Strategic Human Resources ActionsBeing strategic is sort of like the weather--everybody talks about it, but nobody does anything about it. Here, San Francisco State University professor John Sullivan gives some examples of actions that he says have proven to be strategic. Here are what John Sullivan (in his new book) lists as some of the actions workforce management professionals can take that are "a little bold." General management Human resources administration Recruiting Retention and employee relations Workforce planning Compensation and incentives Motivation and communication Development Common strategic errors of human resources departments GENERAL MANAGEMENT Integrate your managers through metrics -- Managers often work independently and fail to share best practices among each other. By offering each individual manager on the management team an incentive, based on the overall performance of the management team, you can encourage managers to cooperate. By tying managerial performance together with a common bond, you can encourage top managers to help improve the performance of the below-average managers. By asking employees to rate the quality of their own management and then rewarding managers with high scores, you can also encourage managers to play closer attention to their people management practices. Bad management-identification program -- One of the primary reasons that employees quit their jobs is the bad management practices of their direct supervisor. Develop a program that can identify "bad managers," and then develop strategies for fixing these managers, transferring them back to more technical jobs, or releasing them. Measure and reward managers for good people management -- Mana...
