Don’t be a Waiter…Take Your Seat at

the Table!

Michael Brady, M.Ed., SPHRRegional HR Manager – Southeastern

US

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Don’t Be a Waiter …..

CHANGE

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Don’t Be a Waiter …..

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Don’t Be a Waiter …..

CHANGE

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Don’t Be a Waiter….

We must stop acting like the old “personnel departments” of the past and we must stop being afraid of CHANGE

A waiter will just maintain the same ole’ same ole’

Sit at the table … take your role seriously… act like the manager that you WANT to be and become the leader that you NEED to be

Remember… Business = Money!!

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Sit at the Table!!

“A leader has got to show their troops the route of the march and the destination”

Frank PacettaXEROX Sales

Manager

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Don’t Be a Waiter …

“You can rule by divine right, or you can create and be a leader, promote an atmosphere of learning, creativity, and positive energy. That kind of thinking brings gratification and high morale”

Mary Ellen Hiatt

Southern Home Furniture

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Sit at the Table!

We must be sure that we are COMMITTED to the organization’s core purpose and objectives and we must also ensure that we line our people up behind us.

The table is NO place for a pencil pusher or a paper shuffler. It is a place of decision and action.

Take your seat by earning it and by showing that you deserve to be there and that HR can make a difference

The Missing Link for Human Resources?

Business Acumen

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Take your seat …..

Six Steps to Building a Profit Center

Six Steps Business Problem

Cost of Problem

HR Solution to Problem

Cost of Solution

Dollar or Percent Improvement Amount for Solution

Cost-Benefit Ratio 11

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Six Steps to Building a Profit Center1) Identify and analyze business problems

from a profit-oriented, not just service-oriented, point of view

This could be a problem with productivity, turnover, managerial effectiveness, sales, or any other issue that every business must successfully handle in order to be more profitable

This problem must be clearly stated and clearly understood

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Six Steps to Building a Profit Center2) Cost of Business Problem

It is not just important to identify the problem and not do anything about it

We must determine how much the problem will cost or what it is costing at present

This will allow you to measure the cost-effectiveness of the solution

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Six Steps to Building a Profit Center3) Solution to the Business Problem

What specific HR oriented solution could overcome the problem?

Ex: Productivity is the problem Possible solutions

Better selection methods Incentive pay systems Attitude surveys Suggestion boxes Teambuilding

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Six Steps to Building a Profit Center4) Cost of the Solution

Simple cost accounting to determine what dollars it will take to implement the solution

Important check at this point – will the solution cost less than the problem??

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Basic Cost Accounting

Jot down each possible expense or benefit Calculate the dollars associated with each

expense or benefit Take as many costs and benefits into account as

possible – this will help provide the measure of how effective the endeavor has been

Use conservative figures This will help a cynical executive admit that the

HR dept efforts did indeed improve profitability Keep it simple – do not create a mountain of

paperwork to carry out the solution! Remember … we are trying NOT to be the

stereotypical HR department regarded already as paper pushers!

Get measurable results without the stigma

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Six Steps to Building a Profit Center5) Improvement Benefits from the Solution

This should show the improvement value from the solution

I.E., sales go up, costs go down, absenteeism reduced, etc.

This dollar improvement amount should be more than the cost of the problem and the cost of the solution

If the cost is more than the above, the solution was/is not worthwhile from a cost-benefit standpoint

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Six Steps to Building a Profit Center6) Cost-Benefit Ratio

Proves the bottom line measure of how successful the solution was

Similar to a ROI Tells us how much money was earned

compared to how much was spent Ex: If a $100,000 improvement resulted

from a $10,000 solution the cost-benefit ratio was 10:1

For every one dollar spent on the solution, $10 was reaped in benefits

Example of Planning Model Business Problem

Decreasing sales at a steel products company

Cost of Business Problem Sales dropping 10%/year Current sales $90 million down from $100 million

