HR Bulletin Volume 118

HR

The G-men of HR

G men? That’s not God men in our midst Nor is it FBI agents embedded within HR Then what? Read on to find out

The G men of HR are those who do G jobs in HR. What are G jobs? Peep at the title of the book referenced in the first note. Why not go with the B job nomenclature? Because we wouldn’t like to settle for the alimentation of an alien animal when we can access a solid, indigenous and familiar ingredient from our own country. A wizened ex CEO of my acquaintance once teased me "We never had so many people floating around in the Personnel Department in my time, Banaji" With a malicious gleam in his eye, he continued: "It’s no wonder employees, in general, consider HR lazy I think that’s unfair In the whole company, HR people work the hardest at doing nothing!" Irritated as I was, I began to see how HR could be bringing such ridicule on itself: we do have more

than our fair share of G jobs and we seem intent on widening our lead This column will look at the causes, consequences and cures for G jobs in HR.

Graeber’s G rant

David Graeber wrote the book (literally) on 'Bullshit Jobs'1. Our base premise for G jobs in HR will not depend on the broad socio economic trends and the state of capitalism that Graeber uses but there are several valuable pointers we can gain from his seminal work.

Let’s start with a Working Definition: "A [G job] is a form of paid employment that is so completely pointless, unnecessary, or pernicious that even the employee cannot justify its existence even though the employee feels obliged to pretend that this is not the case " All quotes in this section (unless separately referenced) are from Graeber’s book mentioned in the previous paragraph

Graeber’s focus, of course, is not limited to HR but some of his observations could’ve been tailored for us Take, for, example HR’s perceived immunity from downsizing "When managers began trying to come up with scientific studies of the most time and energy efficient ways to deploy human labour, they never applied those same techniques to themselves or if they did, the effect appears to have been the opposite of what they intended. As a result, the same period that saw the most ruthless application of speed ups and downsizing in the blue collar sector also brought a rapid multiplication of meaningless managerial and administrative posts in almost all large firms." The book contains an amusing, though no less telling for that, typology of G jobs:

• Flunky jobs or 'feudal retainers' exist only or primarily to make someone else look or feel important.

• Goon jobs are G jobs with an aggressive or threatening element to them. They come closest to the characters of a Kafkaesque bureaucracy, with its attendant dystopian consequences

• Duct tape jobs are there to patch up a glitch or fault in the system or organisation that ought not to have existed in the first place

• Box ticking jobs exist to allow an organisation to be able to claim it is doing something that, in fact, it is not doing

• Taskmaster jobs fall into two subcategories Type 1 consists of unnecessary supervisors who only assign work to others that people could otherwise have allocated between themselves. While Type 1 taskmasters are merely useless, Type 2 taskmasters do actual harm. These are taskmasters whose primary role is to create G tasks for others to do or even to create entirely new G jobs.

• Imaginary friend jobs are intended "ostensibly to humanize an inhuman corporate environment but who, in fact, mainly force people to go through elaborate games of make believe. … in office environments where everyone would probably be happier just being left alone."

• Flak catching jobs are created to be "at the receiving end of often legitimate complaints but who are given that role precisely because they have absolutely no authority to do anything about them "

• Second order bullshit jobs are not pointless "in and of themselves, but which are ultimately pointless because they are performed in support of a pointless enterprise "

Ataxonomy worth remembering as we look more closely at G jobs in HR

Causes and costs of G job concentrations in HR

Why does HR possess the lion’s (or at least cattle’s) share of G jobs in most organisations? The root cause enabling G men to flourish in HR is the impossibility (or cost ineffectiveness) of non vicarious measures of the core results expected from the function. Additionally, there are some other ways the G concoction gets concentrated to make HR go from Good to G rate.

Several HR leaders have high power needs that make them inveterate empire builders. These empires have to be evidenced by a growing number of HR factotums floating around and fattening their teams. Only Parkinsonian work can be created to fill that excess capacity which is a more elegant, if somewhat antiquated, way of saying G work rushes in where R work (Real work) is too scarce to tread

All G work that fills vacuums is, of course, not time passingly harmless A contra instance is when a CEO expects HR to play the role of the 'heavy' Several CHROs don’t rise to the bait but, those that do, pair with the CEO to carry two out of Greene’s '48 Laws of Power’ The CEO can keep his hands clean (Law 26) while his HR collaborator poses as a friend to peers while acting as a spy (Law 14) Another column has dealt in some detail with a few less

Should you give skills tests before conducting interviews?

Traditional methods of recruitment do not yield the best results. Alternative methods may be the solution.

