November 16, 2009

IN THIS ISSUE....

A Note from Dave
7 Tips for Participative Goal Setting
Review Your HR Practices
Employee Benefits
Strange but True

A NOTE FROM DAVE

It's hard to believe that Christmas is less than seven weeks away. And, in approximately nine week's time, we'll be entering a new decade!

Where did the time go? It seemed like yesterday that we were preparing for and entering 2000.

While our minds may be turning to Christmas shopping and holiday arrangements, it's also an important time of the year to engage in several important business activities. For many, the fiscal year ends on December 31^st. That often means a big push to achieve year end financial targets. It also means putting time aside to set budgets, develop strategic business plans, write goals and prepare for annual performance appraisals.

So, in this issue, I am going to focus on one key activity that you should be working on during the next few weeks and that's goal setting. A small investment of your time now will boost your productivity and save you time later on when the New Year arrives.

On another note, I thought you might be interested to know that I have enrolled in and completed two modules of the Adult Education Diploma program at St. Francis Xavier University. The program is comprised of five modules: Needs Assessment, Learning Objectives, Evaluation, Learning Design, Facilitating Learning and a Practicum. Each module is three days in duration. So far, it's been very informative and challenging. I have no doubt that the program will strengthen my training and development skills. I've already learned a number of valuable tips and tools.

Dave Hagel, President
High Performance Human Resources

Here's something to think about:

Don't tell people how to do things. Tell then what to do and let them surprise you with their results.

- George S. Patton

7 TIPS FOR PARTICIPATIVE GOAL SETTING

When developing goals, it's critical that you partner with your employees to establish SMART goals, action plans and measurements to maximize improvement opportunities.

Partnering with your employees in setting goals helps align your expectations with those of your employees. Participative goal setting also helps ensure that goals are set at the optimal level for motivating performance - they should be challenging but realistically attainable. Finally, participative goal setting increases personal ownership of the goals and commitment to achieving them.

There are seven steps to participative goal setting.

1. Ask for input. Tell employees that you want their input to help make sure their goals are clear and set at appropriate levels.
2. Relate your goals to organizational goals. Help employees see the big picture. How will their work contribute to the overall organization?
3. Outline goals. Allow some room for flexibility. Discuss how much will be done, and by whom.
4. Analyze goals. Discuss the level of difficulty and the resources needed. Work toward mutual agreement.
5. Develop measures. Create measurements to help your employees track progress. This way, they can take corrective action to stay on target.
6. Listen to ensure clarity and commitment. Make sure goals are clearly defined and understood, with clear agreement on resources to be made available, milestones or checkpoints, and other factors.
7. Express confidence. Provide support. Conclude on a strong, positive note.

For additional tips on writing goals, action plans and measurements, see the following documents from our website:

• Setting Objectives
• Achieving Your Objectives

REVIEW YOUR HR PRACTICES

The end of the year is also a good time to review your Human Resources practices. What are you doing well that you might want to take to an even higher level of excellence next year? What are you not doing well that you would like to improve upon?

Make a list of each, develop a set of ranking criteria and prioritize them. Be sure to take into account factors like cost, impact on the business, value add, availability of resources - human, time and financial - productivity and profitability.

If you're not sure what to review, conduct an HR Audit. It will quickly identify areas for improvement.

If you don't know where to start, give us a call. We have a comprehensive audit tool that can help you.

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

Employee benefits can have a huge impact on the bottom line if not managed properly. When was the last time you conducted a thorough review of your benefits package? When was the last you went to market?

Give us a call if this is an area that you would like to review in more detail. This is something we can help you with.

STRANGE BUT TRUE

According to Craig Silverman of the Globe and Mail in his article The Office Awards 2008, the strangest workplace trend is Office Bathing. Yes, that's correct - Office Bathing.

"Four workers lost their jobs this year because they took a bath in the workplace. An Ohio Burger King employee celebrated his birthday with a bubble bath in the kitchen sink. He even posted a video of it on MySpace. Then three female employees of a California Kentucky Fried Chicken stripped down to their skivvies and turned the kitchen sink into a hot tub. They also posted the evidence to MySpace. Memo to future office bathers: Stay off MySpace!"

If you know of someone who would like to read this newsletter, please feel free to pass it on to them.

Dave Hagel is a Certified Human Resources Professional and President of High Performance Human Resources, a company that specializes in providing people solutions that maximize business results. You can reach him at: