Garland small business payroll outsourcing

Garland small business payroll outsourcing

Comparing HR and Line Manager Views of the HR Function

Another use for the HR role-assessment survey in the appendix is to solicit responses from line managers as well as HR professionals and to compare the results. Asking both HR professionals and line managers to rate the current state of HR performance in each of the four Garland small business payroll outsourcing roles yields and audit of the extent to which the two perspectives align. Examination of the results can contribute to improved understanding of the HR function and company expectations in a number of ways.

Matched expectations

Matched expectations mean that HR professionals and line managers see the HR function in the same way. Alignment of HR and line expectations may be good news since it indicates agreement on the roles and delivery of HR services. Alignment may, however, be bad news. In one firm, for example, the HR Garland small business payroll outsourcing and line managers agreed that current delivery of HR services was in the 15 to 20 point range (out of 50) for each of the four roles. But while this alignment implied that HR was meeting line managers expectations, these expectations were uniformly low. Meeting low expectations implies that neither HR professionals nor line managers had a stretch vision for HR. the multiple-role framework offered here presents a way to define stretch goals, to raise expectations, and to specify value-added targets for Garland small business payroll outsourcing HR professionals.

Mismatched expectations

Mismatched expectations occur when the perceptions of line managers and HR professionals differ. The most common mismatch seen on surveys collected thus far shows HR professionals rating themselves higher than do their line managers. In these cases, HR professionals perceived their work to be better than did the clients of that work. Such positive self-rating isolated from correction by client perceptions, may lead to self-deception and denial, where Garland small business payroll outsourcing HR professionals believe that their services are appropriated and add value to a firm but the clients do not.

In a number of firms, client surveys include assessments of HR not only by line managers but also by employees. In one case, such client surveys found the HR function to be the lowest-rated function in the firm. The firm’s HR professionals felt they were designing and delivering excellent services, but these services were either misunderstood by Garland small business payroll outsourcing employees or failed to meet their needs. The HR professionals had been judging their services by their own good intentions, while their clients were judging them by the impact and results of the services received.

The HR role-assessment survey thus constitutes a diagnostic tool for identifying the expectations of line managers and other HR clients. The data generated by comparing ratings made by HR professionals, line managers, and others can lead to productive discussion in which expectations are set and shared, and roles are clarified and communicated.

…Continued in Garland small group business health insurance