About a Friend in HR

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My approach is based on decades of global consulting and building teams in India, Israel, France, China and the US..  Human Resources Management is always a complicated proposition, but when you add the variables of functional, political, and cultural diversity, you truly understand how our deep personal and group identities effect how we work together, perform, and function in an organization. We forget that when we discuss DEI in the US, we are tackling the same issues. People are valued and included when who they are; what they do for work; and  why they are vital to our organizations is clear to them. 

Functional Diversity

Some aspects of DEI may seem obvious, race, gender identity, language, etc..  What we often miss is that functional diversity (the jobs people do) often creates tension and division in organizations.  What people do for their work often separates them from others because of status, organizational recognition, promotion opportunity, and pay scale.  While functional diversity is somewhat inevitable, your company's structures, culture, and communication can exacerbate the stratification of your people based on job role. I can help you put measures in place to mitigate the stress that functional diversity puts on your organization. Remember that one of the major goals of DEI is creating unity in an organization.  Breaking down silos based on unnecessary hierarchies is an important step to achieving a high performing company.

Older Workers

Another re-emerging DEI issue is discrimination based on age.  As companies try to reduce overhead by downsizing middle management, workers over 40 are disproportionally impacted because they are typically highly compensated as compared to younger employees.  I work with my clients to avoid litigation and compliance issues while helping them retain the historical knowledge and experience they lose when they exit older employees. Downsizing is an exercise in the surgical elimination of redundancy, low performing human capital assets, and unnecessary functions. Non- performance related factors should not be considered in a downsizing initiative. Job roles may need to be eliminated but attention to the skill and knowledge assets lost by role elimination should be carefully considered not only for risk mitigation purposes but also to retain valuable resources.

Secondarily, as HR Department professionals become younger, recruiters and talent managers need to be aware of their own filters regarding older workers. As with any diversity issue, people hire folks like themselves. Older workers bring different skill sets and value to the workplace than younger workers.  Conversely, they bring some complexity to their organizations. I will work with your managers and HR/DEI teams to include older workers in their DEI efforts and to navigate the growing gap between older and younger employees.

DEI is a Driver of Growth and a Marker of Corporate Health

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is a crucial driver of success in a company and must be closely integrated with recruitment, on-boarding, talent management, compensation equity, career ladders, learning and development, and the business strategy of the firm.  As the demographics of your company change, as your customer base evolves, and the economy continues to be erratic, DEI is an important tool to build an agile and healthy company.  Integrating DEI into all aspects of your management strategy will always make your organization better.

1. Meet with the executive sponsors to understand the challenges and opportunities facing the human capital and DEI functions.
2. Conduct internal research with internal partners to determine and measure key metrics 
3. Gather internal client satisfaction data to determine deltas in HR performance.
4. Meet with business leaders to understand their concerns with how HR and DEI supports their goals.
5. Meet with all of the members of the HR and DEI Teams to understand their concerns and needs.
6. Meet with Business leaders to understand their strategic plans and align HR to them.
7. Provide restructuring alternatives based on assessment
8. Recommend specific areas of development for key HR and DEO staff
9. Analyze the processes and tools used by HR and DEO.
10. Make recommendations for process optimization and systems integration if necessary.
11. Assess where the HR function increases cost to the firm and make recommendations for efficiency and savings.
12. Support the Company to close the skill, process, and operational gaps inside and outside of the HR/DEI functions

I base my assessments on your data and external benchmarking against companies like yours.  I don't sell books, videos, or packaged solutions.  My services are based on experience, research, and the desire to help companies support their employees while focusing on growth and profitability.  The solutions that emerge from our partnership will be uniquely your own and significantly informed by your employee's insight into what works and what does not.