No matter the type of company you work for, the priority is to increase company performance and reduce costs As the leader of your organisation, you want to retain the right talent who will meet your company’s mission and vision These employees will be able to achieve desired results at a particular time The typical hiring process in a company starts by reviewing résumés, moves to initial phone interviews with potential candidates, and then draws on various tests to determine the personality and skills of the candidate. This process is done so that Human Resources can gather as much information as necessary on candidates. The problem, however, is that traditional methods to get to know candidates do not yield the best results. Studies show that résumés are notoriously unreliable. About 78 per cent of résumés contain misleading statements while 46 per cent of statements are actual lies. What’s more, interviews serve as poor predictors of job performance because they are subjective.

Is there an alternative way to recruitment? One possible method is to provide a psychometric test and a skills test first before doing an interview with the candidate. According to Harvard Business Review, doing so effectively weeds out the least suitable applicants, and leaves room for better qualified candidates to undergo the more personalised aspects of the recruitment process…

What

a career portfolio? Why you should

in

Employees today are looking for so much more than fancy job titles A career portfolio enables them to plan ahead with purpose

Traditionally, companies offer chances for employees to climb up the career ladder so that these employees could become managers or leaders in their fields When employees get promoted, they receive new job titles and higher compensation than the ones they had before But with trends like “the Great Resignation” and “quiet quitting,” employees today are looking for so much more than fancy job titles In fact, they are looking for purpose, direction, and a better work life balance They want to be listened to, valued, and seen in the workplace They expect opportunities for learning, growth, fulfillment, and meaningful contribution

Rejecting the career ladder

Employees are not afraid to seek out new job opportunities, especially if their current job does not provide them with opportunities to grow within the company. A previous study revealed that about 45 per cent of employees are trying to search for a new job this year or plan to within 2023. About 54 per cent of employees said they have not searched within their current company for chances of professional development. What companies must understand is that employees are no longer interested in climbing a career ladder because of its restrictive nature Companies invest time and effort into creating career paths for employees, but what these employees really want is career growth and development

the path

a career ladder may provide insight

Why people skills are important

Learning to communicate, negotiate, and listen attentively are important people skills These skills set you apart from toxic workers and bosses

It is important for employees to upskill and improve their hard skills These are skills that will enable workers to perform specific tasks depending on their job position, whether they’re in the field of information technology, human resources, accounting, and others.

Most of the time, hard skills are sharpened through formal and informal learning. There may be no distinction between people who learned software design from a university class and someone who learned the skill through an informal technical program. Both people could excel in what they do.

When you’re sharpening your hard skills, you’re spending time and energy to innovate and use your creative juices. However, there is an uncertainty that someone with great hard skills can neglect their soft skills, also known as people skills. But why are people skills important in the first place?

Why people skills are important

Toxic bosses usually exhibit hot headedness, aggression, and micromanaging These are all symptoms of poor management and are a hindrance to how people communicate in the workplace Research has proven that poor management, particularly toxic bosses, cause anxiety among employees and prevent effective performance

This is why it is important to have great people skills With a growth mindset, you can learn to adapt people skills that will help you communicate well with others, solve problems with ease, improve productivity, and lead a team effectively. You don’t have to be the boss of your team to have impressive people skills. In fact, as an …

Work From Pub to replace Work From Home trend? Here’s all you need to know

Ever since the pandemic hit us, our lives have been all about embracing changes While some were much needed replacements, others seemed a little out of the box If you thought, you saw enough already, we have a new workplace trend Work From Pub!

Working shifts initially involved working from home, sometimes from a garden or if you’re fortunate enough, working from hills, beaches or any other holiday spots Now, as autumn approaches, British pubs are introducing a new service work from pub (WFP).

The reason for the shift from working from home to working from a bar is due to the ongoing cost of living crisis in the UK, which is predicted to get worse this winter. Trying to make the most out of the situation, bar chains in the country have taken note of this trend and are providing discounts starting at just $10 per day to entice remote employees. Explaining the scenario further, a report from The Guardian read, “Now increasing numbers of pubs are offering WFP deals to boost their revenue in the hope that laptop workers will want a break from their home energy bills. The 380 pubs in the Fuller's chain offer WFP deals from $10 11 a day, including lunch and a drink, while brewery Young's has 185 pubs signed up to its $17 a day deal, which varies from pub to pub but usually includes a sandwich lunch and bottomless tea and coffee ”

"For 10 quid you get a bacon sandwich, a table with a plug for the day and free unlimited tea and coffee," said a WFP customer in the same report He also refuted the idea that it's challenging to focus in a pub In fact, the customer