We Hire People, Not Decimal Points

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FTE, paid FTE, productive and non-productive FTE, FTE as a percent of revenue, overtime pay, premium pay, and so on are the measures of the day that help organizations tell a financial picture. Often the quest is to try to fit people into a spreadsheet and capture financial impacts to the bottom line. But as we chase the decimal point and translate those into dollars, perhaps it becomes too easy to overlook… the people.

Don’t get me wrong. I do believe in the importance of tracking, aligning, and impacting business results through human resources. I do feel making data driven decisions to structure, restructure, and develop a company leads to sound and unbiased outcomes. I founded HR C-Suite based on a mission to connect HR with high level strategic business results. When HR is connected to high level strategy, this ultimately will help organizations achieve great objectives through an inspired work force.

I believe, when a business flourishes, so does its people. But I also believe that without people, there is no business. In our chase to measure, measure, and measure more, we shouldn’t forget that success is all about the people.

3 examples in how to balance human with the business

Experience is the new satisfaction

Organizations are moving away from satisfaction terms and looking closer at workplace experience. Why? Because as humans we want to experience life and our environments. Think of the last time you went to a concert or a movie and absolutely loved it. How did that experience make you feel? Given the struggles in retaining top talent, making work environments unique through experience design-thinking is hot on the strategy trend right now.

This means we need to turn processes into meaningful experiences.

Make the performance evaluation less about the form and more about meaningful career development discussion between supervisor and employee. Design the conversation to excite and motivate.
Move candidates quickly past the application form and into a face-to-face conversation with the hiring manager so that they can connect with their next boss. Design the process to include a same day offer so that they can go back to their families excited about the prospect and offer in hand to show them for quick decision-making. Retention impacts the bottom line

2. Retention impacts the bottom line

Now wait, didn’t I just say all roads lead to the people? Now we are talking about the bottom line again. The truth is it is the people who are walking on every last nerve of the bottom line. In other words, if there is high turnover, there is low productivity, high overtime and temporary agency costs. At worse, the morale of the department and organization. Read point number one above about work environment experience.

If there is a complacent leader who fails to take action on turnover, perhaps it is time to “turn the human on”. Pause on reporting by FTE for a moment and talk about how many people who have left and call out specific stories about why an employee chose to leave.

3. Benefits and compensation and humans

Before hitting the implement button when changing benefits or compensation plans, consider how many people, not FTEs, will be impacted. Think if the change will impact a small or large group of people. Pause and think if it will negatively or positively impact those who earn a lower wage.

A savvy human resources professional can translate between two mindsets when necessary, the business and the people. Successful HR is fluent in both languages and uses it to achieve great things. It a successful organization that can balance between the human and the decimal point.

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Tresha Moreland

Tresha Moreland is a 30-year organizational effectiveness and strategic workforce planning expert. She partners with business leaders to develop workplace strategies that achieve best-in-class results. She has held key organizational leadership roles in multiple industries such as manufacturing, distribution, retail, hospitality, and healthcare. Tresha is the founder and principal consultant of HR C-Suite, LLC (www.hrcsuite.com). HR C-Suite is a results-based HR strategy resource dedicated to connecting HR with business results. She has received a master’s degree in human resource management (MS) and a master’s degree in business administration (MBA). She has also earned a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), Six Sigma Black Belt Professional (SSBBP) Certification. She is also recognized as a Fellow with the American College Healthcare Executives with a FACHE designation.