From Slovenian HR Association we send to all member countries our best wishes for a happy and successful New Year 2012
Vanda Pečjak
President
EAPM Members
12/23/2011
12/09/2010
NEWS FROM SLOVENIA - DECEMBER
HR Association successfully completed traditional 2 days annual event STUDY DAYS with title:
QUO VADIS HR? ARE PEOPLE REALLY THE MOST OFF PRECIOUS VALUE? On the event there were 110 participants.
The basic conslusions of the conferrrence are:
> HR quadriga: knowledge, innovation, productivity and values are key stones for economy and sociaty developement
> HRM is the key function to ensure future developement with special attention to talents, leaders and associates developement and engagement
> It is necessary to change values in the society with positive approach for success not to search for mistakes
> Vision is needed on all levels, leaders must be the role models
> HR function must be excellent in execution, must follow and supprot business needs
> Companies have to develope their organisation and improve all sites of productivity
> To engage all associates we need constructive social dialogue, we need to show day by day good companies, good managers and good HR practice. Good examples must be known in the public more, not only cases with violation
> Ethical and moral standards are important to get and to keep trust of people. Managers and leaders must show the best practice.
We had our regular assembly , where we accepted several changes in our organisation : new name: Slovenian HR Association, new logo, different structure of bodies, financial structure. Such changes have to be approved by local authorities before use them in official documents, We elected for second mandate the president of HR Association, Vanda Pečjak will continue for another mandate.
This year HR Association awarded her members for excellent contribution in HR practice and contribution in HR organistion deelopement. . The golden plaque was granted to dr. Boris Dular, HR director of company KRKA, pharmaceuthical. The second award was given to the Project team for HR Association renewal, lead by dr. Robert Kaše and 12 members. CONGRATULATIONS!
AT THE END I WOULD LIKE TO WISH ALL OF YOU HAPPY AND SUCCESSFULL NEW YEAR 2011 .
Vanda Pečjak, president
11/25/2010
Slovenia - news for November
The mayority of activities in slovenian HR association are dealing with organisation of our traditional study days, whic will take place on November 25 nad 26, 2010. The title is : "Quo vadis HR? Are people really the most off our precious value?". With this topic we want to show trends in the economy and in the society with special focus on the role of people in these processes and treatment they receive in their working enviroment. We will host our president dr. Pieter Haen, who will present the global reasearch to our members. So far we have got cca 70 participants, and they are still coming in.
Quite strong delegation of HR experts from Slovenija took part on Alpe Adria meeting in Trieste on November 12. The leading theme of the event was: "Performance management in the multicultural enviroment". Slovenia presented one case from chemical industry and the case from public sector - University of Ljubljana. On this occasion Slovenian HR Association signed with Macedonian HR Association the MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING . The common goal is to develope HR methods, systems and exchange the best practices between both countries.
Vanda Pečjak, president
11/05/2010
News from the President
Labour market specialists win Nobel Economics Prize.
Three labour market specialists, including one blocked for a top post at the US Federal Reserve, won the 2010 Nobel Economics Prize for research that has had an impact on employment reforms worldwide.
The Nobel jury said that the work of Peter Diamond and Dale Mortensen of the US and British-Cypriot Christopher Pissarides helped resolve puzzles such as why people remained unemployed despite a large number of job openings.
It lauded the three economists for their analysis of markets with search frictions, which helps explain how unemployment, job vacancies and wages are affected by regulation and economic policy.
The three winners have had a big impact on how policy makers view benefits for the unemployed and what best can be done to get them back into jobs. They show that you can improve the system if unemployment benefits are accompanied by sanctions for those who do not actively look for work as well as by policies that ease the transition back to work, such as training and councelling.
The laureates work helps us to understand why an increase in wages gives an increase in employment, contrary to what might be expected.. In other words, more workers are encouraged to look for work by higher wages.
According to traditional theory, markets should work on their own to ensure that job seekers find available jobs. The Diamond-Mortensen-Pissarides model however, shows that markets do not always function that way and helps explain why unemployment persists and proves stubbornly resistant even when economic circumstances improve.
In a way People Management and our profession are recognized again as one of the cornerstones of economy. We can be proud.
Pieter Haen
President EAPM
10/18/2010
NEWS FROM SLOVENIJA
Preparation for big event in November 2010
The summer 2010 was a very hot and dinamic time for Slovene HR association:
- we are no more partners with CPU- Center for business training, we moved our office to new location and we run our activities with our own HR resources. The new data are on EAPM website.
- we finalised structural and organisational changes in our organisation after one year work of project team and we are ready to present the proposals to our members in October
- we organise the traditional HR conference Study days in November with the title: QUO VADIS HR with the focus on longterm economic and social growth with respect on social dialogue and human rights, The HR conference will take place on November 25 and 26 , 2010 at Otočec, Novo mesto.
