5 Ways Managers Can Make HR Love Them....
If you're a manager and have to deal with HR, is it important to you that HR respects/loves you? Probably not. After all, you are a manager in charge of operations, and HR is there to support you. Not the other way around..
If that's how you feel, I agree with you. We're here to support you. Still, we have opinions about the
characteristics that make a strong, employee-centric, HR-friendly manager. You know, the reasons, if we weren't restricted by law and discomfort, that would make us hug it out...
I guess every HR Manager/Director/VP has a different list about what makes them love their most effective managers. Here are my top 5 characteristics that make me DIG you as a manager:
5. You clearly communicate expectations - Your employees understand their objectives, and they also understand performance you consider to be not meeting, meeting and exceeding your expectations in each micro area. Not a lot of suprises in your group when it comes to perfomrance management. Nice...
4. Talent is important to you, but you are a realist - You want the best talent, but you seem to have a knack regarding what type of talent you can get for your open slot. With that in mind, you'll hold out for a better candidate, but you know when to cut to the chase and close the deal.
3. You have a sense of urgency in Employee Relations issues - You know if you let employee relations issues fester in your group, it's only going to get worse. With that in mind, you're proactive, and always looking to talk about where you need to go with a certain situation to ensure it doesn't blow up.
2. You have a situation-specific sense of humor - Face it, we talk about a lot of sticky stuff, including your own plight, and you mix humor with seriousness like a champ. Thanks for understanding we're going to work through it and laughing with me/at me.
1. You have the ability to anticipate outcomes and reactions to your actions - You see the game. If you are thinking about taking a specific action, you proactively talk about what that will mean to others, how others will perceive it, the poliitical landscape, etc.
In other words you get it. I'm glad you're on my team. You want to hug it out? Let's hug it out...
Notice, I didn't put something administrative in the list, like "you get the forms to me', or "your reviews are always done on time". I'd like to have that as well, but candidly, we can fix those things when you miss.
If you couldn't do the items above, all the administrative excellence in the world wouldn't matter...Of course, that's just my opinion... I could be wrong...
Hit me in the comments with your additions to the list....
