The Strategic Planning Process 

Oct 15, 2024

I’m going to be upfront right from the start. I won’t sugarcoat the reality one bit.

Getting a strategic plan up and running takes serious time and elbow grease. There’s no way around it. However, every minute invested upfront ends up paying back tenfold. I can tell you how worthwhile the effort is, but you really need to see it to believe it.

Of course, to see it in your own organization, you first need to know how to make it happen. So let’s start off on the right foot and establish the steps you need to set the stage for success. 

Putting a Team Together

Picture your organization as a winning sports team. If you want to go all the way, you need all-star players in every position, ready to give their considerable best toward achieving a shared victory.

This is not a one-person project. You won’t be able to do it without involving and engaging people who bring specialized strengths to the table – people who can amplify creativity, balance perspectives, and ensure that every voice is heard. Surrounding yourself with a diverse dream team makes all the difference.

Research confirms that I’m not exaggerating the value of true organizational unity. Companies using a formal, team-based strategic planning process simply perform better. We’re talking about a 70% boost in success metrics, according to strategy execution platform Cascade. 

So don’t even think about skipping this step! I cannot stress enough how incredibly important your team selection is. You want to be looking for:

• Leaders from every department. Their intimate knowledge of departmental strengths, weaknesses, and inner workings brings invaluable insights. Make sure operations, marketing, product development, finance, human resources (HR), creative, and other key departments all have a spot at the table.
• Frontline staff who engage daily with internal and external customers. Ever heard the saying “boots on the ground”? Frontline perspectives balance out high-level views to yield balanced, holistic strategies. Include cashiers, customer support reps, account managers, and/or others who regularly interact with customers.
• Key external stakeholders. Invite a few select board members, donors, community partners, or advisors to join. They lend an outside vantage point that complements internal insights.
• Third-party experts as needed. If there are skillsets your team lacks, don’t be shy about pulling in trusted outside consultants. They can provide impartial guidance and specialized expertise to strengthen your process. Just be sure internal team members still drive and own the outcomes.

The more diversity of thought and experience you can include, the better. Analytical members guide data-driven rigor. Creative folks supply fresh vision. Tactical doers ground discussions in operational realities. And engaging contributors fosters collaborative dialogue.

When forming your team, consider these characteristics:

• Positivity: enthusiasm and commitment to the process
• Collaboration: the desire to share ideas and listen to others
• Pragmatism: people who consider operational impacts
• Thought diversity: unique but complementary strengths
• Openness: a willingness to consider new perspectives.

Ideally, aim for seven to 12 core members. Too few, and you lose important voices. Too many, and you risk creating an unwieldy process. 

Then, once you have your list, connect with each person individually before the official kickoff. Share your vision for an inclusive, productive process. Get their “buy-in” to fully participate. As Kate Gibson, contributor to the Harvard Business School states, “Employee buy-in refers to employees’ commitment to your company’s strategic goals. It’s critical to strategy execution and can profoundly impact organizational performance.”

Once you have that, you’re ready to call the first meeting! 

Use this kickoff to establish and clarify everyone’s different roles, the cadence for future meetings, next steps, and guiding principles for working together. And establish a timeline while you’re at it, making sure that everyone understands specific dates to see specific goals accomplished – including the completion date all around.  

Commit to a Timeline  

Timelines, admittedly, are a topic in and of themselves, starting with the fact that effective strategic planning takes time. I know I already mentioned this exact caution, but it needs to be stressed early on – not just to you but to your team – to keep everyone as on-track and long-term motivated as possible. 

I know. I know. As a busy leader, a long timeline makes you want to run for the hills. Or, at the very least, it might spike your anxiety levels. But remember: A rushed process yields shallow strategies with major holes. Thoughtful reflection, analysis, and implementation simply demand ample time.

Fortunately, they yield ample rewards in the process. Therefore, it really is worth your while to embrace the long but rewarding road ahead. 

Most companies should shoot for at least a 12-month process to ensure they’re including all key stakeholders and allowing proper time for data collection and analysis. If you’re a startup with fewer employees, it could take far less; we’ve walked some through the process in a mere month. But larger or otherwise more complex organizations could potentially need 18 months. 

Set this expectation upfront with leadership and team members, and secure their commitment to the required time and resources. And be detailed about what’s expected, why, and how. A detailed timeline provides necessary pacing and structure. It balances quick momentum with quality dialogue to yield fully baked strategies. It’s like an invaluable compass guiding your organization’s future. 

Give this process its proper due by mapping out target dates and milestones upfront… for three extremely compelling reasons:

1. It breaks up tasks, making them appear less overwhelming and more achievable.
2. It better matches reality, since implementation takes way longer than planning. This next statement might seem obvious in theory, but it’s important to fully accept it early on to ensure the least frustrating journey in practice. An incredible 98% of leaders report execution takes even MORE time than formulating the strategy itself. That’s according to the aforementioned Cascade Team in its 2022 article, “51 Strategy Statistics And 3 Key Lessons To Help You Succeed.”

Give your team enough runway by determining key milestones and timing targets upfront. For example, you might allot three months for foundational analysis, six to deeply explore strategic options and refine priorities, and two to finalize the polished written strategic plan.

1. A clear timeline drives accountability. Like athletes diligently following a training regimen in preparation for the big game, it keeps momentum going even on busy days.

Speaking of momentum, after that first meeting, commit to holding regular check-ins to ask about progress. This is a great way to spot potential delays early so you can course correct. Another way to stay on track is to review timelines at the start of each planning meeting. Celebrate successes, address upcoming milestones, and adjust deadlines if warranted.

You want your timeline to be successful, so find some way – whatever it might be – to keep your people aware and committed to making it happen. Organization-wide allegiance is an absolute MUST for successful execution. And not just in the beginning. Everyone at every level needs to be fully aware of what the greater goal is and how long it’s going to take to get there.

Otherwise, your shiny new strategic plan will just gather dust. There’s just too much room for error.

Consider sobering research from Ted Jackson, which showed that 67% of well-formulated strategies still fail due to poor execution. That’s painful! Poor execution too often stems from a lack of proper communication, which results in a lack of commitment the more time passes. Individual contributors – and even managers – lose their enthusiasm because they get frustrated or confused by the process. 

So, again, securing honest, informed, enthusiastic buy-in across ALL levels in the beginning pays huge rewards later on. This can include:

Leadership vocally and visually advocating for the process. The boss must walk the walk for others to take it seriously. Demonstrate your commitment through active participation in planning meetings and spoken support. In other words, lead by example!

Involving people across the organization. Ask for SWOT input on Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats; or find other ways to gather perspectives on draft priorities. Broad involvement breeds engagement and long-lasting enthusiasm. (More on SWOT later.)

Communicate. Communicate. Communicate! Regularly share progress updates, milestones achieved, and details about how the process connects to departmental goals. Don’t keep anyone involved in the dark!

Link the plan to individual goals and decision-making. Set the expectation that the strategic plan will guide choices and actions made by ALL staff on a daily basis.

While you’re at it, make it clear this plan is not just another file. It’s a living document that tangibly shapes your organization’s path forward. None of this is necessarily easy, but I’ll say it yet again…

It’s worth the work.

The next four chapters will cover exactly what that work should look like, step by step by step by step. Take the time to read each one carefully, and feel free to pause over any part you need to.

It might seem overwhelming to take in. But just like it’s worth the work, it’s also doable. Trust me.

I’ve been there. Done this. And with the right amount of time and effort, you can say the same.

Mark A. Griffin | Blog, Christian Higher Ed HR, Human Resources, Kingdom Company Building

The Importance of Strategic Planning

Sep 24, 2024

If I asked you where you see yourself in five years, could you give me a good answer? Or any answer at all? 

Do you have a clear vision for your personal growth and the goals necessary to make it happen? 

If the answer is no, don’t panic. It’s not the end of the world. But you do need to take the time to rectify that mistake and embrace strategic planning if you want to be in a different place going forward. 

Many people think about personal visions and goals, but very few actually have them. Yet if you have one and focus on it often, you will ultimately steer your life toward obtaining it.

For years, I floated around with no real direction. I said I wanted to advance my career, get in shape, and be happier – but had no concrete plans to do so. That all changed, however, when I started doing intentional strategic planning for my life. Mapping out my vision, mission, and goals transformed everything for me personally. And the same can and should be true for organizations. 

Without strategic planning, it’s far too easy to drift along aimlessly. But with a clear strategic plan, your business or nonprofit can thrive like never before. In this post, I’ll show what a total game-changer it is for both personal and organizational success. 

So let’s dive in!

Let Yourself Dig Deep

Think of your vision as your compass, your GPS, or, my personal favorite metaphor, a lighthouse at the beach designed to lead you through the storms, past the rocky ocean waves toward your final destination. Regardless, it all begins with a basic but crucial question.

“What do I want?”

And don’t stop at a surface-level answer. Don’t go easy on yourself. What do you really, really, truly want for yourself? If you could have the kind of life that would make your heart sing, what would it look like?

At this point, your heart may be beating a bit faster at the very idea. And the doubts might be rising up fast. Can you really have that kind of life?

I believe you can. I’ve done it myself, and I’ve helped an ever-expanding number of clients lead passionate and fulfilling lives as well. Could you be the exception? Maybe. But you’ll never know if you don’t try. And, in my opinion, the rewards of success overwhelmingly outweigh the risks.

The Goals to Get There 

Now let’s talk goals – the steps you need to take to get where you want to go, as outlined in your vision. As an example, here are some parts of my growth vision in the past, all in a given year:

• Start a business that will assist organizations in achieving high performance through their HR practices.
• Finish and publish another book.
• Grow my social media presence by 20%.
• Manage time more effectively to end my workday by 6 p.m. in order to spend more time with my wife.
• Spend quality time with my wife by planning two weekends away together.
• Do a five-night backpacking trip.
• Attend at least one in-person seminar or conference to further hone my skills or personal growth.

• Expand my prayer life by surrounding myself with prayer experts.

Hopefully that gives you an idea of where to start. If needed –  and if nothing pops into your head right away – set aside time to dream about your ideal life. Even if you spend just five to 10 minutes a day on this project, ask yourself:

• What is my true relationship with God? Have I put my full trust in Him?
• If I could have more of something in my life, what would it be?
• What could I eliminate from my life for good?
• Which relationships do I need to nurture and/or which ones should I release?
• What is my relationship to money?
• What is my secret passion or dream?
• What am I most afraid of?
• What habits should I quit?
• What can I do to bring more joy into my daily life?
• What am I grateful for?