- we will call the assembly of HR association in November to approve significant changes in our rules regarding organisation, finance and members roles in organisation.
Vanda Pečjak, president
09/01/2010
News from Sweden
How to break the performance barrier
The performance barrier should be broken, but don’t let it mean everything: "Too many people are chasing an illusion that we call the future. It will never come. Then we die." (Quote from the book "The Three Laws of Performance" by Steve Zaffron & Dave Logan)
Performance is what matters. Which companies have not added an extra gear to increase performance without increasing costs, it’s in time.
The performance is also clarified and measurable in order to lay the foundation for career development in the long-term and wage trends in the short term.
"Customer focus" has been replaced by "performance management".
In the past, when the customer at all times was at the center, there were many who lived on their reputation and their networks.
Lobbying was a power factor. Then it was good enough to talk about what happened. It was hard to follow up and, above all, it was difficult to measure individual performance.
Performance Management makes new demands. Now is rather that each one takes overall responsibility for both society and the client company, including managing the risks inherent in the decisions to be taken.
To talk oneself in to success is more difficult today, especially if you don’t actively participate yourself. I have met some people who “can do the trick” by doing as little as possible but with the power of their networks and lobbying yet achieves commercial success.
(Lobbying as a means among others in a power game and to influence decision-making will always be a factor and it can if it’s proper used and of course used in good order - the big picture - be effective).
Now a day’s managers and HR has a clearer responsibility / assignment. Since performance today is measured and clarified, it’s important to communicate this increasingly important ingredient for success.
The use of the “right language” as part of the culture has an increasingly important role in achieving high performance.
Past and present are replaced with a forward-looking type of language. President Obama is a good example with rhetorical best practice - Yes, we can!
How does a high-performance character function?
Each "high-performance character" sees obstacles as opportunities and part of the game. High-performance people never blame others when they do not succeed. An obstacle is not an obstacle; it is part of the conditions and the challenges to be overcome.
Each "high-performance character" has a natural ability to share their experiences with others, and to gain new insights but also for working with others to create new ways to overcome challenges.
Here’s a lot to do for HR in many companies. The building of the platforms where exchange of experiences should take place must be a task for the HR department. HR is also the natural and most suitable moderator for these exchanges.
A person who performs well is also "smart" in his or her way of acting. He or she uses old experiences, or at least parts of them, to solve new problems.
Passion is a prerequisite to do well. Passion and motivation appears to be increasingly important. A person who does not feel passionate for his or her work (or company) will not perform well.
Good managers can bring out the best in most people. People who despite all efforts not feel passion, is in the wrong place. We can see examples of individuals performing badly in one environment, while the same person performs great in a different environment. Here HR should take an active role and propose changes when people do not perform as intended.
Do not wait! It may seem strange, but it’s often the small details that need to be adjusted or modified to get the passion to come back to people.
Finally, I note that people who perform well have characteristics as integrity, perseverance, passion, creativity and personal commitment. Very few "lobbyists" manage to perform well in the long run. The networks that were previously their power are rapidly changing in these times when customers' organizations also change frequently.
Kurt-Ove Åhs
Chairman, Sveriges HR Förening
07/08/2010
NEWS FROM SLOVENIA
HR Association of Slovenia organised HR conference on June 9 and 10 in Portorož. The title was:
HR /IS NOT/ IN THE AIR AS WE LEARN ALL THE TIME
There were about 120 participants and many eminent speakers from the governement, representing the key goals of slovenian structural reforms: regulation of labor market, unemployment rules,better conditions for state scholarships, lay offs and notice periods, larger changes in labor code , pension reform with the goal of increasing the pension age and stimulating saving in the second pillar.
In practice sharing we compared and discussed : restructuirng, motivation on nonmaterial base, communication with associates in hard conditions, deep reasons for sickleave and proposals for changes in helth protection law.
As the proposals for changes in labor code, pension law and helth protection are to come in public in the early autumn, paticipants were invited to participate in discussion as much as possible. The management of HR association will take care to inform their members on actual news and organise the roud tables on specific themes.
Vanda Pečjak, president
05/17/2010
News from Slovenija
Highlights from Experts' council on Active ageing-the Challenge for HR theory and practice
Slovenia is facing the fast trend of demographic changes, what has a strong impact on labor market, on public finance funds and on the need for structural changes in many other sectors like health care, education, promotion of new types of economic activities with higher added value etc. HR experts support the governemnet,s goals to make significant changes in several areas, especially the plan of structural changes in labor legislation, pension system and health care system. Slovenia needs a longterm demographics strategy , longterm labor market perspectives and the balanced changes of systems, which are the largest users of state budgets: pensions, health care, social transfers and active policy for uneployed people. We support all changes, which will help to increse the share of older associates on the way which will decrease labor cost of the companies. HR experts shoud be active in public discussion on these structural changes, they have to influence also the public opionin in the companies regarding the efficiency of different generations. The main criteria for employment or to keep employment of a person should be efficiency, energy and motivation for work, not the age itself.
