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Wonder If We Only Hired Adults?
By Ron | October 25, 2008
Wonder if we hired only adults? I mean people that acted like adults. Just think about it - we could throw away our Employee Handbook, our Policies and our Procedures. Adults don’t need these rule books.
We in Human Resources spend a lot of time focusing on trying to control the “kids” that sometimes slip through our hiring screens. We have a whole list of “Don’ts” in our Handbook and an elaborate disciplinary procedure if “they” get out of control.
There are other upsides to not having this bureaucracy. I had one of my HR Policies put up on a projection screen in a courtroom to use against my company in a wrongful discharge case. We all have heard about discrimination suits that claimed companies did not follow their stated hiring qualifications. But, the main upside is that we get to focus on our winners (our “adults”).
I talked to a very successful company’s HR Manager the other day who told me that they don’t have job descriptions or job categories. I instantly smiled and congratulated him because I knew the value in it. He said that he uses market driven salary data to ensure that his employees are paid competitively and he is able to avoid all of the traps associated with a hierarchical job classification system.
I am aware of the benefits of having rules, structure and handbooks (providing information and expectations), I just like to fantasize about hiring adults and getting on with running a business. I guess my message today is - “Less is More.”
Topics: HR |