These questions are just a starting point. There are plenty of others to choose from. Take into account all major aspects of your life – your friends and family (both immediate and extended), church, charity work and, of course, fun and recreation. Also, examine your honest thoughts and assessments of your daily career, activities, spending habits, personal wellness and fitness, spirituality and, last but not least, your spouse.

Whatever goals you come to, you’ll want to like them. Really like them, in fact, since you’re going to be doing a lot of them! 

This is particularly true about work-oriented goals. According to statistics from research firm Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, the average American works 1,788 hours per year. Over 40 years, that adds up to over 71,000 hours! 

Take a moment to let that staggering number sink in. It means you probably spend more time working than sleeping, eating, or participating in your favorite recreational activities throughout your life!

As such, I have to assume you’d prefer to enjoy the company you work for, no matter how long you’re with it. Longevity for employees is now increasing, with recent statistics showing people stay at their jobs an average of 4.6 years. While that’s nothing compared to the kind of commitment workers showed 50 years ago, it’s still a sizable fraction of an adult life. 

This is why it’s so important to know exactly what you want to do before you start doing it: so you can end up in the most ideal situation possible. Beginning a career in a field you love and sticking with it can make all the difference in your future.

Let’s Talk About Your Voice 

Now, in order to enjoy a career you love, you need to have, know, and exert your voice. A voice shapes the culture of an organization and serves as a guide to employees and management. All successful companies have one, and successful workers do as well.

Organizations with a well-thought-out voice have direction, purpose, and achievement in the workplace. They know where they want to be (the big picture) and do the appropriate things (the details) to get there. And every step of the way, employees who align with that voice enthusiastically project that message to customers, vendors, and their local communities. Otherwise, it’s impossible to align their goals and objectives to create success.

A person or organization’s voice is a combination of their personal mission, vision, and values. Values, of course, are the principles or standards you believe should be most upheld. But let’s dig into the other two more closely.

An organization’s (or person’s) mission statement is a concise, meaningful sentence or two that represents its purpose: the goal it strives to embody or provide for its consumers. Mission statements are often action-based, explaining the central objective at hand. For instance:

• LinkedIn: “to connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful.”
• Amazon’s is to be “Earth’s most customer-centric company, Earth’s best employer, and Earth’s safest place to work.”
• Nike’s is to “bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.”

If you’re an individual, your personal mission statement would be similar in its straightforward style. It should define who you are as a person and identify your purpose, whether that’s on the job or simply in life. It’s supposed to explain where you see yourself in the future, how you plan to pursue that future, and why it matters so much to you. 

Like an organizational mission statement, a personal mission statement should be clear and concise – a soundbite or quick elevator pitch, if you will. Something, perhaps, along the lines of: “To use my writing skills to inspire and educate others around the world to make a change.”

An organizational vision, meanwhile, is an ideal or model statement. While a mission statement defines the strategy for reaching a final goal, an organizational vision is that goal. It’s the world the company envisions for the future. Tesla, for instance, uses this: “To create the most compelling car company of the 21st century by driving the world’s transition to electric vehicles.”

Lastly, an organizational value statement defines what is important to a company and its employees. For instance: “We believe food has the power to change the world. We do it by being real.” Or, if a person was writing one, it would define the values most important to him or her, such as: “To be a respectable employee, friend, and member of the community, and to make a positive impact on others by being honest, fair, and reliable.”

Some other notable value statements to inspire you include Hobby Lobby’s, which reads: “Honoring the Lord in all we do by operating in a manner consistent with Biblical principles. Offering customers exceptional selection and value. Serving our employees and their families by establishing a work environment and company policies that build character, strengthen individuals and nurture families.”

And Interstate Batteries goes like this: “LOVE. Treat others like you’d want to be treated. SERVANT’S HEART. Lead with what people need. EXCELLENCE. Do great things with the gifts you’ve been given. COURAGE. Learn, improve and boldly drive change that matters. FUN. Work hard, laugh often. TEAM. Together, we’re better. INTEGRITY. Be who you are and live up to your commitments.”

All put together, your voice – composed of your mission, vision, and values – tells the world WHO you are, WHAT you believe, and WHERE you want to go. And though I’m emphasizing certain words in that last sentence, the “you” is equally important. No two people share the exact same voice. 

Your voice is unique only to YOU. 

As an organization, you can impress future customers by fine tuning this voice. As an individual, you can impress future employers. Either way, the intent should be to let recipients see who you are and what you want. 

If this sounds intimidating to put together, fret not. You can begin by grabbing a piece of scratch paper and writing out your thoughts. Maybe start out scribbling a few adjectives that describe you best. Then think about what you value most. 

Is it integrity? Reliability? Honesty? A combination of the three or something entirely different?

Lastly, determine what it is you really want and how you plan to get there. Where do you see yourself in five years? Ten years? 

Don’t worry if you don’t have it all figured out, but this exercise can get you a lot further than you otherwise would be. By perfecting your unique voice, you will set yourself apart from the rest when it comes to competitive opportunities, big or small. After all, confident people and entities who truly understand themselves have a tendency of standing out in all the best ways.

Once you come up with your full voice, start reciting it to your friends and loved ones. Say it with confidence and a smile. By the time you land an interview at your desired company or find yourself in a boardroom convincing potential clients, you’ll have it down pat! 

My Personal Strategic Planning Journey

If this all sounds like something you figured out a long time ago and therefore don’t need to do again, I hope you’ll take a moment to reconsider. Remember that you’re not the same man or woman you were 10 years ago or even 10 months ago. You’re changing, hopefully in good ways but sometimes negatively too, perhaps weighed down by past disappointments.

Therefore, reminding yourself of what you really care about can be exceptionally helpful.

Not long ago, I know I felt stuck. I wanted to make changes but didn’t know where to start. I had big dreams but no strategy to get there… until I rediscovered strategic planning. That changed everything!

Here are the steps that put me on an amazing new path:

• I wrote down my life vision. This captured where I wanted to be in five to 10 years. It was the dream-future state I envisioned. Defining this vision gave me hope and inspiration.
• I clarified my mission. This one-sentence personal mission statement explained my core purpose. It helped me make decisions aligned with my values. Now, my mission keeps me focused on what matters most.
• I set SMART goals. Using the methodology on this graphic for a S.M.A.R.T. framework, I set specific, measurable goals in key areas like career, health, and relationships. Breaking the vision down into concrete objectives was crucial.

• I documented plans and resources. For each goal, I wrote down how I’d achieve it and what resources I needed. Putting the plans on paper held me accountable.
• I told others. Sharing my plan with family and friends generated encouragement. Their support has been invaluable.
• I reviewed and adapted. I now make sure to revisit my strategic plan – often – to update and adjust it as needed. Regular reviews keep me on track.

In all of this, I take inspiration from Habakkuk 2:2-3 (NIV), which reads:

“Then the LORD replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false.”

God says to write things down on tablets. Writing goals is doing just that.

The results in my life have been nothing short of life changing. I’m healthier, happier, and feel much more fulfilled. I’m closer to my wife, advancing in my career, and making a bigger impact on the world. 

For instance, prior to setting goals, I had never been on a mission trip. Since putting it down in clear, concise writing, I’ve traveled the world over, sharing Christ’s love through business and personal trips. I’ve been blessed to have served in Honduras, Nicaragua, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, India (from top to bottom!), Nepal, and Ukraine. 

My fitness has also increased dramatically, allowing me to: 

• Climb to the Mt. Everest Base Camp (17,598 ft)
• Climb Mt. Baldy in California (4,193 ft)
• Climb to the top of Mt. Bierstadt in Colorado (14,065 ft)
• Lead a team to summit Mt. Washington in New Hampshire (6,288 ft )
• Compete in a Sprint Triathlon.

And it doesn’t stop there. At the time of this writing, I’m planning to tackle Mt. Kilimanjaro (19,341 ft) in the spring of 2025.

Look what God has inspired me to do because I was willing to tap into who He created me to be! Moreover, in the midst of these accomplishments, I have an even bigger one to celebrate. My beautiful wife and I will be celebrating 40 years of marriage in 2026. Forty years since we said, “I do.” 

It’s been an amazing journey, to say the least. 

How did we do it? Well, I won’t go into all the details for brevity’s sake. But I can tell you the past decade has been especially momentous since we started setting goals together, and achieving them! We’ve been disciplined in maintaining that focus, making time for each other in both big and small ways for our benefit, the benefit of our children, and now our grandchildren as well. 

All in all, strategic planning gave me a blueprint to get unstuck and live with purpose. And while I knew it would be worthwhile, the results have been better than I imagined, both in personal ways and in my career.

Energizing Teams Through Vision

I’ve been on both the employee side of the business equation and the employer side. And I can attest that it’s often hard to see the other’s perspective either way due to misunderstandings, miscommunications (or lack of any communication at all), and oversights.

Imagine you’re an employee showing up to work each day. You complete tasks as told but don’t know how it’s contributing to any larger goal or vision. Before long, boredom and disengagement set in, and you feel adrift in the organizational sea.

Unfortunately, this is the reality for too many workers. And it most often happens when their leaders haven’t mapped out an inspiring vision and steps to achieve it. It’s not until organizations engage in strategic planning that amazing things start to happen…

• Employees feel energized and motivated.
• They understand how their role builds up to big goals.
• They feel purpose and direction in their daily work.

“Research shows [that] organizations with a clear strategic vision have 29% higher employee engagement,” according to Business Insights, Why Is Strategic Planning Important? | HBS Online. By articulating an exciting vision of the future, leaders ignite their teams’ passion and performance. 

Strategic planning also allows you to infuse the organization’s values into the planning process itself. This ensures alignment between actions and principles, and fosters a flourishing culture.  

Long-term success of your organization depends on how engaged your employees are. A highly engaged staff can boost profitability by 21%, claims research firm Gallup. Or, as Kate Gibson writes in her Harvard Business Review article, The Role Core Values Play In Strategy Execution, “Core values are vital to strategy execution because they guide your organization and employees’ behavior.”  

Essentially, people love being part of something bigger than a paycheck. And strategic planning provides greater meaning through an energizing vision and values-driven goals. When executed thoughtfully, it catalyzes your people’s purpose and potential, bringing them together.

By this, I mean that leaders can incorporate their teams into the strategic planning process instead of dictating plans in isolation. When a broad group participates, they take ownership of the plan together, giving them a shared enthusiasm and devotion to the collective mission. 

Everyone emotionally buys in because they co-created the plan. It’s theirs to support instead of something foisted on them from the top.