Regional meeting of HR clubs in Murska Sobota, April 2010
HR clubs in Slovenia have a regular practice to organise visits of their members in other companies with the goal to see the best HR practice on the spot. The first regional HR meeting in 2010 took place on April 22 in northern part of Slovenia. The first part of the programme took place in the company Reflex, which business is technical glass. It is a private company with very lean organisaton structure, good financial results and very strong people orineted HR policy. In the second part of the day we had two presentations on motivation systems: The influence of internal relations on workers, efficiency and How to motivate associates without money.
There were 70 participants. The discussion on motivation was very dinamic: theoretical and exchanging the best practice from different companies.
Announcement of HR conference in JUNE 2010
HR Association of Slovenia will organise the annual conference, which will take place in PORTOROŽ on June 9 and 10.
The title is HR /IS NOT/ IN THE AIR, AS WE LEARN ALL THE TIME.
The main subjects are structural reforms which are proposed by governemnt : labor code, labor market, pension law nad helth care system. The goal oft he conference is to present the official proposals, to have a constructive discussion on these topics and to show with good practical examples, how to implement changes in the companies.
All informations are on our website under www.zdkds.
Vanda Pečjak, president
04/13/2010
News from Sweden
Thought-through training makes the difference between the best and the mediocre
The Czech chess champion Réti once played 29 simultaneous chess games. Afterwards, he forgot his briefcase and complained of poor memory. Quoted from the book "Talent is overrated" written by Geoff Colvin.
It is an interesting theme to try to see what separates the best from the mediocre. The book also concludes that the once who’s getting the Nobel Prize gets it at an increasingly higher age. Not because they live longer, but because it takes longer to master the subject and do something that is rewarded.
My personal belief is strengthened because the book raises thought-through exercise as an important, perhaps the most important example of success to go from good to be the best. A genius from the past is not entirely unknown Mozart. In his case, we note that his father was a prominent composer and educator who gave Mozart training purposefully from the age of two. Another genius mentioned is Tiger Woods. The same goes for him. He had a father who played golf for several hours a day, with his son at his side. The conclusion that the book brings out is that the most successful, already at age 12 is undergoing training over two hours per day. The mediocre puts in approximately 15 minutes per day in the same workout.
Now it is important to remember that not everything depends on training. It takes more than "just" thought-through exercise. We are influenced by our personal relationships, especially during childhood, and of our physical status. Even coach grades can be recorded, as well as chance.
If we leave the book's world and think of our daily lives, instead, I find many associations in my HR everyday for those who are really good in their careers.
In my simple analysis, it is about everyone's attitude, interest and motivation to get better. Of course, there must be a fundamental knowledge base, the case in all areas. Finally, there must be an ability to translate the knowledge into action. That is where training provides both the methodology and the way to communicate and a sense of "how" you can best implement your ideas into your home environment.
Leadership is a typical example in which careful training is essential. It may sound simple in theory but requires careful training of continuity to develop. Good leaders must deal with different people in different situations, all the time. Then they have to have the unique ability to make decisions on each occasion, all the time.
If the business should develop many different skills are needed to interact. In this maze of competences the HR head pops up as "the old man in the box". If a business should develop the HR manager must be great and strong in social contexts. Behind every good HR manager is knowledge, motivation and continuous and thorough training. The job is not static but, rather, very dynamic.
I would like to share with you my simple conclusions about how a good HR manager contributes to the business development.
1. Make sure you will have an HR manager who himself understands the importance of being able to contribute to the company's profitability and business development.
2nd Let the HR manager be a part of the company's management team to ensure that the HR perspective is always associated with the business strategic issues.
3rd Do not put the responsibilities of the president (CEO) on the HR manager, work with him or her only as a coaching and supportive role.
4th Give the HR manager a strong mandate to take effective decisions since his or her work involves a lot of issues and actors, including changes in the law, unions and management groups.
5th Give the HR manager responsibilities so that the process for both skills, career and skill development are effective and transparent. There are nevertheless always the managers who are responsible for employee development.
6th Let the HR manager take responsibility for the company's reward model so that it has a cohesive and intelligent design. This is crucial in efforts to get HR to contribute to corporate profitability.
7th Allow the CEO to stand behind the reward model, while the HR manager always makes sure that evaluations are made with quality, timely and with the right tools.
Kurt-Ove Åhs
Chairman, Sveriges HR Förening
