The need to invest in human capital

The need to invest in human capital 

Companies must focus on performance improvement through staff development

An auto component unit in India employing around 400 staff had ambitions targets for achieving continuous improvement through productivity, and succeeded. They met their targets through integrated programs to invest in new technology equipment, improve work culture and develop the skills of everybody at the work site.

By empowering staff to solve work-related problems, make decisions and continuously improve performance themselves, fostering excellent team work, reducing layers of management and promoting greater operating flexibility among people, they succeeded. The company operated without an HR head because all managers functioned as human resource development (HRD) managers.

The company closely worked with a productivity council and a reputed HR school, with the council supporting a successful and innovation open learning center. The center offers wide-ranging and highly cost-effective training, particularly for shift workers.

Discussion with partners led on to their getting an “investors in People” award. The company was interested, not so much in changing well-established policies, but in using the principal country standard as a benchmark.

Their commitment to continuing, long-term development and investment in people is one part – a key part of their carefully integrated plans. The company has achieved a productivity improvements gain of 35%, has been able to implement a leaner, flatter managerial structure, has met ambitious quality targets, and integrated people development into business performance.

If employees are not developed in a way that achieves customer focus, little improvement will be seen because it is people and their attitude towards customers that make systems and procedures work. Training intervention must be the basis for improving business performance.

Career Advice

Staff must be empowered to solve work-related problems

Long-term development of and investment in people vital

Training intervention must be a core aspect of business strategy.

Following the success recipe in totality.

Following the success recipe in totality.

We all have access to the worlds proven strategies and recipes of success.

I recently visited the doctors clinic and after his diagnosis , he wrote some prescription for me. I had a severe flu and he gave me a variety of medicine along with very specific instructions regarding the quantity intake of each medicine within specific intervals of time.

Prescription drugs will only be effective if you follow the doctor’s exact instructions. But what will happen if you consult the world’s best doctor but ignore the prescription? If you only choose among the prescribed medicine, take what you like and modify its quantity and schedule, you know what is going to happen.

Similarly, we have access to the world’s best proven strategies and recipes of success, we have brilliant case studies in the form of autobiographies of successful people, and we also have living examples in our surroundings.

However, you might wonder why many people are still not successful with such “open secrets of success” accessible to everyone. The answer is loud and clear. The issue is not about those success recipes, it is about the people who are not following the recipes in totality.

Every proven success recipe has something in common discipline,integrity , emotional maturity, courtesy, continuous learning clarity of goals, learning from mistakes, positive , mindset, among others.

But what happens if we are not consistent? Ignore one out of many and the desired result will either not happen or will not be sustainable.

So, if you are not still asking why you are not successful yet, then review your success recipe, Have you diagnosed by now where the missing link of your success lies?.

Building the culture of accountability.

Building the culture of accountability.

Help people achieve organizational goals through experience and common sense

How do managers do their jobs? How does the decision-making process look like? Is it identical with the task of managing?

 A chief officer once said all the information required to make a full rational decision is never readily available despite the various levels of managers working with him.

People forget that the real world of organizations is full streams of actions, processes and events. The result are key. To produce a quick output or service delivery, you need to be accountable for your actions. Faster decision is required. One cannot map a decision-making process in a well-written DOA (delegation of authority) and instruct managers to act upon the compliance manual.

An organization is made up of complex elements. There are complexities about preference that enable people to develop organizational goals through experiences and common sense. Complexities create work challenges and save an organization from being monotonous. A well-prepared job description is more than enough to deliver the agreed accountability.

One manager warned his staff to work carefully; otherwise, internal audit will catch their lapses. It seems that the employees were mandated to perform their tasks to cover up audit requirements. Is it right? If a working environment is controlled by compliance and audit, it will witness lack of accountability. People will not make rational decisions. More signatures required to process documents means more delays, and no one is accountable for the end results.

A decision is action in process. It is not the result of authority, but the outcome of accountability. Such concept of decision making gives us a better understanding of the complexities in an organization. Through it, we can become aware and self-reflective of the diverse expressions of the decision activities in specific situations and the implications of the way we do things to create a performance-oriented culture.

Career Tips.

A well-prepared job description can foster accountability

Enable people to make rational decisions to achieve goals

A decision is action in process and the result of accountability

Is your organization properly designed?

Is your organization properly designed?

A well-crafted job description defines the quality of a company.

Job description (JD) is the basic document which gives a pictorial view of the job. I call it picture because it gives clarity to each person who reads it – the jobholder, department head, hiring manager, compensation and benefits managers, and administration and training manager. Though its most frequent use is in hiring, without a properly written JD, it is not possible to assess which candidate is the “right fit.” Just like a candidate with a CV which becomes the basis for determining whether to shortlist him/her for interview, similarly the JD becomes the basis for assessing the candidate.

All interview questions flow out of the JD items. Once a newcomer joins, it helps the department head to explain to the new joinee what is expected of him/her. To the compensation and benefits manager, it helps him decide on salary and other emoluments, and compare its relative worth in the organization.

To be complete, ideally a good JD should contain the location, reporting and hierarchical level of the job; key accountability, goals and tasks to accomplish those activities; software and other system-related tools the jobholder needs to be proficient in.

Jobs sometimes become redundant and need to be revised or enhanced. This can happen with changing technology, processes or resources. A properly written job description makes it possible to communicate these changes.

Written down JDs make it possible to benchmark jobs against competitors. This exercise is carried to understand industry practices and assess whether you are overcompensating the jobholder to do a certain job or underutilizing him/her. A properly written job description is indicative of a properly designed organization. 

Career Tips

JDs should contain the required skills, competencies, goals, etc.

Well-written job descriptions can lead to the best candidates

They are also able to communicates the changes within the firm.

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