Setting Your Eyes on Achievable Goals

Once you have all of this established, your next step should be to set goals. RASM goals, to be precise, where you make them:

• Realistic – Acknowledge constraints in areas like resources and capacity
  
• Achievable – Make sure you have the capability and commitment necessary.
• Strategic – The goal in question should always ladder up to your core strategy and mission.
• Measurable – Make sure you track progress quantitatively or qualitatively against the goal.

I often add a T to this acronym for Timebound. By assigning a specific timeline to each goal, you can prevent them from dragging on indefinitely. But even without that extra consideration, research confirms that organizations with strategic RASM planning are far more successful. The discipline to focus on concrete, achievable goals pays dividends.

So set aside fantasies of instant 10x growth or dominating the universe. Effective strategic planning grounds you in reality, which then helps you get to the next level you really want to reach.

Driving Efficiency through Prioritization

Speaking of fantasies, the unfortunate truth is that there are always more great opportunities than bandwidth and resources to pursue them. That’s why one of the most powerful benefits of strategic planning is the prioritization of what matters most.

Leaders must make tough choices about what not to pursue. Saying no to less critical initiatives and collectively agreeing on 3-5 goals that will have maximum impact frees up resources to achieve strategic goals. It:

• Directs funding, talent, and technology to enable those priorities
• Aligns the whole organization around the priorities
• Executes relentlessly on the strategic goals.

In Strategic Planning, S. Ghosal writes, “Research shows organizations that take this focused approach improve efficiency. Doing less but better is my point. By keeping the team focused and avoiding the “rabbit trail” projects that tend to pop up at every organization, you’re sure to accomplish so much more in the end.”

Of course, leaders must still consider other opportunities and challenges that inevitably emerge. But a clear strategic plan provides the filter to determine what deserves resources and what can wait.

The result is an empowering sense of focus and a rapid boost in productivity.

Enabling Clear Communication

All of this inspiration, productivity, and team spirit can only endure, however, if communication remains strong after planning concludes. Fortunately, strategic planning, done right, is supposed to handle this aspect as well, serving as a living document that drives ongoing alignment. 

By clearly capturing goals, roles and responsibilities, assumptions, and progress, it reduces ambiguity and enables crisp communication and transparency around what matters most. It provides a single source of truth that keeps everyone aligned. And even as plans evolve, updated documentation maintains that unity of purpose and action.

Effective communication throughout the strategic planning lifecycle boosts organizational performance by 20%.  Assuming communication occurs without documentation is a recipe for misalignment. So invest in it throughout and even after the strategic planning process. Keep the plan top of mind through constant reinforcement. 

This pays enormous dividends – both in the moment and further down your organizational road. It’s not just the current project that gets impacted. Strategic planning is supposed to have lasting effects on everyone and every part of a business or non-profit. It helps align leadership and team members around the same priorities and resources, allowing them to act more quickly, rationally, and efficiently when conditions shift.

Moreover, it allows everyone involved to better anticipate future needs and help organizations get ahead of the curve with early hiring, budgeting, and capacity expansions.

Harvard Business Review writer Roger L. Martin, a former dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and strategy adviser to CEOs, advises that developing strategy means going outside of an organization’s comfort zone while still:

• Keeping the strategy statement simple
• Recognizing that strategy isn’t about perfection
• Making the logic explicit.

You will run into problems eventually. Those are inevitable. But you can make yourself stronger and smarter at handling those when you have your strategic plan properly thought out and in place.

Give It Time – and Commitment – to Make It Work

Whether you’re a corporation or individual, strategic planning can bring purpose and gravity back into your life. But you only reap those rewards if you approach the process with complete commitment. 

The results are long-lasting but can also take a long time, a lot of effort, and even significant money to accomplish, especially in the beginning. We’ve examined why strategic planning is such an effective means of getting organizations where they want to go. But it’s also important to acknowledge that designing and implementing a strategic plan can seem like a daunting task, especially if you’ve never been through the exercise before.

Fortunately, if you work step by step, you can develop a robust strategic planning process that will last for years. Even decades! So let’s move on now to those all-important first steps for structuring your strategic planning journey. 

I’ll show you how to make the process incredibly doable. In our next post we will be navigating bringing the strategic planning process to your organization, and the steps you will need to take to achieve high performance at your organization.

Want To Know Your Capabilities As A Leader? 

For further actionable insights, reach out to In HIS Name HR right here. We help organizations build high-performance human resource programs designed to build your workplace into the engaging, effective, integrity-filled space you want it to be.

Contact us today! You and your employees will be grateful you did.

Mark A. Griffin | Blog, Christian Higher Ed HR, Human Resources, Kingdom Company Building

Employment Laws and Regulations Every Professional Should Know

Sep 9, 2024

HR professionals are supposed to strategically manage staff members in accordance with a list of intricate and constantly evolving legal rights for both employers and employees. It’s a tough task with potentially severe penalties for any failures – real or perceived.

Legal action… financial losses… a damaged reputation.

It literally and figuratively pays to know your HR rules and regulations.

Beyond the Bill Of Rights

The creators of the United States Constitution memorialized citizen rights in a series of 10 amendments, collectively known as The Bill of Rights. This was a revolutionary document, made more impactful still since our founders had the foresight to make the list adaptable for a changing future.

The power to expand, create, and enact legislation was granted to the dual (and sometimes dueling) houses of Congress. And our representatives have definitely acted on that power ever since, impacting citizen rights in so many ways.

All of them put together, for better or worse, make an organization’s human resources agenda a lot more challenging. The topic is multilayered, but here are the biggest pieces of federal law your HR team needs to know about.

1964 Civil Rights Act

The U.S. Declaration of Independence stated that the new nation was being formed on “self-evident” truths “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,” and “that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Yet it took until the 1964 Civil Rights Act to legislatively prohibit employment discrimination  based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in hiring, promoting, and firing.

As a legal benchmark of modern civil rights, it has since been used as precedent for women’s and LGBTQ+ rights as well.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act

The OSH Act of 1970 created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Under OSHA, businesses are mandated to provide safe working conditions that are devoid of recognized hazards. Its objective is to regulate, inspect, and prevent unhealthy and unsafe working conditions.

This includes guaranteeing that workers are properly trained in their jobs and provided proper personal protective equipment (PPE) to minimize worker exposure to hazardous environments and tasks. As a regulatory agency, OSHA seeks to prevent employment-related illness, disabilities, and death.

The National Labor Relations Act

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) of 1935, also known as the Wagner Act, protects workers’ rights in the private sector. It gives them the right to free association in forming trade unions and to seek collective bargaining for fair wages and better working conditions. This includes protections against unfair labor practices and reprisals against labor organizations and their representatives.

There have been three significant amendments to the NLRA over the decades. In 1947, the Labor Management Relations Act – nicknamed the Tafy-Harley Act – removed some labor union privileges and gave the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) authority over determining unfair union practices.

Next, the 1959 Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act banned unions from expanding strikes to companies not directly involved in a labor dispute. And finally, technical amendments were passed in 1974 to cover healthcare workers in the private sector sphere.

The NLRA is the subject of two current (2024) Supreme Court cases. Since both challenge perceived NLRB overreaches, we could see further changes still.

Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990

The Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) forbids discrimination on the basis of disability.

Expanding on and clarifying the Civil Rights Act, the ADA added persons with disabilities as a recognized and protected class of citizen. It states that reasonable accommodations for equal and non-discriminatory access must be provided – regardless of whether a company is private or public. This applies to educational and transportation capabilities, as well as healthcare, housing, and employment.

Since its enactment, numerous court challenges have risen up to determine what constitutes “reasonable” accommodation. More recently, some of these challenges have asked whether mental disabilities are covered.

Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967 prohibits discrimination in the workplace against individuals who are at least 40 years old. As with ADA, it expands on the Civil Rights Act – which inherently should cover age discrimination but does not specifically name it.

ADEA mandates advancement and training based on age, as well as hiring and job interview equality. It continues to be amended as younger and older workers alike become affected by changing demographics and technological advancements.

Living Rights

As initially stated, the Constitution was crafted to be a living document addressing living rights.

The Bill of Rights alone could not address every issue concerning citizen rights, local and state government responsibilities, and private sector fairness and balance. So acts of Congress seek to address the needs of a changing citizenry.

Employment laws were developed to give structure, standards, and safeguards for both employers and employees. This is an important task, to be sure, since the very foundation of the U.S. economic system is our labor force.

However, this does mean that HR professionals work hard to stay current with laws at every level of government: municipal, state, and federal alike. Breaking these regulations can have disastrous repercussions, so always strive to stay compliant in how you handle your organization – inside and out.

________

Concerned about the HR programs at your organization? The benefits of having a trusted partner guide you and your team to excellence are invaluable. Contact us today. You – and your employees – will be glad you did.

Rise with us by implementing our high-performance remote human-resource programs to help find great people! E-mail us here.

Mark A. Griffin is president and founder of IHN HR. Connect with him on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Mark A. Griffin | Blog, Christian Higher Ed HR, Human Resources, Kingdom Company Building

10 Competencies of Leadership

Sep 9, 2024

Let’s face it: We all know being a leader is tough.

That’s why it’s so crucial for leaders to understand their capabilities in relation to leadership competencies. There’s a lot going on in those areas, from directing teams to energizing them and accomplishing your goals – each of which can be a challenge.

I’ve found that breaking down leadership into a series of competencies can help extensively. That way, you can think of each skill as its own separate task, making developing each one easier.

Here’s a look at the 10 key competencies of outstanding leaders… along with tips for you to excel in them no matter your field!

Leadership

This first competency might seem like an obvious and even all-encompassing aspect of being a leader, but hear me out. Developing all the other competencies we cover requires authentic leadership. Team members won’t believe in your vision until they conclude that you’re worth following.

That begins with proper communication. The best communicators explain their ideas with power and conviction. They speak to overarching organizational objectives and primary strategic priorities. And they articulate how each person’s work cascades up to higher-level goals.

When priorities are clear, teams can really buy in.

Great leaders also bolster morale through hard work, modeling how they want their teams to behave. They roll up their sleeves to show what they want the rest to do, raising everyone else’s energy levels by personally demonstrating diligence, focus, and persistence.

Or, to use the definition we use at IHN HR, leaders show everyone else how to “deliver on the mission, achieve the vision, and reflect the organization’s values.”

Delegation

From there, you should understand the importance of delegation to leadership success. Don’t try to do it all yourself; instead, assign tasks to the people best-suited to handle them.

Effective delegation begins with putting people in jobs they can do, so carefully consider each team members’ capabilities. Do they have what it takes to get a particular task done?

