Strategic Edge Forget the paper shuffle, HR has a starring role in successful businesses
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A new orientation

"When I started on my first day at Company ABC, I was shown my desk then was on my own."

That frequent complaint is not one heard at Brady Ware, a Leading Edge Alliance firm. New employees are rarely ever "on their own" for the whole first week of employment. Brian Jacob, human resource manager, says a formal orientation program was initiated four years ago to ensure new employees quickly discovered the company's culture, learned how to find answers to their questions and got a comfortable feeling about coming to work.

"By the end of the week, they've talked to 12 to 15 people in the company. Every minute of the day is scheduled," he says.

Jacob is the man charged with creating that schedule. "At the beginning it was kind of a scheduling nightmare," he says. Since then, however, Brady Ware has taken advantage of the calendar program in the Outlook e-mail software. Because all employees must ensure that their Outlook calendar is up to date, Jacob can go online to check an individual's availability then book the appointment.

He says that supervisors know that the first week is orientation so the new employee cannot start "official" work until week two.

Among all the activity in their first week, new employees meet with:

  • the managing partner who sits with the individual for an hour to share the Brady Ware mission and vision
  • an IT representative for a couple hours to learn the basics of how to use the system.
  • the marketing director for 90 minutes or so to identify the resources available to help them attract clients or respond to inquiries for proposals as well as the marketing strategies used by Brady Ware.
  • the director of business development who discusses her role and how the new employee can contribute to the firm's growth.
  • an administrative assistant who can answer the all-important questions such as how to use the copy machine or where the paper clips are.

Jacob says the firm always has received great feedback on the orientation program. "New employees feel it's special that people are taking time out of their week to talk to them," he says. e

Pressure at the top

In a recent survey, HR executives say the three biggest challenges they face are:

  • attracting, retaining and growing talent (67 percent),
  • being able to better support the business by focusing HR on core capabilities (47 percent) and
  • supporting business changes (41 percent).

Hewitt Associates, a global human resources services company, surveyed nearly 100 large U.S. companies that represent 2 million employees. e

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Osborne, an accountant turned HR executive, says over the 10 years she has worked in HR at SS&G her role has evolved as the firm grew and its experiences meant an increased focus on retention, recruiting and professional development.

"Good HR is a relief to the business' partners," Osborne says. Done well, HR frees employees to focus on what they were hired to do. In the accounting business, that means the accountants are able to devote their time to advising their clients, she says.

Hessel says that technological advancements have had a big impact on HR, allowing departments to expand their roles without hiring more people.

Osborne agrees. "We're making employees more self-sufficient," she says. Staff can use the intranet to register for professional development classes, keep track of their hours electronically and monitor their continuing education requirements to maintain their licenses.

"Technology has helped the workload," Hessel says. As such, opportunities open up as administrative-level jobs depart, creating opportunity for specialty players to put in the most strategic positions for the company. He says those specialists typically fall into four categories:

  • compensation/benefits,
  • leadership/learning,
  • management/organizational development,
  • and talent acquisition.

"They really make HR perform much differently than it did 20 years ago," Hessel notes.

Another boost from technology is that HR departments can evaluate better what they're doing. "The strong companies use employee technology to measure employee and client satisfaction," Hessel says. The means HR can identify whether the services and programs it is providing are really what the employees need and want, he explains.

Brian Jacob, human resources manager at Brady Ware, a Leading Edge Alliance firm, understands well. "We want to make sure we're keeping people happy," he says. "What does the team want?

"Surveys identify what could be done even better," Jacob says.

That's particularly important because finding employees with one to five years public accounting experience has become extremely competitive in the last few years. "Before, you could just put an ad in the paper and get candidates," Jacob says. "Now, employees are getting calls even if they aren't actively searching for work elsewhere." e