Newly appointed as HR Manager? – 8 tips to set your agenda for first 100 days
Have you been recently appointed as the HR manager of a company?
Congratulations on getting your dream job! The senior management and other
people in the company are now looking up to you for your bold steps to meet the
aggressive business requirements.
To be successful in this new role you need to set up your agenda for your next
100 days in the company. While working on the agenda is important, you need to
do some base work to get your agenda in place. Here are some simple tips which
will help you do exactly that:
Find out about the business
Talk business
Develop relationship with key people
in the company
Talk to your team
Find out about the work that has been
done in various areas
Establish your priorities
Set up a right team
1. Find out about the business
Before you can propose new things and get them in action, it is important for
you to do some study about the business. This helps you in understanding the
current situation and making the effective propositions in your agenda. Here’s
what you can do to find out about the business:
-
Source of money – This in easier words means find out about the products,
services, customers, turnovers and profits about the company.
-
See the business from the point of view of different departments: Talk to the
heads of various departments to understand what they think about the business
and what do they expect from the HR department.
-
Strike a talk with the CFO – Try to find out about the business from CFO’s
point of view. Ask him what is it that we need to do to meet the future
business plans.
-
Talk to analysts and investors - If you are the HR manager of a big company,
talk to the analysts and investors. Ask them about the current reputation about
your company in the market according to them and what would you need to do to
improve up on it.
-
Talk to customers – You can try talking to some key customers to understand
what they need from the company.
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Use the product – Pick up the product and try to use it like a customer. The
basic purpose of the exercise is that you should have first hand experience of
everything you talk about.
2. Talk business:
Make business the focus of your formal and informal meetings. HR should be an
integrated part of the business and internal customers should get a feeling
that you talk in their language. Your actions have to be aligned with those of
other departments to achieve the goal of the company. The goal for a sales
manager will be his sales target, for a finance manager it will be financial
stability and for a CRM manager it will be good customer service – talk how HR
can help them achieve their goals. Many of the HR people are not able to read
the balance sheet. Stand out by being able to read, understand and discuss the
balance sheet with your colleagues to be taken seriously by them.
3. Develop relationship with key people in the company:
As an HR manager, it will be fruitful for you to develop a good relationship
with other key people in the company. There are a lot of things that you can
discuss even during the informal meetings which will help you settle yourself
in the company. When you talk to them, try to find about:
-
Your team – Ask them their views about your HR team. Who in your team do they
think can be your strength?
-
Feedback on activities: What are the good things that team has been doing? What
are the things which they think you need to change in the team?
-
What executive styles work and do not work in this company?
-
Why have you been brought in the company? What are your strengths and weakness
in comparison to the last HR manager?
Developing a good rapport with these people will help you in doing the right
things and strengthen your position faster in the company.
4. Talk to your team:
Now that you are the head of the HR team, talk to the team in a group and also
take an opportunity to meet each member in person. During these meetings try to
fin out the following:
-
Other’s perception about HR dept. - What do other people and teams in the
company think about the HR department? – What is their perception about the
activities the HR department does?
-
Past and ongoing activities- What are the various activities HR department
currently does? What are the other activities they used to do? Which of these
activities do they think have worked/ not worked for the company?
-
Key people - Who are the important people in the company? – Not necessarily at
the higher level.
-
Your strengths and weaknesses- What do they think are your strengths and
weaknesses in comparison to the last HR Manager?
-
Is there anything else you should be aware of before you start working?
5. Find out about the work that has been done in various areas
The main areas of your concern are:
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a. People
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b. Performance
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c. Communication and
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d. Work
Divide each of these major areas into sub areas as per your requirement and find
out what work has been done in each area. This will give you an idea about the
scope for improvement and the new things you can implement.
6. Establish your priorities
Based on the information you have collected till now, you will have a sense of
key priorities for the HR department. Make a list of things you need to do and
prioritise them as per the company’s business plan. You may have to keep making
some changes in the priorities according to the information you keep getting in
coming days. So, keep this To-do list updated.
There may be some activities which are urgently required to be done and that
will get you immediate attention of the people around. Strike on them.
7. Set up a right team
Once you have an activity plan ready, you will need a good team to execute
it.
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Identify the right people from the team to do each activity.
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Arm them- They might require some training before they are ready to take up
these activities. Arrange for the required training and prepare them to take up
the challenge.
-
Have a guide - Try to have a mentor who can give you a feedback on your
approach. This may be someone at a senior position or may be someone who is not
at a very senior position but is a key person in the company. It is not
necessary that he should be officially appointed as your mentor. You can just
develop an informal relationship with him and discuss your concerns and
issues.
8. Demonstrate your priorities and values in your actions
During the initial days, all eyes are set on you as the new HR Manager of the
company. People will watch your attitude, approach, style and timing. Make sure
that you hit the right cord at the right moment. Take actions and demonstrate
your capability.
As you work through your agenda based on these tips, you will be able to create
a strong position for yourself in the company in first 100 days.
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