For those who can handle more, give them stretch assignments: projects or accounts with a bit more complexity. The employees who can do these without problems or mistakes should be developed further and rewarded appropriately since their chances of success are high.

This isn’t playing favorites; it’s playing to people’s strengths.

In thinking about who can complete a task, think about treating people like people. They’re individuals capable of handling appropriately assigned tasks, so be careful not to overwhelm them while also seeking to avoid automatically limiting them. Learning can and should happen at any time for any one person, irrespective of their experience.

Good delegation allows employees to thrive and often includes using tools to discover their strengths. When you do that and act accordingly, everyone wins.

Finally, go in with a clear intent; people respect leaders who avoid ambiguity. Set goals for when you expect someone to do something. Fully contextualize the work by stating what you’re trying to achieve and what the desired outcome will be. Be specific about the requirements for the task, at what point it’s considered complete, and how you’ll evaluate successful performance.

As we say at IHN HR, delegation means assigning “tasks and responsibilities to the appropriate team members”… and with the clearest instructions possible.

Professional Maturity

Professional composure might not be the easiest state to achieve, but it is a hallmark of mature leaders. The best of the best learn to keep cool with the chaos. They think calmly and clearly before reacting, refusing to take things personally even when that’s the natural human reaction.

Keeping cool in the face of fire helps to keep teams steady.

Great leaders are also active about checking their biases. They use appropriate language, base their decisions on data, and actively seek out diverse viewpoints.

At our firm, we define professional maturity as “interacting with people in a manner that reflects the values of the organization and cultural norms.”

Administration

Leaders should “systematize” additional activities. For example, if employees have to perform the same task repeatedly, managers should help develop protocols and workflows for it.

Documenting routines helps minimize employee error and confusion, especially when employees change and workers have to pick up where others have left off. Yet the majority of organizations don’t implement this strategy. And without basic working instructions or standard operating procedures, they run the risk of never improving.

Since the best leaders are always looking for ways to improve, they provide central access to templates, manuals, databases, and shared drives so workers can easily find what they need to do their jobs. Organized systems don’t waste time by forcing employees or underlings to find what they need.

This includes by way of available advancements. Leaders should always look to leverage technology to speed up manual processes, such as scheduling apps, task-trackers, file-sharing programs, and so on. A well-chosen tool can minimize waste in your work process.

At IHN HR we define administration as “having effective systems in place to manage workflow and projects.”

Training

Investment in employee training is also part of the leader’s role. The best leaders invest their valuable time in helping their team develop important skills by getting them ready for their tasks as early in the project process as possible.

Admittedly, not everyone enjoys these activities. So to make learning engaging for everyone involved, vary your approach. Use presentations, manuals, videos, and coaching. Provide materials that cater to different learning styles. Allow people to preview your expectations for them, and make it as hands-on an experience as you can.

And remember: Good-quality programs give context. Let trainees practice or simulate what they’re expected to do to prime their skills and build their confidence.

At IHN HR, we define training as “providing direct instruction or appropriate resources to impart information.”

Mentorship

Besides formal training, strong leaders seek to mentor emerging talent by offering one-on-one development support. High-performing organizations invest heavily in mentorship programs; consider doing the same for your employees.

Regardless, you can accelerate high-potential team members’ development by leveraging your own experiences and encouraging authenticity. Find out their strengths, interests, and opportunities for growth. What are their preferred learning styles? Where do they want to see themselves in five years?

Even better, put a system in place for mentor and mentee check-ins. Consistency provides continuity, and processes offer the flexibility to respond to changing needs. But also let your mentee know you’re available for in-the-moment questions.

At IHN HR, we define mentorship as “developing people by sharing their expertise, experience, and influence for the purpose of learning and growth.”

Communication

Leadership is about communication. And in order to be heard, you have to know your audience, use the right medium, and constantly seek feedback.

We advise first considering the communication styles (e.g., formality, preferences for email or phone) and terminology (e.g., vocabulary, level of detail, and depth) that are appropriate in various departments and functions. You need to understand your audience and tailor your message to fit specific recipients.

Also, keep in mind the timing of your messages. And be purposeful in your choice of communication channel. You can make broad announcements via email, but avoid sending other kinds of messages that contain sensitive material.

Try to match the medium to the meaning. Texts may attract more attention, but use them sparingly. The urgency diminishes with use.

At IHN HR, we define effective communication as “written and verbal communication that’s timely and effective with an appropriate tone.

Team Environment

Leaders shape the team’s culture by facilitating interaction between members, allowing them to bring out the best in each other. The deeper the team members’ camaraderie and engagement, the higher their satisfaction and performance.

Begin with bonding. Off-site team building and leadership development programs can do wonders. Getting people away from their desks and participating in fun activities can go far in creating stronger relationships. And if you can incorporate activities that address differences in personalities and strengths, that’s even better.

Trust improves with personal connections.

Collectively develop rules for openness, debate, and conflict resolution. And encourage respect for each other even during disagreements.

At IHN HR, we define the ideal team environment as “a culture that unifies a high-performance team to effectively deliver on their goals.”

Approachability

Leaders should also be approachable, encouraging their followers to seek them out with questions and concerns. Maintaining an open-door policy in the office, setting aside regular office hours for impromptu visits, and/or keeping instant messaging open for remote teams demonstrates your presence and accessibility to your followers.

In addition, make clear the best persons or groups to contact about any given issue and how best to reach them – whether email, chat, phone, etc. Be clear about expected response times, and consistently state your routine response process so that employees know they can rely on you.

Finally, pay attention when speaking to others. Listen carefully, and let the other person finish before you speak. Maintain eye contact, keep an open body posture, and minimize any signals that suggest you’re not interested.

1. Set specific S.M.A.R.T. goals: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time bound.
2. Plan thoroughly. Delineate all the steps, actors, resources, and contingencies. No surprises.
3. Agree on the measures. Agree on what will be measured and how the measures will be reported, ensuring they’re as quantitative as possible.
4. Break down long-term goals. Divide larger goals into smaller ones. Maintain motivation with checkpoints.
5. Be flexible; change timetables or plans if called for, but if you stay on track, that’s discipline enough. Gravity and grace balance each other.
6. Treasure your wins. Celebrate each victory as you head toward your goal. Count the wins.

We believe that S.M.A.R.T. goals not only improve the lives of employees but also contribute to the success and longevity of the organization they’re designed for.

At IHN HR, we define approachability as “being available for questions, instructions, and input (i.e., open-door policy).”

Execution

Of course, all of this leads to execution. At the end of the day, the key to leadership is getting things done efficiently and effectively.

Here are some tips for effective leadership execution:

Lead With Confidence

If that seems like a very long and even daunting list, don’t feel overwhelmed. Rather, focus on just one or two competencies per quarter and work to enhance those areas. Then make sure to regularly review your progress.

Over time, these capabilities compound to make you the inspirational leader your team needs.

Want To Know Your Capabilities As A Leader? 

______________

For further actionable insights, reach out to In HIS Name HR right here. We help organizations build high-performance human resource programs designed to build your workplace into the engaging, effective, integrity-filled space you want it to be.

Contact us today! You and your employees will be grateful you did.

Mark A. Griffin | Blog, Christian Higher Ed HR, Human Resources, Kingdom Company Building

A Guide to Creating Human Resources Metrics for Your Organization

Jun 1, 2024

It is vital for human resource professionals to track and assess their HR strategies’ efficiency. 

That’s why they use specialized metrics to gather and analyze information about an array of workforce dimensions. While there are many possibilities to choose from, not all metrics are equal. Likewise, not all are suitable to help your particular organization.

There’s a lot of information out there to navigate through as you seek to exceed your goals, remove obstacles to success, and promote a culture consistent with your mission, vision, and values. But it’s not insurmountable.

You can learn how to develop and utilize HR metrics to gauge performance and support your organization’s strategic vision. From selection to implementation, discover the key steps for creating human resources metrics that truly matter to your organization’s success.

Understanding Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in HR

Key performance indicators, or KPIs, are an essential tool in gauging whether an HR department is meeting its objectives. They can play a critical role in strategic decision-making and enhancing problem-solving abilities that align with organizational goals and objectives. 

It’s important to distinguish between common HR metrics and KPIs. Because while all KPIs are metrics, not all metrics are KPIs, which have distinct characteristics, such as: 

• Specificity
• Measurability
• Attainability
• Relevance
• Direct connection to broader organizational goals.

HR teams use these vital indicators about such things as employee turnover rates, employee engagement, training effectiveness, development assessments, and pay equity. Analyzing these crucial data points can pinpoint sectors that are ripe for enhancement and make HR activities consistent with the larger organizations’ goals. 

These measurements can then be turned into actionable insights that elevate human resources from a purely operational arm into a pivotal, future-shaping part of the organization.

And, for the record, the more specific your metrics are, the better.

Identifying Crucial HR Metrics for Your Organization

At first glance, selecting suitable HR metrics for your organization may feel like trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube. It can appear overwhelming due to the vast variety of choices available. 

However, when you track your organizational objectives, it becomes clear which HR metrics you can accurately apply. After that, decoding the puzzle is easy and even enjoyable.

(To learn more about what KPIs are all about, click here.)

Your organization-specific list will almost certainly include the group of HR metrics listed below. They’re designed to provide you with vital insights about the efficiency of your HR measures and areas for growth…

1. Recruitment Metrics 

The success of any thriving organization depends on its recruitment. But without proper benchmarks, it can be tough to determine if your hiring is effective and efficient. 

Therefore, recruitment metrics are critical measures in assessing these processes. They give you insights into how effective your processes are. 

For instance, one focus is on the time to hire: how long it takes between when the recruitment process begins and when a suitable candidate accepts his or her job offer. This is an essential measure of how quickly your candidates of choice move through the pipeline.

Or how about your cost per hire. Recruitment costs reveal the financial investment that goes into securing each new hire within expected salary bands.

HR authority SHRM pins the employee cost per hire at $4,683 on average. How close are you to that figure? 

Quality of hire is another important consideration – an assessment that gauges what advantages newly hired personnel add based on aspects like performance, team and/or organizational assimilation, and ongoing work contributions.

Your organization itself must also exude attractiveness that draws potential applicants into competitive landscapes. The Offer Acceptance Rate elucidates this appeal by showcasing how many extended offers actually result in hires.

HR teams are increasingly adopting refined tools such as talent analytics and predictive models to both: 

• Sharpen prospect identification skills during recruitment exercises, and 
• Devise stronger employee retention approaches after the contract has been signed.

