Improved Performance. At the Intersection of Human Resources and Operations

Why does HR Solutions Center combine Human Resources and Operations Services? That’s a question we get a lot. The answer comes down to our unique insight on collaboration proving to be the fastest way to improved performance, fulfill the vision, and for the company to make more money.

In most organizations, if Operations Managers and Human Resource Managers work together, they mainly work on administrative issues like payroll and benefits. Rarely do they work on more critical issues like how to boost morale or increase production.

Experience has shown us that the fastest way for an organization to increase performance is for the Operations and Human Resources areas to collaborate in both developing and educating team members on the processes (Operations) and by motivating and rewarding each team member for their success (Human Resources).

When Human Resources and Operations work together, each area benefits from the insight of the other discipline, team members improve their performance, and the organization thrives.

How Human Resources Helps Operations

Early in my career, I wore several hats at a start-up advertising firm. One of my roles was to create a sales process for each of our main products. I was so proud. The process was near flawless on paper, but it was not very good in reality because I left out some key HR basics. I did not understand that:

1)    People are not machines. People are unpredictable. People need breaks. Sometimes they don’t show up, mistakes happen, team members work at different speeds, etc.

2)    Team members are not a part of the process, they support the process, and the process itself affects different team members differently. There are issues of trust, or sadness, or fear in the lives of team members that have to be considered.

Here’s an example. A few years later, I was creating a department-specific Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for a non-profit. To my surprise, one of the directors was adamantly against SOPs. She came out of corporate America where she worked under strategic plans, SOPs, and other process improvement structures. She HATED processes. She saw no point in them. In fact, she came to work for a non-profit because she wanted to get away from that structure.

In none of her previous jobs had she seen or heard how the processes of Operations can collaborate with the motivation of Human Resources. When I explained how my approach was not just for the sake of developing another set of seemingly arbitrary rules, but ultimately to increase the level of customer experience with our team members, she became more flexible.

The third thing I did not understand when creating that sales process was how

3)    Rewards affect how team members respond to instructions. Something simple like immediate feedback on our team member’s positive performance will increase how often that performance occurs. I know, simple, but sometimes as supervisors, we forget.

Also, as much as possible, give your team members a choice for at least a small portion of what they work on along with the flexibility to choose how they accomplish it. When given a choice, we will choose tasks we enjoy most and do best.

How Operations Helps Human Resources

In the same way, Human Resources needs the processes of Operations to be more effective. Human Resources models tend to be theory-based while Operations models go further in looking for the best solutions to specific production and service problems.

For example, in the above point 3 on Rewards, in theory, Human Resources might correctly conclude that workers will respond positively to rewards. However, Human Resources typically does not figure out the point of diminishing returns. Or, in other words, “When do the costs of the rewards outweigh the rewards or benefits to the organization?”

Human Resources needs Operations to figure out

a.    Which behaviors are the organization trying to enhance? and

b.    What rewards are commensurate to those improved behaviors?

Because Human Resources professionals are not on the frontlines the way Operations professionals are, they can at times offer general rather than specific solutions for the particular situation.

A reward experienced in every organization is yearly raises.

Here’s an example: I worked with one organization where in addition to the yearly cost of living raise the organization also offered a performance raise. There were clear instructions from Human Resources, working with Operations, regarding what criteria needed to be met to receive the 1, 2, or 3 percentage performance raise. Percentages were set by Operations based on company profits. The criteria were set by HR.

Results of Combining HR and Operations

Still not convinced. Organizations that collaborate the best Human Resources and the best Operations practices are more likely:[i]

1)    To have team members are more motivated in part because they have more control over the process.

2)    To have team members respond with more positive attitudes including greater teamwork, improved process times, and better production.

3)    To have team members stay longer in the organization, reducing turnover and expensive lack of production and rehiring costs.

4)    To be more attractive to a higher quality workforce.

5)    To move faster towards both fulfilling its vision and making more money.

[i] On the Interface Between Operations and Human Resources Management; John Boudreau, Wallace Hopp, John O. McClain, L. Joseph Thomas. https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/msom.5.3.179.16032