Deciding to Have an Assistant to President - A study by Artur Victoria

There is a definite, positive future for the assistant-to position, especially for training purposes or the accomplishment of special projects. Using the assistant-to position as an operational, permanent, or limbo function has less merit. In the process of data gathering several years ago, especially during visits to various organizations, there were strong indications of a more generally favorable feeling toward the assistant position as a training post. Key executives often like to have a permanent assistant-to, as differentiated from a permanent assistant-to position, so that they may rely on a particular individual. But to enjoy this luxury may invite some negative consequences regarding authority, real power, and lines of communication, responsibility centers, circumvention of chains of command, and the like. leia todo o artigo

The Manager - Leadership and Training - A study by Artur Victoria

Training is an important part of leadership. It is one thing to issue an instruction, but another to have the instruction carried out intelligently, with an appreciation of its consequences. One of the selection tests for army officers during the war was to require the candidate to have a tent erected by two assistants by giving them instructions. The assistants never disobeyed an instruction, but would always carry it out in the least helpful manner. It is not recorded that any candidate succeeded in passing this test completely. The example is not quite a fair one as the purpose of the assistants was to obstruct, but it illustrates the point that successful work requires not only obedience to instructions, but intelligent and active co-operation by people who understand what the supervisor is trying to achieve. This involves training at various stages. leia todo o artigo

The Human Resources Executive - A study by Artur Victoria

The human resources executive emerges as an internal consultant, a business effectiveness agent for purposeful and progressive change. His background of training and development point to a generalist orientation as contrasted with the more narrowly focused point of view of a specialist.

Modern management at top organizational levels is beginning to recognize the need for high-level staff help in the solution of corporate problems-a great many of which can be traced to deficiencies in human resource management. Thus, though the staff role of the human resources executive used to be restricted to policy formulation and routine, traditional personnel activities, general management now looks to him to take an active role in stimulating change. His role as passive onlooker is a thing of the past. leia todo o artigo

Piece Rate Compensation In Human Resources - A study by Artur Victoria

In practice, the piece rate for a particular completed task in an industrial setting is usually set by industrial engineers, who attempt through time-and-motion studies to determine how many pieces N a standard employee, working at a standard pace, can produce in one hour. A standard hourly wage rate W for the employee will have been set, taking into account the wages paid in the local labor market as well as firm-specific factors, such as a policy of paying efficiency wages, a policy of wage compression, and so on. Then the piece rate for the task will be set at WIN, so that a standard employee, working at a standard pace, will make a standard wage. leia todo o artigo

Coaching Human Resources Performance - A study by Artur Victoria

Good and objective measures of performance are hard to come by. Giving human resources specialists a role in evaluating general managers may turn recommendations from the same specialists into something closer to "commands," an outcome we would very much like to avoid. On balance, however, this is a role that can often play and a role that ought to be undertaken by someone; so this is a task we urge you to consider assigning to specialists. And there is ample precedent for such a role. After all, many companies have used a similar approach in other arenas-for instance, having specialists charged with overseeing corporate quality or ethics initiatives are responsible for training, coaching, and helping to evaluate general managers in contributing to those initiatives. A dotted-line relationship between service providers and (especially) in-the-field human resources specialists is an excellent idea. Should you hire for this newly configured human resources function? What sort of training should you give them? What kinds of career paths should they follow?

One should think of these people as "nearly" general managers who specialize in these issues. They should be trained in business generally. They should be interested in and knowledgeable about business, particularly your business. As part of their on-the-job training, they should get exposure to the other business realities facing your enterprise. The reasons should be obvious: To be successful, human resources needs to be integrated with other general business concerns. A specialist, in an advisory position or otherwise, who doesn't appreciate the larger general business picture facing the organization is poorly situated to provide sensible guidance. And even if the guidance given is sensible, this person is less likely to be able to get the ear and respect of general managers. leia todo o artigo