Solution to Business Problem Change salespeople’s compensation from salary-

only to salary + commission Commission = 5% of each salesperson’s sales over

$1,000,000/year

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Example of Planning Model

Cost of Solution Number of Salespeople X Avg. Commission paid 100 X $2,500 = $250,000

$ Improvement Benefit Benefit = Sales increase – commissions paid $15 million/year less $250,000 (cost of the solution) $14.75 million/year (Improvement Benefit)

Cost Benefit Ratio 60:1 $14,750,000:$250,000

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Planning Model

The planning model is elegant in its simplicity

KEEP IT THAT WAY! No mountain of paperwork to carry out

the HR Profit Center Remember … K.I.S.S (Keep it Simple

Stupid) Get measurable results in a simple,

effective solution

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Sit at the table ….

The Five Elements of Business

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The Five Elements of Business1) CASH IS KING!

The oxygen supply of any company and allows you to stay in business

Cash Generation Or cash flow is the difference between cash that

flows into the business and the cash that flows out of the business in a given time period.

How can HR impact cash flow in your company?

What single action can you commit to, to positively impact cash flow in your company?

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The Five Elements of Business2) MARGIN

What is left over after expenses are paid Can be dollars or a % Most common are gross and net

Gross margin deducts costs of goods sold Net margin deducts all expenses

How do you improve Margin? Increase the price or decrease the cost on a

single product or service Increase sales or decrease expenses to

improve company margins How can HR affect margin in your company? What action are you committed to, to increase

margin?

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The Five Elements of Business3) VELOCITY

Means speed – decreasing cycle time and improve employee productivity

How fast and how hard can you make your assets work to make more money

The more increase in an asset’s ability to make money, the higher the velocity

Improve Velocity in two ways Decrease the amount of assets used to get results Improve the results you get from assets

How does HR impact velocity in your company? What action can you commit to, to increase

velocity?

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The Five Elements of Business4) Growth

Measured in three ways Top-line (sales) Bottom-line (profit) Earnings per Share

Types Organic – growth that comes from existing

business In-organic – from mergers and acquisition

No growth = lagging behind in the business world

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The Five Elements of Business Growth

If your company is not growing … You will be overtaken by competition

Forces a company to change and to anticipate customer needs, as well as to look for new opportunities

How does HR affect growth in your company?

What action are you committed to, to impact growth?

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The Five Elements of Business5) Customers

End user of your product or service Can be another company or individual Could also be internal customer We must know our customer’s every move in

preference, emotion, and action. We have to anticipate them or lead them in all

areas How does HR anticipate customer’s needs in

your company? What action are you committed to, to better

anticipate customer’s needs and expectations?

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The Five Elements of Business

Without customers’ trust, the rest doesn’t matter

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What do you know about your company? Understand Your Company

How much cash is on hand? How much cash is generated from operating activities? What is the net income? What is the net profit margin? How is that margin compared to competitors? What are your company’s sales during last year? Is the company growing? What is your inventory turnover? Is your cash generation increasing or decreasing? Are you gaining or loosing to competition?

This is the language of TOTAL BUSINESS

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Understanding Your Company

Annual Reports/Financial Statements Do you know where they are? Can you read them? Can you interpret and explain them?

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Annual Report

Statement of Income P&L, Statement of Operations, Statement of

Earnings Indicates profitability

Balance Sheet Statement of Financial Condition or Position Indicates Financial Strength

Statement of Cash Flow Details Cash flow between the business and the

outside world Indicates CASH sources and uses

Where is YOUR Seat?

Where does Human Resources fit in the total business picture in your company?

Do you know?

“Step back and get a total picture of business. As you cut through the complexity, you will get a clear fix on what is happening in the real world”

Ram Charan33

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Be a Leader … Build Relationships Become a leader in your business

Focus your department efforts on being a leader of people.

Make decisions … right or wrong … make a decision! Find the right people for the right job and take personal

responsibility for developing their skills and focusing their energy

Why is it that no one ever flunks a company training program??

