Creating A Business Case For HR Staffing

So much of the time we look through the lens of our past experiences without even realizing it.

Being raised by a single mother working two (or more) jobs, receiving my first introduction to "business" in the tightly funded military, earning my HR business partner wings in a small but growing privately held family business and now practicing HR in a federally funded organization - I view money through a rather conservative lens.

It impacts my approach to HR staffing.

Using the word "approach" denotes that something is a conscious decision and that's not accurate in this case. Most of the time, it is so ingrained in what I do, that I am not even aware of it.

HR staffing, for me, is an elusive, rubber-band dynamic between fiscal responsibility and service. I tend to do everything I can to make due with what we have until we can't do it anymore. By the time I accept that we can't do it anymore, my staff are on the window ledge preparing to jump.

The HR staffing ratio goal in the Federal sector is 1 HR Specialist for every 80 employees, my staffing ratio is about 1:150 and the optimum number for my department (and me) is somewhere in between.

Notice how I ever so smoothly inserted "and me" in there.

For the good or the bad of it, I am a pivotal part of the equation. I won't (I can't) stand before my colleagues, peers and boss and and ask for something that I don't believe in or can't support. And, because of my lens, I know that I get in my own way.

So, can you imagine interest when our headquarters sent out a request for volunteers to develop a business case for HR staffing in our agency? 

Long story short, I am on the workgroup. We will start by identifying data we can gather and factors to consider in developing business model. I vision the model as a resource available to all facility HR offices and not a prescriptive "if a than b" model.

Since HR is not one-size-fits-all, the "factors to consider" will be key. Mike Haberman has some great info in his post, The HR Ratio or "How Many Employees Does It Take To Screw Up an HR Department?"

And now I am itching for more. Help me me look smart. More importantly, help me see past my staffing lens.

Tell me, what resources, guides, models, tips or factors to consider would you include in a business case for HR staffing? 

A New Take on Trust

I originally posted this in June 2007 but it still holds true today.

What do managers do? That's a pretty broad question so let's take me for an example. I am a manager, what do I do? Well, when my daughter asked me that very question a few months ago, I started to think and came up with this, an example of my typical day. But that is not the whole story.

When I returned to work on Friday after spending the week away on business, I spent the first 1 1/2 hours at my desk doing one thing over and over and over again. No, I was not banging my head on the desk but close :). Sometime between Friday and today, I realized that I didn't mention this task in my recap of a typical day. How could I have left it off? What was I thinking?

Well, it can be a seemingly small task and something done routinely and often without thought. However, it really is much more than that. This is a task fraught with responsibility, accountability, and more. The first few times it was ceremonial, it was exciting and yes, I was young and naive. The novelty wore off rather quickly and now it has turned into something else. Let's just say that when I go down, it is going to be because of this task. When I go down, it is going to be for something that I signed. Yes, the thing that takes me down will have my name all over it. My signature will be my downfall.

I sign because that's what manager's do. Research your action, do the leg work, get the facts straight and when I ask, be prepared to answer with information not emotion. Yes, at times I absolutely do have to see everything in writing. Tip: DO NOT respond, "well you signed it" when asked about an action. This is about as non-recoverable as it gets for me.

I sign without much question or fanfare. Why? Because I trust you. Don't take that lightly. I don't.