ERNIE LEBEL VICE PRESIDENT , HUMAN RESOURCE SERVICES

Dichotomous Role of Human Resources:

Ernie Lebel
Vice President, Human Resource Services

Dichotomy: n., 1. Division into two parts or classifications, usually contradictory. 2. In botany, when there is branching characterized by successive forking into two approximately equal divisions. 3. In Human Resources, when you have to serve two masters-- the economic needs of the organization for which you work, and to simultaneously meet the needs of the employees you are expected to serve.

An average day in the life of a human resource professional is a mixture of two types of equally valuable, often diametrically opposed, endeavors. Half of these efforts are intended to benefit the lives of the employees and the other half meeting the economic needs of the employer to help keep them profitable. The dilemma is choosing the right decision at the right time when the demands are often radically dichotomous to each other.

A typical day in the life of a human resources professional: Helen arrives at work this morning, cheerful as always and greets all the employees on the way to her office like a hostess welcoming her guests. She always arrives 30 minutes before her peers because the “action time” is typically this half hour. This is the time when yesterday’s disasters are discovered, injuries are identified, absenteeism raises it’s ugly head and the boss “wants to talk”.

Helen first checks her 24 voice mails and discovers a confusing message about needing to attend an unplanned meeting in the main conference room at 9:00—the topic vaguely described as pertaining to the company’s latest “new direction”. It sounds to Helen as if the CEO has read another article about top performing companies in an airline magazine, which will require her to do extensive research into the newest fad. She will then have to implement some new plan that will disrupt her world for a while—and then this plan will be abandoned for yet another “Great” new program.

Before 8:00, Helen is interrupted by Madelyn from the warehouse who tearfully requests time to see her “whenever she can”. Because of her emotional condition Helen decides to see her immediately. Madelyn is a 20-year employee, with a string of absences, which has made it difficult for Helen to comply with FMLA regulations lately. This morning Madelyn notifies Helen that she has been diagnosed with MS and must begin medical treatment immediately. This illness will undoubtedly lead to excessive absenteeism that will cause friction between Madelyn and her supervisor. Madelyn’s immediate concern is the medications she must begin using. They are not covered in the self-insured health care coverage and the annual cost will be around $10,000. Madelyn pleads with Helen to find a way for the medical plan to cover these drugs. She reminds Helen she has been with the company for 20 years, has hardly used the medical plan, and that it is not fair that the one time when she needs help it is not covered. Helen promises to do her best and get back to Madelyn by the end of her shift.

Before the 9:00 meeting starts, in addition to Madelyn’s dilemma, Helen also interviewed a non-English speaking employee who thinks his low back pain is work related. This sounds to Helen like another serious hit to the workers’ comp record, and the added problem of the loss of an employee during the busiest time. In the back of her mind she is also thinking about the likely combative discussion she will have with the area manager about creating light duty work for the employee. She also remembers she will have to schedule an interpreter to help with the next meeting—but realizes she will now have to do that after the 9:00 meeting.

On the way to the meeting Helen shares Madelyn’s story with the CFO and suggests that she would like to make an exception to the medical plan to cover Madelyn’s medications. The CFO resists that thought and raises the unconscionable cost of medical care and says that there is no way they can “voluntarily” accept costs that are not otherwise covered by the plan.

When Helen arrives at the meeting she sees a couple of guests (she thinks these are probably consultants she will have to work with on the Boss’s newest cockamamie idea). The tone of the meeting seems sullen to start—but gets worse. The CEO announces that the company has been bought by a New Jersey company and that they will be “moving in” almost immediately. The guests are representatives of the new firm. The usual comments are made about no changes are expected and that it looks like a match made in heaven. Helen is skeptical and knows this type of change will not be good for her or the employees.

All of this happens to Helen before 9:15 a.m.

Does this sound like a soap opera or a nightmare—or just a typical day in the life of a human resources professional? The dichotomies Helen face are clear—how does she advocate for Madelyn while maintaining the company’s medical costs. How does she take care of the employee with low back pain who has a need for light duty and also help the company meet production goals. And finally, how does she divides her attention and loyalties to make it possible for the company to profit under its new ownership while making sure the employees get fair treatment during the change?

Every day human resources people are caught between the economic need to make numerous changes while dealing with very real employee issues. What core competencies does it take to handle these tasks and what core values do HR people need to exist and succeed in this world?

HR people are often thought of as nurturers, the individuals who see things from a different angle than their other “business” partners. This is the way employees want them to be. However, HR’s business partners, from the CEO down, look for an HR person who understands the business world and can help them succeed by providing strong advisory counsel and in most cases “delivering the message” along company lines. These differing sets of expectations place the HR person in a dichotomous situation, where competencies and professional values may be at odds. What types of people are drawn to this profession and how can they prepare themselves for the events in today’s business world?

