This is Ask Mary, an advice column dedicated to helping public sector leaders address common issues and challenges with grace, humility and wit.
In this column, MRG CEO and founding partner Mary Egan offers her unique perspective and wisdom honed over two decades of helping public agencies thrive.
Dear Mary,
I run a large special district. I am frustrated with my HR director, who I recruited into our agency. I brought this person on to achieve several big, strategic objectives. This person never seems to have time to focus on the big things because she is overwhelmed by the small things that take up all of her time.
How can I help this person focus on the big picture?
Sincerely,
Big Picture
***
Dear Big Picture,
Well, hopefully this is a new hire and you’re writing within the first few months of this person’s appointment. Because people typically show up to a new role wanting to do a good job, and this person is probably motivated to succeed right now. You recruited this person, which means you thought they would do well in this role. So let’s talk about what can be done to correct course.
I’ve got a few ideas for how to get this HR Director back on track.
Open up communication. If the HR Director is focusing on the wrong priorities, it could be a communication issue. I would have a pretty candid conversation with the employee about what you’re observing. It could be that they’re facing a challenge you can help with.
Hopefully this person is already included in the strategic leadership meeting so that they can get the context for “why”. I find that when you share with people the “why”, it brings a lot of clarity to the “how” and the “when”.
Encourage delegation. The one thing that people in this position really struggle with is delegation. They don’t feel comfortable delegating routine tasks like logistics, data entry, and queries. It sounds like your HR Director came into your agency from another organization. They may still be familiarizing themselves with the ins and outs of your agency’s systems. This could be an opportunity for you to connect this person with new resources and help them build relationships within the organization.
Don’t let perfect ruin good. People who work in HR can often be perfectionists in a way that binds them down. Certainly, the work has to be professional and polished, but they should know when it meets standards. This person sounds new to your organization, so they may be spending extra time confirming details and ensuring that everything is correct.
Give them permission to shift their workflow. Encourage your HR Director to look at how they’re spending their time. When I work with a new coaching client that has this problem, I always ask them to do a time study. In this exercise, track and record your activity over a period of time: a week, 10 minute blocks, or retrospectively if that’s just too much to track. Think of it as a personal workflow to audit. What tasks could be delegated? What tasks could be automated? What tasks could be given to a contract provider?
External HR support may be the best option. It’s likely that your HR leader struggles to find the time and resources to achieve major strategic objectives, even with impeccable time management. If that’s the case, consider contracting with a third party provider for specific HR tasks, to free up your leaders to achieve other goals.
There’s a number of HR tasks that you can contract out to a third party provider, such as leave integration or workers comp administration, recruitment, retention, leadership development, succession planning, and so on. Taking a time-consuming task off your HR leader’s plate could help them refocus their time on your organization’s priorities.
And if you perceive that this new hire just lacks the ability to provide strategic vision, then consider bringing in a consultant for leadership development. Working with an experienced leadership coach can help teach that person to be strategic and think about what’s important.
Best of luck,
Mary Egan
Mary’s Pick: SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management, is a very affordable resource with a profound database. That’s incredible. And it’s something that all HR managers should be a member of. They have a lot of great information about benefits administration and other HR needs.