Be a conduit for linking people’s effort to business priorities

BUILD THE TEAM that will support and run the company Be a part of the BUSINESS that is your business

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Be a Leader … Build Relationships Maximize every employee’s level of contribution

Treat them with the same way a hospital treats its doctors, the airline treats its pilots, and a law firm treats its attorneys … as professionals

Success in any given employee might just hinge on whether or not you know their name and whether or not they are treated as if you care about them and that they have the talent needed to be successful

Positive people success and positive relationships will ensure your seat at the Table … they will equate with YOUR success!

“Relationships are the glue to which hold teams together”

John Maxwell

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Grow Relationships with People

“What really distinguishes trusting relationships from distrusting ones is the ability of those involved to make a leap of faith…they must believe that each is interested and committed to the other’s welfare, and that neither will act without first considering the other” …. Contented Cows give Better Milk

Richard Hadden

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Grow Relationships with People

A Brief Lesson in Human Relations

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Growing People

The right person in the right job Dealing with mismatches

Are you afraid of making or recommending changes? Why?

Coaching For success For business For behavior

We must help people expand their abilities and synchronize their work efforts

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Grow Relationships with People

The Least Important Word: I The Most Important Word: We The Two Most Important Words: Thank

you The Three Most Important Words: All is

forgiven The Four Most Important Words: What is

YOUR opinion? The Five Most Important Words: You did

a great job! The Six Most Important Words: I want to

understand you better

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Grow Relationships with People Take these to heart … everything we do relates

to words and our choice of them. Put them together in the proper way and we can

reach out not only to each other, but to our employees.

Use these as priorities in dealing with others and it will allow us to see things from the OTHER side.

The key to growing relationships lies in these words … we are all human beings and we all want to be treated as such

Bottom line …. Become a servant leader in your organization

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Grow Relationships with People

“Sincerity is the most important part of positive treatment. The only thing worse than a coach or CEO who doesn’t care about his people is one who pretends to care. People can spot a phony every time. They know he doesn’t care about them, and worse, his act insults their intelligence”

Jimmy Johnson

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Let Your Principles Be Your Guide

“A people that values its privileges above its principles soon looses both”

Dwight D. Eisenhower

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To Certify or Not to Certify?

If you do not take the time to earn your PHR/SPHR/GPHR/CEBS then why should you get a seat at the table?

Seats at the table are earned through hard work and measured success

Certification is a true indication of YOUR hard work and a measure of YOUR success

These designations speak volumes in our profession

www.HRCI.org

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HAVE FUN! Choose your attitude …

you must provide the contagious good attitude and help it flourish

Be a servant leader …. Understand it and live it Stay involved and give good honest feedback

Commit yourself to helping others succeed Make their day as fun as yours … it works!

“If its to be … its up to ME!” Dr. Tim Lautenheizer

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Tomorrow and Beyond … What are you going to do differently tomorrow? Are you going to do anything differently tomorrow? What actions did you commit to during this

presentation? What is going to be your first move? Talk to your partner and exchange e mail and

phone numbers … commit to a specific date to get back together and review what you did to make an impact.

Don’t back away from the challenge … pick three or four items to focus on and go beyond the normal HR department and build a department that can execute business priorities and watch you career and your department take off!

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Final Thoughts

“Do or do not … There is NO TRY”

Yoda

“Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape”

Michael McGruff

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Don’t Be a Waiter …..

CHANGEIts time to embrace, accept, and

lead!

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A new beginning …..

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www.thehrdude.com

Michael Brady, M.Ed., SPHR

michael.brady@beis.com mike@thehrdude.com

Twitter: LaHRDude Linked in: Michael Brady

“When someone shares with you something of value, you have an obligation to share it”

Chinese Proverb

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References

Charan, Ram. “What the CEO Wants You to Know”. 2001

Merecer, Michael. “Turning Your HR Department into a Profit Center”. 2002

Hadden, Richard. “Contented Cows Give Better Milk”. 2001