Human Resources Manager and ERP

Author: Gu Yuanxun / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: How to Measure the Effectiveness of HR Managers?
At all levels of the company, managers and employees are the direct customers of HR. Therefore, whether they gain recognition from other managers and employees is the standard for measuring the success of HR work. Business management is complex and intricate, but the core principle is the management of people and respect for people.
1.1.1 Helping Employees Seek Development
A good HR manager should always remember that the core of their job is to help all employees grow, rather than using authority and systems to constrain and restrict their behavior. HR managers have a unique position advantage: they can cross departmental boundaries to provide concentrated coaching and training for employees' career development. They can use their authority, expertise, and influence to help employees seek growth and success. Making management people-oriented can bridge the psychological distance between managers and employees, allowing them to inspire each other with ideas, enthusiasm, and trust in unrestricted communication. This concept is increasingly gaining consensus among outstanding entrepreneurs.
A column writer visiting Intel saw that the office space of then-CEO Andy Grove was the same size as that of employees. The writer sharply criticized Grove for being hypocritical, but Grove replied that he did so to avoid amplifying power and putting employees under psychological pressure, so he could communicate better with them. Respect for employees also includes tolerance for different thinking and acceptance of their opinions, not simply opposing or supporting them. This is especially true for new employees who are just integrating into the team and organization. Protecting their creativity is creating an atmosphere and maintaining the morale of the organization moving forward together. If one insists on 100% conformity in thinking, creativity often withers too early.
As a manager or senior executive, if you cannot tolerate others and only promote those who think and act like you, you will gather a group of people with similar thinking around you. Then, you will be in danger. When you face difficulties, the people around you won’t help you because your thoughts and actions are identical. Management is right, but don’t let people become rigid. Rigid management is a disaster for the company.
Unisys’s master of turning losses around, Jack White, said: “For a company to succeed, it must care for its employees and help them, otherwise they won’t help the company. Be honest with your employees, be consistent, don’t change orders overnight, and show them your heart. Only then will they follow you.” This is a very ordinary level, but many managers and CEOs fail to practice it and instead demand endless loyalty from employees. It’s like a barber who is only hot on one side—this will only suppress employees’ inner loyalty index, making their casual departures no surprise.
Having employees in mind also means knowing how to communicate. Communication is a process of conveying information, ideas, and emotions between individuals or groups to reach a common agreement for a set goal. Communication requires anticipating problems and communicating proactively, considering the other person’s feelings without making assumptions or jumping to conclusions, and being skilled in learning and applying EQ strategies to resolve conflicts. Avoid superficial, perfunctory communication, or even unreasonable outbursts and drastic emotional changes. Through positive communication, one can solve a common problem in organizations: managers only discuss the company’s dreams and vision with their closest colleagues, without spreading the message to employees. As a result, actions from top to bottom will lack consistency.
As Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, said, leadership style is contagious. We’ve all seen countless real-life examples: a manager who maintains a positive and optimistic attitude all day can somehow inspire a team full of energy, passion, and a spirit of progress. Conversely, a pessimistic and unpleasant person can inexplicably lead a team that lacks passion, is disorganized, and is unpleasant to be around. It’s very difficult for such an unpleasant team to win. And many senior executives are unaware of this, which is a daily measure of whether a manager is excellent or not.
The right track for HR management should be: listening to employees’ opinions, resolving internal conflicts, and helping managers develop leadership qualities and advance their careers. It should not be limited to employee benefits, occupational health, entertainment activities, and the like. An outstanding HR manager should be a “pastor-parent” type—listening to your confessions and complaints without contradiction, while also providing care and education, offering quick help when you go off track.
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