Teryl @ Work

Like any other discipline, HR has evolved, and is continuing to do so. I asked Ngoni Munetsi, head of Accsys People Partners Management for his input.   The article below is his response. Known before as Personnel Management, today we are talking of terms like Strategic Human Resources, Talent Management, and HR Intelligence among other terms. Are there any differences? Or is it just old wine in a new bottle? What are the current trends and what future predictions do we have in the evolution? The Morden view is the alignment of HR to Business, a statement very popular in the HR fraternity, but do we really understand how to do so? If HR is aligned to business, why is there a prophecy/prediction of the erosion of its relevance, because where there is alignment there is utility, not so? To stay relevant, I think HR strategies must focus on the following trends; The Strategic focus; This cannot be outsourced. If HR Professionals cannot transform into strategic busi...

KPAs, KPIs, Job Descriptions - and whatever other acronym you might be using, they all do the same thing - define the performance areas, describe the job, lay out objectives, success factors etc You know what they are, you understand the job, you are delivering according to the requirements, but you have the impression that your boss is not really that happy with you. It might just be that you don't understand your boss! During my career, I have reported into a number of people with huge variations of management style. There were the detail people, they needed to understand everything down to a granular level There were the big picture managers, just paint the situation in broad strokes, and mention any risk There were those who wanted everything in writing There were those who wanted to talk situations through in great detail, and get nothing to read  You get the picture... The critical way to success in a job is to understand what presses your...

This topic has been on my mind for the whole month of March based on the LinkedIn brief of the hottest positions in my industry. It has to be a role in Analytics and Business Intelligence. Security is a serious contender, too.  What else? Web development is still in demand. According to Robert Half, the positions with the most potential salary growth are : Big Data Engineers Mobile App Developers The one thing we know in IT is that you need to constantly keep current with trends. Are there IT jobs you should be fleeing from?  I don’t think so - there are legacy products in use keeping traditional IT skills busy - as long as you are enjoying what you are doing and keep your skill set relevant.   A career in IT is not industry specific, and companies are on the look out for IT specialists who combine deep IT skills with the ability to translate that into strategic, business development wisdom. A favourite (and I think relevant) TS Eliot Quote...

HR Intelligence What does your business know about your people? ·          Skills ·          Expertise ·          Qualities ·          Competencies Ngoni Munetsi, who heads up the Accsys People Management Partners Division  shared his thoughts on this with me. It seems to me that our systems have become data-led instead of information-led. He asks “How are we leveraging the data we have about our people to create competitive advantage?” “ Strategic information management is a basic fundamental of Strategic HR yet we continue to function as Data capturers…not as HR Strategists. We capture biographical data about employees, but then what?  HR Intelligence is all about making forward looking decisions through capitalising your HR Information depositories.  How can you make what y...

Or being all things to all people… Ruth Bader Ginsburg , U.S. Supreme Court Justice: “You can’t have it all at once. Over my lifespan, I think I have had it all. But in different periods of time, things were rough.” As a mother, a wife and a business woman, I have thought a great deal about this.    My article about #OutsideWork generated some personal mail that asked me, inter alia: “How?” “What do I need to do to satisfy everybody that needs my full attention when I am with them?”  My children, my boss, my partner – they all need me to be the best that I can be, and I am barely keeping my head above water.” “I don’t want to be selfish, but there is no time for me.” And a poignant comment: “This article made me remember that there must be time for “self” but I am not finding it.  I am mentally and emotionally exhausted and nobody seems to care” There is no one answer.  It’s different for those in a committed partnership, compared to sing...

The link to the Treasury Press Release is below.    It appears that the annuitisation is delayed, however the document released is a proposal and the final information will be covered in the budget speech on the 24th February, 2016 by Pravin Gordhan, current Minister of Finance. Much time and expense has been incurred by many companies to ensure compliance with the new act.  It appears that both Nedlac and Cosatu are objecting to a lack of consultation, with two major issues on the table: The savings are part of worker’s income, and should be accessible to the workers, as and when they need them, particularly with no comprehensive social security in place The fact that a comprehensive social security and retirement reform discussion paper has not been published. There has been general communication regarding the Taxation Laws Amendment Act (TLAA).  It was promulgated in 2013 and signed into law on 8 January 2016 i.e. with an effective date of 1 March...

Outside work, unwinding does not always have to be mindful…. (This article was written in response to the LinkedIn February brief #OutsideWork) “ Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else .”   J.M. Barrie And, old faithful, “ Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life ” We aspire towards balanced lives, talk constantly about work/life balance (as if work were not life) and often make work sound like the grudge part of the day.  I like to believe I have an integrated life, instead of a merely balanced one, with paid and unpaid sections. There are those who write their own pay cheques, and, for them, balance and integration are even more difficult to achieve.   The reality is that, for many people, their work is their life.   Even taking vacations cuts into their total absorption. I am not like that, at all! I love what I do for payment. I also love doing the stuff that keep...