2. Retention Metrics 

Bringing in new talent through recruitment is one thing, but maintaining it through high retention rates is another vital aspect of organizational health. Elevated retention not only lessens the financial burden associated with frequent recruiting and training of newcomers, but also cultivates a sense of loyalty and trust among employees—crucial for ensuring stability and promoting growth within the organization. The Employee Turnover Rate (ETR) serves as an important indicator in this context, providing a measure of how many individuals leave over a given period. To calculate this rate, divide the total number of those left by the total number of employees at the start, and then multiply that figure to express it as a percentage.

Monitoring for potential turnover during an employee’s initial year can flag underlying issues detrimental to both your employer’s brand and hiring finances. Thus, tracking first-year turnover holds considerable value amongst key employee metrics here. Assessing both voluntary exits—where employees choose to leave—and involuntary ones, gives comprehensive insights into job satisfaction (or lack thereof), which may be hindering successful staff retention.

Imperative for grasping overall workplace morale while safeguarding against attrition is examining overtime per full-time equivalent (FTE), revealing average overtime across your workforce. This not only sheds light on potential burnout risks impacting worker contentment—which affect your retention rate, and subsequently affect continuity—it also identifies undue strain, potentially accelerating employee departure rates. By keeping these crucial data points in check, organizations are better equipped to cultivate environments that encourage continued employment tenure alongside deepening commitment from their personnel.

3. Employee Engagement Metrics

To achieve organizational success, it’s crucial to keep employees fully engaged. That’s why metrics exist to assess employee engagement. 

This can provide insights into job and employee satisfaction, as well as the overall commitment of staff within the organization. 

We cannot overstate the significance of these metrics. They impact work quality and employee growth rate and retention, and shape the organizational culture.

The Employee Engagement Survey from the Best Christian Workplaces, which is determined through survey responses, stands out as one such metric. It offers valuable perspectives on whether employees would recommend their workplace to others. And it provides a clear picture of organization-wide engagement levels.

Another important indicator is the absenteeism rate: the average frequency at which employees do not attend work. A higher-than-average absence rate could indicate underlying challenges in key areas such as:

• Organizational governance
• Leadership effectiveness
• Workplace conditions
• Work-life balance and harmony.

These four elements are integral to shaping employee contentment and dedication. As they improve, so does productivity and efficiency.

Metrics require data in order to implement data-driven HR strategies

With access to vast amounts of data, HR strategies have transitioned from mere intuition to solid, evidence-based insights. By harnessing the power of HR analytics, organizations can not only refine their talent acquisition tactics, but they can also diminish employee turnover and bolster overall workforce engagement.

That’s why it’s crucial to delve into how applying a data-centric approach to your human resources practices could revolutionize the efficiency and effectiveness of those processes.

Collecting and Analyzing HR Data

HR data’s quality and applicability form the foundation of any effective data-driven HR strategy. Strategies fail when they lack precise and relevant data, which is why HR departments can employ various software tools to:

• Craft customized reports and extract insights from KPIs.
• Streamline data gathering from a variety of sources.
• Apply sophisticated analytics to support informed decision-making processes.
• Convert intricate datasets into practical, actionable insights.

Note those last two in particular. Because there’s more to an efficient HR strategy than just amassing large quantities of data. 

It’s also about evaluating which training initiatives actually deliver and which ones don’t. 

For instance, HR teams can monitor salary average overtime metrics to effectively manage both internal and external costs – particularly during periods when staff shortages lead to frequent and costly overtime. And an all-encompassing view of total HR-related expenditures is crucial for assessing its financial efficiency.

Sifting through employee data for relevant feedback or assessing how technology investments pay off are two more examples. And the list goes on from there.

Aligning HR Metrics with Organizational Objectives

Ensuring that HR metrics are in sync with an organization’s broader goals is essential for success. This entails navigating shifts within an organization and maintaining a strategic focus. 

Human resources departments should establish specific targets across several areas to support central organizational aims. For instance:

• Aligning the organizational structure
• Developing compensation strategies
• Enhancing employee skill development
• Refining performance review processes
• Managing transitions effectively.

In turn, they can use these data analytics for various purposes, such as:

• Projecting future labor market trends that could indicate either talent deficits or surpluses in particular sectors.
• Applying predictive analysis techniques for early detection and addressing potential skills shortages.
• Correlating recruitment efforts directly with projected talent needs.

It can be helpful to benchmark these goals against industry leaders. This can help HR teams stay informed about current trends concerning consumer demands and workforce expectations. Of course, each organization will have specific considerations that may or may not deviate from top-ranking competitors. 

Addressing Pay Equity in HR Metrics

These days, it’s imperative for organizations to address pay equity as part of their human resource metrics. 

This goes beyond meeting legal requirements. It’s a fundamental part of sound ethical HR practices. 

Pay equity means ensuring that employees who perform similar roles receive equal pay – regardless of personal attributes such as race, sex, ethnicity, age, or religious beliefs that are unrelated to job performance.

Therefore, metrics that assess how well these practices are in place are essential. Ideally, they should measure them over time to ensure they eventually lead to proper pay equity. 

To achieve it, employers should take the following steps:

• Perform audits dedicated specifically to pay equality.
• Implement impartial criteria when determining salary.
• Increase transparency surrounding remuneration.
• Amend any discovered imbalances.

Most organizations with a properly maintained and applied pay equity metric end up rewarding motivated employees. This then ultimately improves retention and lowers turnover overall.

Establishing Benchmarks and Targets

Defining benchmarks and targets for each of the HR metrics you use is critical, and it’s important to get top management involved in the process. 

You want to match benchmarks and targets with your overall organization’s strategy and individual departmental considerations. But also, evaluate your metrics by comparing with different HR departments in other organizations that are similar in size and performance. 

Each HR metric’s goals must represent a meaningful step toward achieving key long-term organizational objectives and goals. Benchmarking best practices include:

• Selectively choosing appropriate competitors
• Verifying data sources for reliability
• Establishing realistic objectives
• Upholding an ongoing commitment toward benchmark activities. 

These metrics should also include measuring how well managers are doing their jobs, how fast employees move up in the company, and how much it costs to train each employee. 

Monitoring and Adjusting HR Metrics as Necessary

Human resource management is an area of constant change and realignment. It’s important to always keep an eye on your processes so they’re properly aligned with the firm’s needs and goals.

It’s also essential to research how setting benchmarks and goal evolution can improve HR metrics. Once again, pair them with flexible strategies that allow for constant improvement. 

This should ensure a thriving, cohesive workforce that’s in tune with the organization’s goals. HR functions must constantly evolve their metrics to effectively navigate today’s tumultuous world. By refining key indicators such as cost per hire, employee engagement rates, and eNPS (Employee Net Promoter Scores), organizations can enhance hiring practices while also highlighting improved areas. 

That, in turn, should benefit the company financially and in terms of employee morale–a win-win all around. 

In Conclusion…

In the dynamic world of HR, metrics are a compass to guide strategic decision-making. 

From recruitment to retention, and employee engagement to pay equity to organizational alignment… putting this data to good use can transform HR from mere support to a strategic driver. 

It all comes down to: 

• Identifying the right metrics
• Aligning them with organizational objectives
• Monitoring and adjusting them. 

When organizations do this, the results can be immensely positive. Many organizations prosper when results are measured. This process allows organizations to monitor goal attainment, identify areas for improvement, and make informed decisions. They serve as a framework for evaluating employee performance and aligning performance and actions with strategic goals.

FAQs About Creating Human Resources Metrics for Your Organization

Q: What is the difference between HR analytics and HR metrics?

A: HR metrics focus on specific quantifications that monitor and assess various HR functions. Whereas HR analytics examine extensive HR data to glean strategic insights.

By leveraging HR analytics, organizations can make informed decisions regarding talent acquisition, employee engagement, workforce planning, and retention strategies – just to name a few areas of improvement.

Q: How can an organization use HR metrics to create value?

A: HR metrics are crucial for monitoring essential hiring and retention processes, including employee performance, compensation patterns, and levels of engagement. They offer valuable insights that help pinpoint successful initiatives, areas for improvement, and further ways to grow.

Q: How can recruitment teams use HR metrics?

A: Metrics such as cost per hire and time to hire can serve as indicators of the recruitment process’ effectiveness and efficiency. And once an organization has that information, they can better evaluate what is working and what isn’t in order to improve their searches.

Q: Why are retention metrics important?

A: Once someone accepts a job offer, there’s no guarantee they’ll stay the full year, much less longer. Organizations that have insights into employee satisfaction levels tend to have better reputations and retention – which of course make for better work environments in general.

___________

For further actionable insights, reach out to In HIS Name HR here. We help organizations build high-performance human resource programs designed to build your workplace into the productive, engaging, effective, integrity-filled space you want it to be.

Mark A. Griffin | Blog, Christian Higher Ed HR, Human Resources, Job Shepherd Employer, Kingdom Company Building

Protect Your Mission ~ Christian Leadership C-Suite Summit

Apr 26, 2024

May 8th, 2024

Conference 8:00 a.m. – 4:15 p.m.
Breakfast and lunch provided

Networking Reception from 4:15 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Hors d’oeuvres and drinks will be served

Cherry Hills Country Club | 4125 S University Blvd, Cherry Hills Village, CO 80113

HR practices that can best help your Kingdom-Minded organization while protecting its mission in today’s hostile world.

Presenter Mark Griffin has seen it all in his more than 25 years of Human Resources experience gained by working with a wide range of organizations, from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies to Christian Colleges, Ministries and Churches.

Let Mark help you by sharing his experiences in helping a variety of organizations manage their beliefs in the reality of today’s workplace.

Mark will share why he believes Christ-centered organizations experience:

• Lower absenteeism
• Higher quality products
• Fewer employee morale issues
• Safer work environments
• Better perceptions by customers and vendors

Let Mark help you by sharing his experiences in helping a variety of organizations manage their Christian beliefs in the reality of today’s workplace. Leading your organization with Christ-centered values makes organizational sense; learn how to develop HR practices that reflect your core values and build a high-performance organization.

You Will Learn Employment Laws To Consider:

• Duty to Protect
• Current Supreme Court Rulings
• DEI From a Biblical Perspective

Mark is a human resources professional with 25-plus years of experience in both public (Quaker Oats Company, Kodak Inc., Merck Inc.) and private companies (Woolrich, Conestoga Wood Specialties, Valco Companies Inc.), Mark is passionate about building high-performance workplaces by utilizing best practices while leading organizations with strong values.

