Growth. It’s a fact of life here in Montrose, one of the fastest growing municipalities in Colorado. One of the tough issues we face is recruiting talent in a small pool of qualified candidates. Local businesses are yelling for help, but there’s few listening.

And like the problem is nationwide, one of the hardest jobs to fill is police officer. *After completing in-depth research several years ago, I found there were a number of great candidates locally that did not have the resources to go to school and still be able to pay the rent for the family. Working with a police academy at the college nearby, we enacted a police recruit program. The City provided the qualified recruit a minimum salary and medical benefits while in school and paid tuition and supplies to the academy. In return, the recruit signed a two-year commitment with the department. The program has been very successful and several of the MPD officers have even become instructors at the academy.
Innovative ideas are the key to successful strategic recruiting but ideas can’t simply be talked about and then remain in a meeting room or written on a legal pad. It is HR’s responsibility to provide substance to the ideas, and light the fire under those that may be cool or closed-minded. There has to be solid background and research to sell the idea, as well as a passion and commitment to make it work.

The documented success of the recruit program has given HR a voice in the police department. Now, when I present an idea to the chief, he listens. We are currently working on a “finder’s fee” system to reward current officers with a monetary reward for bringing top-notch candidates to testing.

*Links to Strategic Management Responsibility: # 05 Establish relationships/alliances with key individuals and organizations in the community to assist in achieving the organization’s strategic goals and objectives.

Faye Roberts, SPHR
HR Administrator
City of Montrose
Montrose, Colorado
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Second Place Winners -- Individual essays will be posted monthly throughout 2008

June's Winner
Dow Corning has a long history of selecting leaders from within the organization using Succession Planning to identify the right candidates who will take the helm when the time comes. Recently, we modified our Succession Planning process by putting a laser focus on the development of high potential employees in order to tone them ever so slightly, readying them for top jobs in the organization.

*To that end, we created a review process where the employee plays the leading role. Each month, our executive management team reviews 3-4 of our highest potential employees, who are asked to make a “live” presentation. Their 45-minute talk consists of biographical information, business challenges, a look at their career aspirations and development needs, activities and plans. Our executives provide instant feedback to the employee during the meeting and then follow-up with a discussion amongst themselves about the employee’s potential and development needs. Those insights are fed back to the employee by their manager and HR Business Partner so that a meaningful and actionable development plan can be started. Over the course of the next 12-18 months, the employee is called back to give a short update on his/her development.

This transparent process is focused on making our top talent even better for our future. These personal reviews have provided significant value to our Succession Planning at Dow Corning and puts the emphasis where it belongs. We have redirected the development efforts of several high potential employees based on collective feedback, we have taken several people out of our high potential pool, and we have filled many key positions with candidates who would not have received the visibility without these in-depth reviews.

*Links to: 08 Develop and align the organization’s human capital management plan with its strategic plan.

Edward Colbert, SPHR
Director of Organizational Effectiveness
Human Resource Department
Dow Corning Corporation

May's Winner
The challenge for HR is to define and measure its effectiveness like other departments within the Company. HR is continually challenged to demonstrate value added versus daily administration.

*In late 2006, I was asked as the Senior HR Consultant of a large hospital to develop a Dashboard that would capture strategic metrics showing the overall effectiveness on a monthly, fiscal and calendar year basis. This was first for me, and for the hospital.

This initiative required me to meet with each department, determine the metrics that were important and to capture information that was not readily available. The resulting HR Dashboard includes health care cost trends, turnover, vacancy rates, workers’ compensation stats, compliance, and performance review timeliness. The Dashboard is “the main report” and is used for quality improvement.

The report measures how HR can be more proactive. For example, the HR Dashboard shows departments that have high turnover. In one critical care department, I conducted interviews recently with terminated and current employees. I compiled a list of questions, conducted interviews and developed a summary with recommendations. The result was a complete overhaul of the department, resignation of several managers, and the restoration of the department back to where it was in the early 1990’s as one if not the best critical care departments within the Tri-State region.

This project demonstrates the Dashboard as a powerful tool and best practice. Instead of transactional, HR is viewed as a strategic business partner. It clearly shows that in order to have a seat at the executive table, you must have metrics that show where you have been, where you are and steps that you are proactively taking on where you are going.

*Links to 06 Develop and utilize metrics to evaluate HR’s contributions to the achievement of the organization’s strategic goals and objectives.

Gretchen Burgess, SPHR
Senior Human Resources Consultant
ClearOptions, Inc.

April's Winner
*As VP, HR along with two colleagues designed a new compensation, bonus, and performance management program for five N. American business units consisting of 786 employees with the goal of standardizing its design and administration across all locations. The organizational strategy, to increase the value of the enterprise, required adaptation of the environment to affect a positive cultural change.

Assessing the market of each location, data provided by a global third party consultant, resulted in a reduction of 312 job titles down to 49 across all locations targeting entry-level to executive-level positions. This was the basis for constructing standardized pay ranges within a 5-level pay band structure incorporating three job families of varying levels of expertise.

