverse workforce brings a wide variety of values and morals to the workplace. This calls for the need for staff to be reminded of these always through training and development.
• Human relations: The increased stresses of today's workplace can include misunderstandings and conflict. Training can help people to get along in the workplace with good understanding of each other and the office inter personal relationship to reduce official conflict.
• Quality Management: Initiatives such as Total Quality Management, Quality Circles, benchmarking, etc., require basic training about quality concepts, guidelines and standards for quality, etc.
• Safety: Safety training is critical where working with heavy equipment, hazardous chemicals, repetitive activities etc. Staff should be made to understand that despite the fact that they have a safety department, the safety of each staff is in his /her own hands.
  
  
  BENEFITS OF EMPLOYEE TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT:
• Increased job satisfaction and morale among employees.
• Better inter personal relationship and customer satisfaction.
• Increased employee motivation.
• Increased efficiencies in processes, resulting in improved financial gain.
• Increased capacity to adopt new technologies and methods.
• Increased innovation in strategies and products.
• Reduced employee turnover.
• Enhanced company image.
• Better Risk management and staff safety consciousness.
• Increase in productivity.

EMPLOYEE RETENTION

We all know that business is all about people. The success and failure of every organization depends on the quality of people found in the organization. Sourcing for and recruiting the best hands in an organization is not just all it requires. For an organization to grow and stand out in its industry, the best set of people should be sourced, selected, recruited and retained.
Employee retention is of paramount importance and a critical issue in an organization. Retaining your best hands ensures customer satisfaction, improved sales, satisfied co-workers, effective and balanced relationship between staff and management, effective succession planning, general growth of the culture and ethics of the organization.
One very important adage says that if one does not value the importance of knowledge, then one should try ignorance. This goes a long way to explain the benefits of sourcing, recruiting and retaining the right staff in an organization. The cost of frequent employee turnover in an organization can be felt in the areas of the cost attached to selection, recruitment, orientation, induction, training and developing such staff. Failing to retain a key employee is very costly infarct more costly than recruiting a new one.
Employee retention is very important also because of its societal perception. When a firm starts loosing its staff especially the good ones, it does not say well about the health of the firm to the society. Employee retention is one of the primary measures of the health of your organization. If you are losing critical staff members, you can safely bet that other people in their departments will not be comfortable most especially when you are loosing such staff they are looking up to. Exit interviews with departing employees provide valuable information you can use to retain remaining staff, but most companies do not even care about conducting an exit interview when they have staff exit.

TIPS TO RETAIN YOUR EMPLOYEES:

Employ the best staff available in the Labour Market: The very first and important tip to retaining your staff is making sure that you go for the best staff the labour market is ready to offer. Most recruiters compromise this by employing their friends, brothers, sisters and relations. The result of this is that the norm, culture and ethics of the organization are always pushed aside.
Satisfy your employees: A satisfied employee knows exactly what is expected of him at all times. Creating unnecessary and unhealthy stress in a work in environment keeps people on edge and always questions their job security.
Authority and Responsibility lines should be clearly stated: An employee should be able to have a clear knowledge of his daily, weekly and monthly expectations as well as his line of reporting clearly stated. Both the supervisor and the supervised should feel valued at all times as employee turnover may result when any feels unvalued.
Avenue for Feedback: A good firm must provide an avenue for a total and complete feedback structure. The firm should be able to solicit ideas and provide avenue in which people are comfortable to say their minds. Employees should feel belonged to the firm, provide ideas, suggestions, citicise, and be heard. Any thing less than this will make the employee feel deprived and not belonging to the firm.
Develop their Talents and Skills: Training and development is very important in career Management. A well-trained staff will be motivated to add value to him self and his organization. New trends and technology is evolving now and then, and all firms should be able to update their staff with current information and technology at all times.
All staff should be treated with fairness and equity: Staff salary structure should be clearly defined, career path should be clearly established and staff should be rewarded accordingly with performance and not because the staff is related to the CEO or GM.
Recognition: When a staff achieves a great feat, he should be recognized and rewarded accordingly. Nothing motivates a staff like recognition for performance met.
DON’T threaten a staff with his job: Give a staff a target and encourage him to do his best. Do not keep on hammering in his ears that you will sack him if he does not perform. This may add to him not performing as he will become nervous and be on his toes to look for other opportunities outside instead of concentrating to do his job.
Your staff must be REWARDED, APPRECIATED & RECOGNISED. Thank you, well done, that’s a good one, cudos etc makes a staff feel rewarded and happy as well as being motivated to do more. Also monetary rewards, gifts and bonuses are tools to retain your good and performing staff. Where these are lacking when a staff is performing, makes the staff to look for where he will be appreciated for a job well done.