About The Presenter

Mark A. Griffin, MBA
President and Founder In HIS Name HR LLC

Speaker, accomplished HR consultant, and the author of How to Build “Kingdom-Minded” Organizations and College to Career: The Student Guide to Career and Life Navigation, Mark A. Griffin encourages leaders to build values-led organizations during these increasingly complex times.  Mark and his wife live in Lancaster PA and have two adult children.

Presented and hosted by the Christian Leadership C-Suite Summit.

To see the list of other speakers or to learn more about the event visit them here.

Mark A. Griffin | Blog, Christian Higher Ed HR, Events, Human Resources, Kingdom Company Building

Understanding Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s)

Apr 17, 2024

Understanding Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Key performance indicators (KPIs) are numerical or qualitative benchmarks measurements of how efficient a plan is. They give real data on not only what the goal is but what progress is being made toward that goal, showing everyone involved the impact they’re making day to day.

Their greatest value is that they turn vague goals like “improve customer satisfaction” into something you can actually measure. Doesn’t “decrease customer complaints by 50% this quarter” sound a lot more effective?

This makes KPIs central to an HR professional’s toolkit – and therefore a topic worth delving into at length.

Think about it. It only makes sense that high-performance organizations need to focus on measurable results. Without this, they lose both focus and engagement, two elements most employees crave.

Earlier in my HR career, I was blessed to be surrounded by many organizational development experts. One of the key pointers I learned from them was that if you measure a task, the majority of people will try to improve the results if given the chance.

So what do most organizations that operate within high-performance principles measure? That depends on the industry.

For instance, in manufacturing, quality, production, safety, and profitability are always shared front and center. This is true all the way from the boardroom down to the third-shift employee in a remote company facility.

Churches, meanwhile, might measure attendance, staff turnover, and volunteer participation. Or for a ministry, it could be conversions to Christ, project funding, website analytics, and country presence, to name a few.

I’ll admit I used to feel confused and overwhelmed by KPIs. It took me a while to get a meaningful understanding of them.

But that was many years ago. I now not only understand them, I appreciate how intensely useful they can be. I’ve even helped countless organizations develop meaningful KPIs.

And I’ve seen amazing results in the process.

So… What Exactly Are KPIs Again?

Simply put, a key performance indicator is a measurable value of how an organization is hitting its goals. You can think of KPIs as dashboards that give you at-a-glance views of how different parts of the organization are doing.

Revenue… Customer satisfaction… Production efficiency… Safety incident rates… These are all examples of what KPIs can track. Though really, they can monitor progress on any important metric, from sales targets to sustainability efforts.

Why Are KPIs Important?

Obviously, every organization wants to be more effective. So anything that can (ethically) make them more so is a bonus.

But there are a few key reasons why KPIs in particular are so useful:

• They help everyone involved focus. With so many things going on every day, KPIs shine a light on what’s truly important so you and yours can prioritize activities that really move the needle.
• They create accountability. Measurable targets make it easy to see where teams are underperforming early on. That way, you can take appropriate action to get things on track.
• They provide clarity around expectations. It isn’t always easy to understand what management wants to see going forward. So metrics that can make them clear can go a long way in keeping employees focused and effective.
• They drive motivation. When employers and employees can see concrete progress in what they’re doing, it proves their work is contributing to big-picture success. This boosts team engagement and morale.
• They lead to better decisions. The data KPIs provide helps you understand what’s working well and what needs more attention. That way, you can make smarter choices.

Focus. Accountability. Clarity. Motivation. Insight.

What organization wouldn’t benefit from that list?

How to Use KPIs Effectively

KPIs have to be implemented thoughtfully to work. They are not a magic concept you can simply say out loud or write out on paper to make your desired results appear.

Knowing that, here are some tips to put them into practice:

• Link KPI targets directly to organizational goals. Don’t just measure random things! You want KPIs that clearly map back to organizational objectives so you can see that progress is happening.
• Focus on your 3-5 most critical KPIs. Tracking too few can devalue aspects and outcomes that are critical to your operations. Tracking too many can dilute their impact and makes prioritizing difficult. Therefore, identify the ones that offer the most value.
• Set challenging but realistic targets. Impossible goals lead to frustration, but easy targets don’t push growth. Find the sweet spot that properly motivates your team.
• Define how data will be collected upfront. Without a clear process, data quality really suffers. Make sure responsibilities and tools are set, evaluated, and maintained to capture reliable data.
• Review KPIs frequently. Don’t just set them and forget them! Regular check-ins ensure that teams are on track or can course-correct early if needed.
• Keep refining KPIs. As objectives evolve, so should your KPIs. Continually tweak them to link back to what matters most in the moment.

When you do, your key performance indicators can work for you in ways you have to see to believe.

KPIs in Action

To make this practical, let’s look at a few examples of common KPIs and how organizations use them…

Product Quality: KPIs can identify defects per thousand units produced. This helps organizations monitor how many units are failing quality checks that can then be improved on. When you decrease defects against a target, you drive better product consistency.

A defect goal is easily created. If the organization has 5/1000 (0.005) defects, the goal could be a defect rate of 0.0025 – which is a 50% reduction.

Naturally, product quality is important across every industry, including higher education and non-profits. But an exact organization’s defect goal can look different depending on what exactly is being measured.

Workplace Safety: The “lost-time incident rate” tells you how safe your workplace is. It compares injuries resulting in missed work time to total hours on the job. When this drops, it means you’re avoiding harm and keeping your crew productive.

One common calculation is the “days-away severity rate.” This records the average number of days injuries kept employees from work. To calculate it, you simply divide the number of lost workdays by the number of recordable safety incidents.

Admittedly, you could find that you could have a high injury rate and low severity rate this way – meaning that people are getting hurt but not severely. That’s preferable to a high injury with high severity, obviously. But most organizations should have zero accidents as their goal across the board.

Customer Satisfaction: Tracking things like customer satisfaction (CSAT) or the Net Promoter Score shows how your clients actually feel about what you provide. High marks mean they approve and will likely stick around to grow with you.

In short, make your customers happy and success will follow!

Your calculation for this KPI could simply be customer complaints per thousand sales. And similar to the product quality explanation, you can replace the input to suit your specific organization.

You probably already know what your customer satisfaction goal is, but make it as specific as possible. Say your organization is at 20/1000 (0.02) complaints. In that case, you could determine to cut that by half down to 0.01.

Production Efficiency: The Overall Equipment Effectiveness assessment rolls up how available, quick, and quality-oriented your machines are into one simple metric. Optimize OEE, and you can churn out more goods without incurring extra costs.

And, of course, efficient operations increase your revenue… bless your employees… and improve the communities in which you do operate.

Create the base line or profitability for the organization, then translate it into employee terms. So if you’re measuring your breakeven point for a production line, come up with a breakeven number per shift.

This calculation could be made by your engineering and production teams. But say they project 20,000 units per hour as your production rate goal. The KPI calculation would measure any deviation from the goal number, either above or below.

So if production is cut short by 19,000 units per hour, the calculation would be 19,000/20,000 = 95% of goal attainment. Or if they exceed the goal, the calculation could be 20,000,000/21,000 = 5% over goal attainment.

KPIs for Nonprofits

There are plenty of other ways KPIs can work for you depending on the type of organization you run, and the different types of goals and objectives you have. Here are three for non-profits specifically…

Member-Engagement KPI

This one tracks what percentage of your members are really engaged: how many are talking the talk and walking the walk.

Are they showing up for programs, volunteering, giving back financially, and otherwise helping to really make your organization grow? Maybe only 30% of your base is actively involved right now.

Maybe lower still.

Set a goal to bump that engagement up to 40% over the next year. You can get more members off the sidelines and in the game by doubling down on the programs that are already working. Likewise, rethink ones that aren’t connecting.

If more people are invested, your whole community will feel that love.

New Members Added KPI

Growth matters, so tracking new members is huge. Set a target to add 50 new members to your non-profit every month.

If you see you aren’t hitting that target, get introspective about your outreach.

How can you connect better with more folks in the community? Get creative! New ideas should be welcome (though properly vetted, of course).

When more people join your mission, it builds serious momentum. So get out there and share the word!

Donation Revenue KPI

Money matters, even for non-profits. That’s why we advise looking at total monthly donations and aiming for 10% growth year-over-year.

Consistent giving means your programs stay solid. If you spot any dips in donations, tackle that ASAP. And try asking members directly how your non-profit entity can earn their support.

Keep the faith that donations will rise, and act accordingly!

KPIs for a Variety of Industries and Organizations

If you run neither a non-profit nor traditional moneymaking business, don’t worry. There are almost certainly KPIs for your organization too.

We’ve included three particularly useful ones below, though there are plenty of others out there to research and review.

Lead Conversion Rate KPI

Isn’t it high time to turn those leads you have into actual deals? Ask yourself: What percentage of leads become customers for your business right now?

Ideally, you want to set your sights on 25% conversion.

This is not an impossible goal. To get there, follow-up faster with leads, nurture them along, and coach your team on closing skills.

Every lead is precious. Treat them that way, and you’ll see more of them stick around.

Higher conversions will pump up your revenue big time, making the effort more than worth your while.

Asset Utilization KPI

You’ve got trucks, planes, and/or other heavy equipment just sitting there collecting dust. What a waste!

An idle asset isn’t earning your organization any revenue. But a fully utilized one drives your organization forward.

So use what you’ve got to the maximum!

Let’s get that utilization percentage up by scheduling everything tighter and routing them smarter. An 85% utilization rate would be a great target to shoot for.

Customer Retention KPI 

Look at what percentage of customers stay loyal to you each year.

Is it 80%? Awesome! That’s a solid start.

But there’s no reason not to aim even higher still…

Reduce your customer churn by improving satisfaction through better services and products. Make them feel the love!

Keep your people happy, and they will keep you happy by returning to your organization in ways that keep the revenue and relevance flowing.

Final Thoughts

Here’s the bottom line about KPIs…

They make goals clear and provide valuable insights to help teams work smarter. When used right, they drive better decisions, accountability, and results!

Unlike what I used to think – and you might currently think – KPIs are not meant to complicate your life. Implemented effectively, they give you the information you need to guide your team forward into bigger, better, and more effective phases for your organization.

______________

For further actionable insights, reach out to In HIS Name HR right here. We help organizations build high-performance human resource programs designed to build your workplace into the engaging, effective, integrity-filled space you want it to be.

Contact us today! You and your employees will be grateful you did.

Mark A. Griffin | Blog, Christian Higher Ed HR, Human Resources, Kingdom Company Building

Leveraging Gallup’s CliftonStrengths for Career Success

Feb 29, 2024

Career development should always be aligned with one’s potential.