The reality is that for companies to succeed in today’s economic environment, drastic changes to long standing employee relations methods do have to be implemented. Manufacturing is a good example of an industry where drastic changes have happened. Manufacturing has suffered incredibly by the exodus to off shore locations. There are dramatically fewer manufacturing jobs than there were 40 years ago in America. In the past our vast manufacturing industry led the way for creating employee reliance on employers for medical benefits, retirement options and generally comfortable lifestyles. If one grew up in Millinocket, Maine, or Mobile, Alabama, and were lucky enough to get a job in “the mill” they were set for life. Employees received good wages, great benefits, promotional opportunities and continued medical benefits for life. The link between the mill and the community also provided a strong support system. However today “The Mill” system is virtually gone and the remaining mill jobs are often insecure and offer much lower benefits and retirement options. In this changed environment HR’s role is often to help secure the few jobs left and to provide the benefits that the new employer can afford—which often do not fill the needs of the employee.

In this new scenario the core competencies of an HR professional must include the ability to transfer the strategic plans and direction of the company into tactical action plans. These action plans may be negative from the employee population’s perspective but may be critical to the survival of the organization. Obviously from a triage methodology the HR person must do everything possible to help save the company—which is often times in conflict with doing what is right for the employees.

The relationship the HR person maintains with the workforce suffers some strain when they are constantly delivering the “company-line” message as well as implementing changes that are not necessarily favorable to the employees. Employees see their friends and neighbors losing their jobs and wonder when it will be their turn. The HR person is at the center of these actions however is expected to be the “go-to” person for the employee. How does a conscientious HR executive separate the challenges?

Another dilemma for HR people is the pricing and scrutiny of benefit plans. The cost of benefits—primarily health care—has placed that item at the top of the list in variable costs to the organization. The increased cost share for the employees, along with higher deductibles and other plan changes make the new medical plans a mere skeleton of the way to used to be. How can an HR person meet both the company and employee needs with limited resources?

Payroll is another area where HR people are often thrust into dichotomous situations. When cost savings are needed, payroll is the item mostly likely to be scrutinized. Payroll reductions usually mean layoffs. Long-standing employees and their families are often affected. The HR person typically participates in deciding who goes and how the termination will be carried out. Instead of advocating for the employee HR is often relegated to being the “ax-person”. The dichotomy is often devastating to an HR professional because they often played a major role in hiring and building the trust connection between the employee and the employer.

Finally, HR professionals are often thrust into conflicting camps on the compensation issue. HR professionals have worked hard over the years to make sure their companies were competitive with their compensation programs. Sophisticated methods of planning and tracking compensation programs have become effective in helping HR remain competitive and making sure employees were fairly paid. Enter today’s economic environment where companies place more emphasis on paying people what they can afford instead of what seems appropriate by historical practices. How does an HR person implement the programs they know will achieve corporate goals by motivating employees with compensation when they have a strained budget. In other words how do they communicate to employees that their services are critical to the success of the company but that their compensation is not going to reflect it?

A personal anecdote to highlight the simple answer: A couple of years ago as a student pilot I was flying a plane in an uncontrolled airport in a small town. In aviation the rules are simple and straightforward, unlike many business environments. On this particular day, I was approaching the airport from the east, an ice cream company’s blimp was approaching from the north and a helicopter was coming from the southwest. Aviation rules allow for both of those aircraft types to have the “right-of-way” at uncontrolled airports. I became too distracted by the approaching aircraft, was losing altitude and was going too slow for safe flying. I was not sure of my next, best move. Fortunately I had an instructor with me and he was pleased to give me the best advice possible—and it applies to the dichotomous HR role today:

First Fly the Plane?

• In other words, do what needs to be done for the best outcome possible. The no-choice items come first.
• Understand and support the business you are in. The other business partners are saddled with those decisions every day.
•· Do the best you can do under the circumstance for the employees. If you have been the go-to person for employees you hopefully have the best trust relationship with them—use that relationship to help them understand and accept the position the company is in and how that equates to their own situation.
• Be the most creative you have ever been in your life. Learn from others in similar situations and bring a basket full of ideas to every crisis.
• Support the employees—the stress you feel needs to be private. Employees need a strong voice, now more than ever, and there may not be a voice unless you use yours.
• Get self-satisfaction by being honest with yourself and learn from the moment—your will need this experience in future encounters. Situational management is not just a practice to be used by line-managers; it also is essential in HR.

Being an HR professional today is extremely challenging because of constantly changing expectations and the dichotomous role that must be played. Taking HR to the next level means having the competencies to meet the essential needs of the employees that depend on the HR function while helping the company survive. I feel Dichotomy has been and will remain what is “the norm” for HR.

 

Ernie Lebel
Vice President, Human Resource Services
Drake Inglesi Mialrdo, Inc.

Ernie has spent his 35 year professional career in the human resources business and now uses those experiences to help companies with the plethora of “people issues” experienced in the workplace.