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Week 1 Post  October 2nd, 2021

How to see HR in successful companies

While exploring companies on the “Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2020” list, I found that they all seemed to score high with the question of “When you join the company, you are made to feel welcome”. This question might seem simple, but the book “First, Break All The Rules” gives insight into why it’s a workplace quality to pay attention to. For example, an interview in the book asks a successful manager about their secret to building a successful team. Their response was that there was no secret and that all you can do is make each person comfortable with who they are.

When choosing three random companies (Navy Federal, Nugget Market, CustomInk) from Fortune 100’s list, Employees described their leadership as putting employees and customers at the forefront of their decisions, leading with heart and common sense, and genuinely caring about their well-being. Although the businesses themselves have very different day-to-day duties, these aspects align. If I were a manager, making my employees feel valued and appreciated would be my main priority. However, I consider finding balance between meeting the needs of both the business and the employees to be the most challenging. Google’s “Project Oxygen” took this challenge and not only asked employees for feedback on their management but they also gave managers clear areas of improvement. The article “Why Did We Ever Go Into HR?” said it best that forward-looking companies treat HR as an engine to deliberately blur the lines between business activity and people development.

Citations

Breitfelder, M. D., & Dowling, D. W. (2008). Why Did We Ever Go Into HR?.Links to an external site.Harvard Business Review, 86(7/8), 39-43.

Buckingham, M. & Coffman, C. 2016. First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently.Links to an external site. page 14 (2016 print)

Garvin, D. A. (2013). How Google Sold Its Engineers on Management (Links to an external site.). Harvard Business Review, 91(12), 74-82.

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