Human potential is vast, but too many people unfortunately don’t know themselves well enough to tap into it. In fact, many of us navigate life without ever realizing our possibilities. To correct that, the first thing you need to do is understand your strengths.

Peter Guber, CEO of Mandalay Entertainment Group, said the success of someone’s career – regardless of profession or field – depends on their ability to lead, manage, and build good relationships with colleagues. His experience leading an entertainment industry business taught him that so much of our potential must be excavated and then honed to reach true career success.

That’s why it’s so important to know yourself well – no matter how long it takes to achieve that understanding. Once you know who you really are, you can recognize what you’re really capable of.

And then you can put it into practice and truly thrive.

How to Identify Your Potential for Career Development

It’s a fact that many students struggle with choosing a career path to pursue. And many adults already in the workplace still don’t know if they followed the right field.

That’s a shame for both the individuals involved and the companies they do or will work for. Feeling like a misfit can lead to extreme unhappiness and underperformance all around.

This is why the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is such an incredible tool. It’s designed to help you discover your personality and where that personality best fits within your chosen career field.

Less well-known but equally helpful is Gallup’s CliftonStrengths assessment. To quote their website:

“The 34 CliftonStrengths Themes Explain Your Talent DNA. When you take the CliftonStrengths Assessment, you uncover your unique combination of 34 CliftonStrengths themes.

“The themes, which sort into four domains… are a culmination of decades of research led by Don Clifton to study and categorize the talents of the world’s most successful people.

“Together, the themes explain a simple but profound element of human behavior: what’s right with people.”

Moreover, they give “you a way to describe what you naturally do best or what you might need help from others to accomplish.” And who couldn’t benefit from that?

Once completed, I’m confident this assessment can make your career journey much more informed and fruitful.

Here are just some of the themes you might identify with…

Domain: Influencing

Theme: Activator

• You enjoy jumping right in and trying out different roles and jobs.
• You seek leadership opportunities and positions where you’ll be rewarded for getting things moving.
• You sometimes (or all the time) think about starting your own business.
• You realize some people might feel threatened by your drive to make decisions and get things going.

Theme: Command

• You’re willing to take on several potential roles or jobs, and you seek out chances to assume positions of leadership.
• You seek out positions that offer room for advancement.
• You take into consideration situations where quick decisions are required.
• You seek careers in fields like law, commerce, politics, or theater, where you can use your persuasive skills.

Theme: Communication

• You speak with people who could fill the roles you’re interested in, knowing their experiences will educate you.
• You enjoy settings that provide you with regular social connections. Cooperative, engaging, and instructional environments are your ideal.
• You prefer professions involving comedy, acting, motivational speaking, teaching, public relations, ministry, or training, where you can share your experiences.

Theme: Competition

• You seek out chances to assume leadership roles.
• You work on projects that will allow you to measure and compare your results.
• You think about business, sales, law, politics, and sports.
• You seek out positions that offer room for advancement.

Theme: Maximizer

• You interview the “best of the best” to find out what they enjoy doing for a living.
• You prefer settings that support “best practices” and allow you to collaborate with others to make the organization better every time.
• You could consider positions that allow you to assist people in realizing their potential.

Theme: Self-Assurance

• You’re skilled in many different things and like to try out potential positions or jobs. In fact, it’s crucial for you to choose what you enjoy.
• You seek out settings that will challenge you while offering freedom to figure things out on your own terms.
• You might want to think about pursuing a job in training, entertainment, or sales.

Theme: Significance

• You want to leave a strong legacy behind.
• You seek out settings where you can be acknowledged for your achievements.
• Consider a profession where you can truly and enduringly improve the world.

Theme: Woo

• You make sure to meet a diverse range of individuals working in various professions.
• You seek out settings that appreciate your capacity to convince or sell – and where you can meet new people on a daily basis.
• You could consider a job as a public relations specialist, sales representative, trainer, comedian, or lawyer.

Domain: Executing

Theme: Achiever

• You have a relentless desire to achieve. You are only satisfied when you’re reaching or exceeding the goals in front of you.
• You approach everyday as a new opportunity to make an impact, but you need to be cautions. Your drive can convince you to work nights, weekends, and long hours.
• You have a strong work ethic, are able to lead by example when properly coached, and are a great asset to any organization seeking to achieve high performance.
• You should seek careers that give you a lot of room to achieve the results you desire.

Theme: Arranger

• Your default when problem solving is to seek all the pieces at the same time and arrange them into a logical sequence. You see patterns that others do not.
• You desire a workplace that isn’t routine, where the daily aspects ebb and flow allowing you to use your arranging capabilities.
• Seek careers where you can bring order out of chaos.
• Pursue careers in employee relations, or human resources management, urban development, and leadership.

Theme: Belief

• You hold deeply held ideals regarding how things should be in life, at work, and in the community.
• Your ethical approach sometimes frustrate you when the world’s actions don’t align with it.
• You could consider careers where your core values align with the organization in question, especially in pastoral care, certain medical fields, teaching, and counseling.

Theme: Consistency

• You look for settings where rules, guidelines, policies, and procedures are well-established.
• You seek out settings that are predictable and structured.
• Law enforcement, human resources, risk management, safety compliance, and quality assurance positions might be right for you.

Theme: Deliberative

• You research as much information as you can regarding potential roles and employment.
• You prefer workplace settings where you can work alone to perform in-depth analyses, and you stay away from those that require too much socializing or human contact.
• You consider jobs as judge, finance officer, or risk analyst to be ideal.

Theme: Discipline

• You establish goals and outlines for your career-planning procedures.
• You prefer structured settings where you can uphold order for both yourself and other people, and make use of your organizational skills.
• Depending on your education, you might consider a job as an executive assistant, brain surgeon, tax specialist, or air traffic controller.

Theme: Focus

• You gather as much information as you can about possible jobs or roles.
• You look for environments where you can focus and concentrate without interruptions or the need to multitask.
• You do best in structured environments that are predictable and detail-oriented.

Theme: Responsibility

• You prefer settings where you can operate autonomously and eventually be given more authority.
• You seek out locations where you can establish relationships of trust with other people.
• You would likely do well in professions that place more emphasis on results than procedures, such as executive assistant, librarian, or law clerk.

Theme: Restorative

• You’re intrigued by individuals known for pulling people out of difficult situations or jumping in to fix issues.
• You appreciate situations where you’re required to identify issues and provide solutions.
• Since you depend on your education and aptitude, you might be well-suited for careers as a TV producer, surgeon, or customer service representative.

Domain: Strategic Thinking

Theme: Analytical

• You are smart, logical, thorough, good at thinking through issues, and good at handling numbers, figures, and charts.
• You are objective and use data to search for trends, patterns, and interconnectedness.
• Be cautious. Your greatest weaknesses can offend people since you have the propensity to be tough, never satisfied, and full of questions.
• Choose a career that requires you to analyze data. Accounting, finance, marketing, and certain engineering fields should be explored.

Theme: Context

• You look back at your past decisions to get an idea of what you enjoy and are highly skilled at.
• You seek out settings where you can investigate the origins of things and gain a solid understanding of an organization or asset’s past.
• Professions such as archaeologist, historian, curator, professor of humanities, or appraiser of antiques could easily appeal to you.

Theme: Futuristic

• You desire a career path that enables you to help others glimpse the future and inspire them to bring it to pass.
• You look for environments that encourage creativity and imagination.
• Jobs in commercial art, architecture, design, or city planning appeal to you.

Theme: Ideation

• As much as you can, you brainstorm and daydream about potential careers or professions.
• You seek out settings that encourage experimentation, originality, and unconventional thinking.
• You could easily consider a profession in advertising, market research, design, consulting, or strategic planning.

Theme: Input

• You try to obtain as much input as you can regarding potential roles and employment.
• You seek out settings where you will be exposed to large amounts of information and data.
• Occupations that allow you to stay up to date with the latest developments in science and enable you to become a knowledgeable researcher and consumer are right up your alley.

Theme: Intellection

• You stay abreast of change related to careers and career development.
• You seek out settings where you can ponder and mull things through before acting.
• You should consider a profession that provides you with intellectual challenges, where you can ask questions and exchange ideas. But stay away from groups that uphold the status quo.

Theme: Learner

• You examine career inventories, read up on careers, and do further research on what you read.
• You enjoy settings that promote lifelong learning and personal growth.
• You are well-suited to jobs such as business trainer, instructor, or college lecturer.

Theme: Strategic          

• You desire employment that enables you to create innovative initiatives and methods for addressing persistent issues.
• You enjoy settings that are adaptable, foster creativity, and provide you with opportunities to view things holistically.
• Professions in consulting, law, or psychology could be ideal for you.

Domain: Relationship Building

Theme: Adaptability

• You have the ability to remain calm during stressful and ambiguous situations.
• Routine roles that force you to plan and organize don’t appeal to you; you’re too action-oriented and independent-minded.
• You enjoy constantly evolving demands and challenges. You could even say you thrive in chaos.
• Careers that might suit you include human resources, emergency medical management, crisis management, manufacturing, and customer service.

Theme: Connectedness

• You seek out NGOs that provide aid.
• You prefer settings where you can engage with people and assist them in discovering meaning and purpose.
• You recognize your own values and make sure the company you work for upholds them.
• You think about carrying out a career that will allow you to live out your religious convictions.

Theme: Developer

• You appreciate employment opportunities where you can help people in some capacity.
• You seek out settings that emphasize communication, cooperation, and teamwork.
• You like the sound of careers where you can assist others in improving their abilities such as life coach, counselor, or teacher.

Theme: Empathy

• You look for employment in places where feelings are respected, not suppressed.
• You desire environments that are upbeat and encouraging with lots of communication and teamwork.
• You can consider pursuing professions such as education, human resources, counseling, or ministry.

Theme: Harmony

• You’re a mediator at heart and seek to find middle ground with practical solutions that can drive everyone into agreement.
• Your willingness to hear all perspectives helps when all sides of the issues need to be considered.
• Ideal careers for you include arbitrator, counselor, diplomat, and ambassador.

Theme: Includer

• You consider working with groups that are often set aside by others, such as those who are intellectually or physically challenged.
• You seek out settings where you can play a welcoming role.
• You enjoy the idea of being something like a special education teacher, social worker, therapist, youth worker, or HR representative.

Theme: Individualization

• You appreciate settings where you can coach, train, and otherwise give others feedback.
• You seek professions that allow you to work one-on-one with individuals.
• Jobs such as HR specialist, business trainer, life coach, teacher, or counselor suit your personality.

