Friday, April 27, 2007

How's That Working For You?

If you, a business colleague, or friend, ever want to do a quick evaluation of where you are in a particular area of your business or in life, ask this question: "so, how's that working for you/me"? Sometimes we get so caught up in the day to day chaos called our lives, that we don't have time to stop and evaluate some of the critical decisions and choices we've made. Or we've just forgotten to do it, and often wonder why we're not getting the results we want. Or, have somehow convinced ourselves that we're "all set", and no changes are necessary - in spite of a constantly changing world. Happens all the time.

In our world of Human Resources, like most fields, change happens regularly, and we must evaluate how effective our programs, strategy, compliance with the law and benefits are working.

One of the best ways for a small-medium sized organization to get a snapshot of how well HR is performing, is to have a certified HR professional conduct an HR Assessment or an HR audit. Much of what is evaluated deals with legal compliance and the "alphabet soup" of HR laws that exist - with more coming regularly. The rest has to do with best practices, and areas you may want to shore up, that will help with the attraction and retention of top talent, risk mitigation, process imporovement and lowering the overall cost of doing business.

Take the time to have this done. The impact on your organization'sprofitability, productivity, time savings & liability will be very positive. You'll know where you're strong, and where opportunities exist for improvement. So, the next time a business peer, friend, co-worker or consultant asks "so how's that working for you?" - you'll know for sure. And you'll have a game plan for future success.