Visitors to the largest HR conference in the world, the Annual Conference of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), which took place in Chicago in mid-June, heard an interesting lecture by Susan Meisinger. Susan Meisinger, the former CEO of SHRM, spoke about communication between human resources and senior management. Meisinger summarized some important facts, "CEOs will never tell, but want HR to know". The most interesting points of the lecture were published by smartblogs.com and we are offering you a short overview:
CEOs can't know everything that is going in their company or in the industry
It is impossible to read all the news or to know all your competitors' activities in regards to employee management. CEOs often do not even not know all the specific problems currently faced by their own employees. Their HR representatives should be able to inform them of their employees needs. HR also needs to prove that they are able to apply industry knowledge and experience to their company's operation.
CEOs don't like to talk about HR
Salaries and bonuses represent a major company expenditure, one which does not excite the CEOs. They are also not excited by the legal consequences which may arise from various employee problems. Human resources should therefore come to CEOs with suggestions for improving organizational effectiveness while reducing costs.
CEOs want you to decide yourself
You need to show confidence in your abilities and be able to make even complex decisions independently. They don't expect you to always agree with what they think. They do expect you to act honestly, and without excess emotion, and to treat sensitive employee information with discretion.
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