The bonus program designed tied performance of each location and enterprise, contingent upon meeting / exceeding revenue and profit goals awarding either a straight dollar bonus earning potential or percentage of base pay contingent on job band assignment. The individual bonus component, tied to the new performance management program, weights Quality 30%, Productivity 30%, and Behavior Competencies 40%. Semi-annual performance scorecards determine the annual individual employee bonus. Annual performance reviews continue determining merit increase eligibility tying in the semi-annual performance goals.

This program structure is facilitating an increased level of employee engagement and management accountability. It also required the three of us to abandon our professional biases and mesh five corporate cultures.

The change in mindset at each location has gone from operating as a silo to supporting our mission of the “power of one.”

*Links to Strategic Management Responsibility: Develop and align the organization’s human capital management plan with its strategic plan.

Marilyn F. Elliott, SPHR
Vice President, HR

March's Winner
My strategy for getting and documenting specific recertification hours, especially in the area of strategic management credits, extended well past my role as a human resources director. I have been very involved as an HR volunteer leader in my community and over the past few years, I was able to realize my passion in sharing my skills and expertise with other human resource professionals by assuming an adjunct professorship in a graduate program offering human resource related classes. *Designing a curriculum that met the learning institution’s requirements as well as providing exceptional value and knowledge to graduate level students was an undaunting task. The hours spent researching, preparing, delivering and evaluating the class material were immeasurable. But I was the one who continued to learn! All of the classes that I facilitate have qualified for strategic management credits. I was careful to follow HRCI guidelines and insured that the curriculum I was facilitating tied to the SPHR Body of Knowledge responsibilities. During my own recertification, I provided copies of the syllabus and terminal course objectives and was very pleased that all of my submitted hours were accepted by HRCI.

The success of this endeavor enabled me to get all of my recertification credits in less than 18 months. Did I stop learning and stop attending some HRCI-approved-credit classes? Absolutely not!!I’m already strategizing for new ways once my next recertification period begins in 2008!!Share those talents — the rewards may be greater than you dream possible.

*Links to Strategic Management Responsibility: 02 Interpret information from external sources related to the general business environment, industry practices and developments, technological developments, economic environment, labor pool, and legal and regulatory environment, in order to contribute to the development of the organization’s strategic plan.

Larinda L. Braun, SPHR
Director of Human Resources
Henry and Horne, LLP

February's Winner
*One of our division's current strategic initiatives for the business group is to recruit and develop project administrators to assist our engineering project managers in maintaining financial control over their projects. In addition, the ultimate goal of this initiative is to allow our project managers to focus on what they're best at--technical problem solving, client focus, and winning work. I determined that I would benefit from internal project administration training to better source qualified applicants based on our competencies for these positions and to assist in developing these employees after hire. I visited the HRCI website to determine if project management related training would qualify for strategic management credits. After reviewing the Q&A pages for strategic management activities and the PHR/SPHR Body of Knowledge, I determined these courses would qualify for strategic management credit.

I attended three internal project administration courses over a 2-year period and utilized my HRCI Recert File to track attendance. After I submitted my recertification application, all three levels of project administration courses were approved for strategic credit. As a result of this training, I have improved my financial analysis skills and now understand to a greater extent the impact project performance has on earnings. I've made such great strides in this area during the last couple of years that I'm now considered a senior-level resource for firmwide project administration initiatives and also assist in developing new project administrators in our division.

*Links to Strategic Management Responsibility: 01 Interpret information related to the organization’s operations from internal sources, including financial/accounting, business development, marketing, sales, operations, and information technology, in order to contribute to the development of the organization’s strategic plan.

Shaun Winwood, SPHR
Business Manager
HNTB Corporation

January's Winner
In December of 2003, I became SPHR certified, and by then the new SPHR strategic management recertification requirements were in place.

I joined Lanier Upshaw, Inc. in August of 2004 as Director of HR. *A month later, I was already participating (for the first time ever) in a strategic planning session, experiencing and learning the strategic management process first hand. It was like going through SHRM’s Learning System’s Module One in real time, and it felt great to be able to apply all the strategic management knowledge I had acquired while studying for the SPHR!

During the two days we spent strategically planning our company’s future we went through the SWOT analysis in detail all the way to action plans. That experience gave me the opportunity to participate hand in hand with senior management, gain their respect as a professional in human resources, and also learn about our company from the senior executives’ perspective.

Timing is everything! Those two days were the foundation for my position as Director/Vice President of HR. Every year the planning sessions are different. This year the session was more focused on building our agency values since we have re-branded and have a new vision and mission. We also focused on succession and replacement planning initiatives and strategies to retain institutional knowledge.

The participation of Human Resource professionals in strategic planning sessions cements the importance of the profession’s contribution to the success of any business.

*Links to Strategic Management Responsibility: # 03 Particpate as a contributing partner in the organization's strategic planning process.

Mercedes I. Guzman, SPHR
VP/Director of HR
Lanier Upshaw, Inc.