These tips for sure will help any organization to retain their good staff and reduce the cases of employee turnover.

TALENT MANAGEMENT

It is not always easy to come up with a concise and straightforward definition of terms such as the above, more so when there are a lot of authorities who are involved in giving different constructive views of such terms.
In simple but concise terms, Talent Management (TM) is the harmonization and management of talents in a firm, company or organization. Talents here comprises employee educational qualifications, skills, strengths, trainings acquired, traits, habit, motive, knowledge, abilities, potentials etc. It is very true that all activities carried out in an organization revolve around Talent Management.
Every organization practices TM in one-way or the other. The difference between an organization and another is mostly in the area of the degree of involvement. In so far as a firm is involved in Recruitment, Selection, Placement, Training and Development, Performance Management, Reward / Compensation /Benefit handling, then Talent Management is practiced.
Essentially Talent Management involves;
· Recruiting: Does the firm have a formal recruitment processes to recruit internally or externally?
· Career Management: Is there clarity in the career path for the employees?
· Succession Planning: Are there clear-cut plans for who steps into which position at which time. This involves matching current potentials with future organizational demands.
· Performance Management: This should be able to tell us how each staff performs in his/her present responsibilities. A very good performance Management should be able to unfold the following; those who need to be rewarded, those who need to be cautioned, those who need additional responsibilities, Staff training and development needs, Promotions, Demotions etc.
· Reward Management: Talent Management will not succeed without a system that clearly defines performance results. Average, Superior and Outstanding performers in an organization should be rewarded differently otherwise outstanding performers for instance will not be motivated to work harder.

TM should not be solely the work of the HR department alone, all Middle and Line Managers have roles to play in every successful TM in an organization.

GENERAL OVER VIEW OF HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT.

THE JOB:

The main job of a Human Resources Manager is to Plan, direct, and coordinate human resource management activities of an organization to maximize the strategic use of human resources and maintain functions such as employee compensation, recruitment, personnel policies, and regulatory compliance.

THE TASK:
The human resources expert has to perform the underlisted tasks exceptionally and wth zeal at all times during his/her practice as a professional;

- Administer compensation, benefits and performance management systems, and safety and recreation programs.
- Identify staff vacancies and recruit, interview and select applicants.
- Allocate human resources, ensuring appropriate matches between personnel.
- Provide current and prospective employees with information about policies, job duties, working conditions, wages, opportunities for promotion and employee benefits.
- Perform difficult staffing duties, including dealing with understaffing, refereeing disputes, firing employees, and administering disciplinary procedures.
- Advise managers on organizational policy matters such as equal employment opportunity and sexual harassment, and recommend needed changes.
- Analyze and modify compensation and benefits policies to establish competitive programs and ensure compliance with legal requirements.
- Plan and conduct new employee orientation to foster positive attitude toward organizational objectives.
- Serve as a link between management and employees by handling questions, interpreting and administering contracts and helping resolve work-related problems.
- Plan, direct, supervise, and coordinate work activities of subordinates and staff relating to employment, compensation, labor relations, and employee relations.


KNOWLEDGE:

As a human resources expert, you are supposed to be fully knowledgeable in the following areas to be able to perform very well and successfully as a HR guru.;


- Personnel and Human Resources — Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- English Language — Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- Customer and Personal Service — Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Administration and Management — Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Law and Government — Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Clerical — Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
- Education and Training — Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Economics and Accounting — Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
- Psychology — Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Mathematics — Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

SPECIAL SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

- Active Listening — Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Management of Personnel Resources — Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Reading Comprehension — Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
- Writing — Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Speaking — Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Negotiation — Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Time Management — Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Social Perceptiveness — Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Critical Thinking — Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
- Instructing — Teaching others how to do something.