Ghost Writer brings you her HR Leader rant, I mean perspective, on Compliance while Marti truncates another outlier.
As an HR Leader, which means I'm a functional manager of some other something but have to get it done through people that may or may not report to me, I have to enforce existing systems and develop new ones all of which, of course, require compliance. And there's a reason the cliche' "What gets measured gets done" exists -- it's true.
So last January, yes that long ago month in the cruel dark middle of winter, I published TWO audit forms. Yes, two. One for compliance with a regulatory item. One to evaluate a system that supports process improvement. This is like a college student hearing from his or her professor, "This is the final exam. Exactly as it will be presented to you at the end of the class. Please, please, please read it, study it, know what you need to answer these questions with your book closed, and I will pass you." Which one of us in college would have loved to have that gig?! ME! And everyone else...
The sites I work with sign up for audits to these two forms at various times throughout the year. Inevitably, there are a gaggle of them crammed into the last two weeks of the year. Did they really believe I wasn't showing up? Apparently.
The first site of the year was well prepared. Led by a sage of some 30 years of experience, he read both tests, and even said during the compliance review, "I saw what was on the audit and entered some items into our system to demonstrate we were doing it." While not sexy, it's clear he knew that the task was important, read the test, and prepared for it. [His bar will be next year when I check to see whether it was done consistently throughout the year, or just did a few to seed the deck for audits. I know this game, but I appreciate his honesty all the same.]
The next two sites have had these two items being audited for some time. The regulatory item was in good shape. The internal system showed lack of closure. Ok, I can live with that. Crap happens, and the kids leave the door open after running into the house to gain shelter from a storm, too, inherently rendering the house vulnerable to said weather, but I digress...
Then we get to the mid-year site -- she's also a sage of some 30 years experience, but she was lulled by her success on series of polite customer audits that went in her favor. Three hours into an eight hour audit, I walked out. There was nothing to audit. The test hadn't been read. There was nothing prepared. Game over. THIS WAS THE BRIGHT LIGHT OF SUMMER! One, 6 months existed to read the test and prepare. Two, she had access to the results from the prior three site's reports. [Did I mention these audits are posted on an intranet site, and every time the results of an audit are posted, an email goes out to the peers responsible for these systems? Not exactly top secret. So now you know the truth -- they get the test up front, get to see other people's results, and still fail. Really?]
Summer fades to Fall. Winter slams into us from Canada on a screaming Alberta Clipper, and here we are. The last three sites for the year crammed into one week. Each site whines about what upstream internal suppliers aren't doing right while I'm saying, "But you aren't taking care of yourself!" Yes, indeed, these three shining examples of manufacturing excellence all failed both the regulatory and the process audit. Failed it in smashing fashion after 12 months and four examples of what to do/not to do.
As an HR Leader, I can rant about them behind their backs in this Ghost Writer format and get out a little energy, but in reality, I'm mad at me, too. Really mad! What did I do to make these people think I wasn't serious? What did I do enable this type of decay? It's all the boss' fault, after all, isn't it? So now I get to start the business of serious personal reflection on how to change my behavior such that they see a coherence between what I say and what I do and what I expect and what I measure.
... or I buy them all shock collars for Christmas... Merry Christmas to all!
As an HR Leader, which means I'm a functional manager of some other something but have to get it done through people that may or may not report to me, I have to enforce existing systems and develop new ones all of which, of course, require compliance. And there's a reason the cliche' "What gets measured gets done" exists -- it's true.
So last January, yes that long ago month in the cruel dark middle of winter, I published TWO audit forms. Yes, two. One for compliance with a regulatory item. One to evaluate a system that supports process improvement. This is like a college student hearing from his or her professor, "This is the final exam. Exactly as it will be presented to you at the end of the class. Please, please, please read it, study it, know what you need to answer these questions with your book closed, and I will pass you." Which one of us in college would have loved to have that gig?! ME! And everyone else...
The sites I work with sign up for audits to these two forms at various times throughout the year. Inevitably, there are a gaggle of them crammed into the last two weeks of the year. Did they really believe I wasn't showing up? Apparently.
The first site of the year was well prepared. Led by a sage of some 30 years of experience, he read both tests, and even said during the compliance review, "I saw what was on the audit and entered some items into our system to demonstrate we were doing it." While not sexy, it's clear he knew that the task was important, read the test, and prepared for it. [His bar will be next year when I check to see whether it was done consistently throughout the year, or just did a few to seed the deck for audits. I know this game, but I appreciate his honesty all the same.]
The next two sites have had these two items being audited for some time. The regulatory item was in good shape. The internal system showed lack of closure. Ok, I can live with that. Crap happens, and the kids leave the door open after running into the house to gain shelter from a storm, too, inherently rendering the house vulnerable to said weather, but I digress...
Then we get to the mid-year site -- she's also a sage of some 30 years experience, but she was lulled by her success on series of polite customer audits that went in her favor. Three hours into an eight hour audit, I walked out. There was nothing to audit. The test hadn't been read. There was nothing prepared. Game over. THIS WAS THE BRIGHT LIGHT OF SUMMER! One, 6 months existed to read the test and prepare. Two, she had access to the results from the prior three site's reports. [Did I mention these audits are posted on an intranet site, and every time the results of an audit are posted, an email goes out to the peers responsible for these systems? Not exactly top secret. So now you know the truth -- they get the test up front, get to see other people's results, and still fail. Really?]
Summer fades to Fall. Winter slams into us from Canada on a screaming Alberta Clipper, and here we are. The last three sites for the year crammed into one week. Each site whines about what upstream internal suppliers aren't doing right while I'm saying, "But you aren't taking care of yourself!" Yes, indeed, these three shining examples of manufacturing excellence all failed both the regulatory and the process audit. Failed it in smashing fashion after 12 months and four examples of what to do/not to do.
As an HR Leader, I can rant about them behind their backs in this Ghost Writer format and get out a little energy, but in reality, I'm mad at me, too. Really mad! What did I do to make these people think I wasn't serious? What did I do enable this type of decay? It's all the boss' fault, after all, isn't it? So now I get to start the business of serious personal reflection on how to change my behavior such that they see a coherence between what I say and what I do and what I expect and what I measure.
... or I buy them all shock collars for Christmas... Merry Christmas to all!
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