Theme: Positivity

• You choose work you’re passionate about that supports your hopeful view of the future.
• You look for environments that are fun, fast-paced, and people-oriented, and where you can use your sense of humor.
• You like the idea of careers as a coach, sales rep, teacher, or manager.

Theme: Relator

• You discuss your perceptions with people in your trusted social group.
• You enjoy settings that promote friendships and allow you to continue expanding your knowledge about others.
• You could consider the role of manager, HR director, teacher, counselor, or school administrative professional.

How Well Do You Know Yourself?

Here’s an important question after scanning the CliftonStrengths’ list of themes and what they entail…

How well do you know yourself?

Most interviewers ask this question or something like it. So it’s an important consideration if you’re thinking about a career change. It might also come up during your annual employee review.

Or maybe you wonder about it on your own without any external prompting.

Regardless, this is the most crucial question you could possibly answer. It speaks to how much you know about what you want in life. And once you know that, it becomes so much easier to set goals in your career and elsewhere.

Just like that, you’re equipped to properly choose not only a fulfilling career but a fulfilling life.

So from now on, strive to identify the potential within you based on your individual strengths. In life, there is no such thing as too late to know yourself.

Set Your Bar High. What Is the Highest Goal You Want to Achieve?

In terms of career development, you need to have top-level goals or target priorities you want to achieve every year. Consider having at least three measurable goals and no more than five. At the end of December, you can determine your achievements, starting from the smallest to the most significant.

Learn from your achievements. Revisit what worked and what didn’t, and make sure you focus on repeatable behaviors that contributed to the goals you did attain.

Your targets must, of course, be in proportion to the potential you have. The higher the level of success desired, the more potential must be explored, including intrapersonal and interpersonal skills.

They also need to be reasonable. For example, if your current position is that of a supervisor and you want to advance from there, you can target becoming a manager in two years and then set your sights on the next advancement from there. Set a deadline for yourself and decide what steps you’ll take to achieve it.

Your yearly goals don’t have to involve accomplishing every intense dream you’ve ever pictured for yourself. Sometimes it’s much more intelligent to have a five-year or 10-year plan you build up to.

Just make sure to capitalize on and exercise your strengths to get there.

Speaking of plans, you should also consider making one to determine how to achieve each goal you have, yearly or otherwise. Another important aspect is determining likely challenges and preparing solutions to work past them.

Indeed, some goals are only achievable after you’ve overcome already existent problems.

Make Sure to Accept Help Along the Way!

Human potential is always aligned with career development. But you hardly have to work alone in order to realize yours. If you’re looking for guidance, there are seminars, workshops, and webinars out there specifically designed to optimize your potential and achieve your goals.

Or if you’re looking for more personalized guidance, In HIS Name HR helps organizations and individuals build high-performance human resource programs designed to get you where you need to be.

Concerned about the HR programs at your organization? The benefits of having a trusted partner to guide you and your team to excellence are invaluable. Contact us today. You—and your employees—will be glad you did.

Rise with us by implementing our high-performance remote human-resource programs to help find great people! E-mail us here.

Mark A. Griffin is president and founder of In HIS Name HR LLC. Connect with him on LinkedIn and Twitter

Mark A. Griffin | Blog, Christian Higher Ed HR, Human Resources, Kingdom Company Building

How to Be a Great Employee

Feb 7, 2024

Did you know the average adult is awake 16 hours a day?

For those of us who don’t always work from home, that includes one hour to prepare for work, 30 minutes each way driving there and back, and at least eight hours at the office Monday-Friday.

Right there, we already have 10 out of our 16 allotted hours.

Now let’s contrast that with the time we invest at church. For some people, it’s just an hour a week. Quite the difference!

Now, admittedly, it is difficult and even impractical to try to even those amounts out too much. We do need to earn a living for ourselves and our families. So it makes sense that so much of our lives are invested in preparation for work and actually doing that work. But this hardly means we have to neglect out Christianity.

Far from it, in fact.

That’s why God’s presence in the workplace matters so much! This time-consuming setting offers great opportunities to encourage those who already know Christ and to witness to those who don’t.

Most of us probably don’t work for an organization that outwardly expresses our Christian beliefs. But we’re called to be ambassadors of Christ and reflect Him in our lives regardless, including when we’re on the job.

The Bible has a lot to say about the importance of work and how we should conduct ourselves in it. Two examples include (NIV):

Colossians 3:23 – “Whatever you do, work at it with all of your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”

Proverbs 16:3 – “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.”

As such, let’s explore some of the important values that Christians should demonstrate in the workplace. The one I want to share today is integrity, with many more to come in future articles.

Proverbs 10:9 (NIV) reads:

“Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.”

I’m sure we can all think of examples where people (maybe even us) didn’t show integrity in the workplace. These behaviors include the C.Y.A., or covering your you-know-what, method; throwing others under the bus; telling untruths; calling in “sick”; and having affairs with coworkers.

If it weren’t for the prevalence of such conduct, we wouldn’t need to have so many workplace policies on codes of conduct, harassment, social media activity, and the like.

But what exactly is integrity? It might be easy to spot when people lack it. But what does it mean when we have it?

Integrity denotes a deep commitment to do the right thing for the right reason, regardless of the circumstances – even when no one is watching, C.S. Lewis. It includes a sense of honesty, dependability, and consistency of character.

People with integrity adhere to moral company policies. They own up to their mistakes. They are honest and don’t tell untruths. They are trustworthy and dependable.

The word integrity evolved from the Latin adjective integer, meaning whole or complete. So it’s an inner sense and outer expression of “wholeness” deriving from qualities such as sincerity and consistent character.

Consider these questions to self-assess your own personal integrity:

• Do you portray yourself differently depending on who you’re with?
• Do you admit your mistakes?
• Are you honest at all times?
• Can others depend on you to do what you say you’ll do?

Our integrity is tested on a daily basis by a culture that’s normalized falsehood and dishonesty. This might involve cheating on an exam, fudging a business expense, downloading music illegally, taking office supplies from work, or telling little white lies.

They might seem small in the moment. Even necessary. But those sorts of actions can chip away at our souls little by little.

On the flipside, Scripture tells us many benefits of living with integrity:

• It can give us promotions in the right way (Nehemiah 7).
• It grants favor and honor, and opens the door for good things to come into our lives (Psalm 84:11).
• It can help us find contentment (Proverbs 19:1).
• It brings clarity and guidance to our lives (Proverbs 37:18).
• It helps us be more like Jesus (Matthew 22:16).

King David also shed some light on integrity in Psalm 26:1-3 (NIV):

“Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have led a blameless life; I have trusted in the LORD and have not faltered. Test me, LORD, and try me; examine my heart and my mind; for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness.”

You can see here that the root of David’s integrity is his relationship with God. As it should be for us.

How Can You Be Sure That Your Integrity Guides Your Actions?

In order to claim integrity as part of your identity, you have to commit to acting on it. It’s not always easy, but it ends up being very worthwhile when you:

• Keep your word.If you say you’re going to do something, then do it! If you say you’re going to be somewhere, then be there! We all know those people we can’t really count on.Don’t be one of those people! Otherwise, we’re bound to see Jeremiah 22:12 (NIV) applied to our lives: “Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, making his own people work for nothing, not paying them for their labor.”
• Tell the truth.Mark Twain said, “If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.” It’s easier and the right thing to do. Even little white lies eat away at your integrity.
• Don’t gossip.Keep your confidence, and don’t talk about others behind their backs. Proverbs 11:13 (NIV) counsels us that, “A gossip can’t be trusted with a secret, but someone of integrity won’t violate confidence”
• Work hard.Colossians 3:23 says, “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people” (NIV). If you’re a believer, your real boss is God. So whether or not anybody else sees your work, God does.That’s why 2 Timothy 2:15 (NIV) reads, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”
• Act consistently.A person of integrity doesn’t act one way in church, another way at work, and another way in social settings. In addition, he or she treats the janitor with the same level of respect as the CEO.God is never changing. He is faithful, trustworthy, true, and loyal. He can be counted on. And he wants us to follow his example, as shown in Proverbs 11:3 (NIV), which reads, “The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.”

In short, each one of us in the workplace has a responsibility to bring positivity and encouragement to the workplace. Let these tips and recommendations lift you to higher levels of performance.

Contact us today! You, your students, faculty, and employees will be grateful you did.

Mark A. Griffin | Blog, Christian Higher Ed HR, Human Resources, Kingdom Company Building

Protect Your Mission CCCA Sectional

Nov 20, 2023

HR practices that can best help your Kingdom-Minded Camp while protecting its mission in today’s hostile world.

CCCA Sectional
White Sulphur Springs
4500 Milligans Cove Road
Manns Choice, PA 15550

Presenter Mark Griffin has seen it all in his more than 25 years of Human Resources experience gained by working with a wide range of organizations, from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies to Christian Colleges, Ministries and Churches.

Let Mark help you by sharing his experiences in helping a variety of organizations manage their beliefs in the reality of today’s workplace.

Leading your Camp with Christ-centered values makes organizational sense.

Mark will share why he believes Christ-centered organizations experience:

• Lower absenteeism
• Higher quality products
• Fewer employee morale issues
• Safer work environments
• Better perceptions by customers and vendors

Mark will also share how he helps organizations develop HR practices that reflect their core values and still build a high performance organization.

Topics to be Covered

• DEI and Biblical alternatives why is this important?
• Protecting your religious liberty
• Dangers from proposed laws
• Current state of religious liberty in court
• Creating a high performance culture through practical HR competency development
• Where most organizations go wrong engaging employees
• Setting expectations
• HR tools for creating success
• Employee policy manuals
• Codes of Conduct
• Employee relations and communications
• Performance management
• Counseling and discipline procedures
• Terminations
• How the Civil Rights Act administrative guidance affects your Camp

Mark is a human resources professional with 25-plus years of experience in both public (Quaker Oats Company, Kodak Inc., Merck Inc.) and private companies (Woolrich, Conestoga Wood Specialties, Valco Companies Inc.), Mark is passionate about building high-performance workplaces by utilizing best practices while leading organizations with strong values.

About The Presenter

Mark A. Griffin, MBA
President and Founder In HIS Name HR LLC

Speaker, accomplished HR consultant, and the author of How to Build “Kingdom-Minded” Organizations and College to Career: The Student Guide to Career and Life Navigation, Mark A. Griffin encourages leaders to build values-led organizations during these increasingly complex times.  Mark and his wife live in Lancaster PA and have two adult children.

Presented and hosted by the Christian Camp and Conference Association Allegheny Region. For ticket information visit them here.

Mark A. Griffin | Blog, Christian Higher Ed HR, Events, Human Resources, Kingdom Company Building