A Q&A with Alfred Gardner

Alfred Gardner is a project manager for human resources (HR), strategy, and leadership development at the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP) at Georgia Tech, which is part of the Enterprise Innovation Institute. His expertise has been honed over more than two decades in the industry, and here he discusses the levels of HR maturity, why empathy is all-important, and the first step to becoming an employer of choice.

What are some of the characteristics of an effective HR team?

To really be successful within an organization, you first have to be what I call a strategic business partner. Making sure that the services human resources provide align with the business’ mission, vision, and strategic objectives is essential. You are providing tools to help employees be more effective, which in turn helps the organization meet their goals.

The most effective soft skill HR as well as other leaders in an organization can have is empathy. It’s not enough to sense other people’s emotion, you have to acknowledge what people are feeling and why. Displaying empathy doesn’t mean you agree with the feeling, it means you are listening.

Empathy creates trust and encourages employees to open up and feel comfortable interacting with you. Without trust, it’s difficult for leaders to lead and organize people for success.

How can employees tell when HR is doing a good job?

Human resources is bigger than the HR department; the entire leadership team is responsible for human resources. Every leader, directly and/or indirectly, has an impact on human resources in some aspect. When organizations discuss what they can do to better retain employees, you can’t overlook the impact of the relationship between manager and employee.

HR as a functional department is doing a good job when they are providing services, guidance, and tools to help managers become better leaders, while at the same time also providing services and tools aiding the growth and development of employees within the company.

People should feel free to express their concerns. Or, for those don’t feel comfortable expressing them face-to-face, you provide a means — whether it’s through culture surveys or something similar — for people to share their thoughts. You also need to make sure you’re providing data to leadership so they can act on improving and/or enhancing the environment, if warranted.

How does effective human resource management improve organizational performance?

If HR has built a good framework that allows for transparent, open communication between employees and the leadership group, has a proactive approach to compliance, and takes ownership in fostering a positive workplace culture, you see high employee engagement and more favorable business results. That’s when you know HR is becoming a better, more effective strategic business partner.

What are some of the misconceptions employees have about HR?

The biggest misconception of HR in manufacturing is that HR is only there for people problems, hiring and firing, and compliance. While HR is and should be what I call the conscience of the organization, equally if not more importantly, employees and management need to be able to view HR as an unbiased strategic partner.

HR is one of the first interactions that employees have with a company. What kinds of things can they discern about the company from that interaction?

I truly believe that the first impression is a lasting impression, so from a human resources standpoint, you really have to live the values that your company professes. Companies have their values posted on the wall, but are they really living them and practicing them? Interacting with HR is the first chance a candidate has to find out.

That first impression lingers on, and if it’s a negative one, it can be hard to get past it.

What are some of the ways that HR can support employees throughout the course of their employment?

In the beginning of the employment life cycle, an employee has a lot of direct interaction with HR. But later on, most of their interaction with HR becomes indirect. They may not interact with HR until it’s time to enroll in benefits or go through the performance review process.

HR needs to evaluate how effective they are at providing services that support employees, such as health and wellness, safety, professional development, and career progression, just to name a few.

In your role as a human resources consultant, are there particular challenges that you see more frequently in certain types of manufacturing work, or do they tend to be similar across the different sectors?

A lot of companies look at human resources as just compliance, hiring and firing. They know they’ve got to follow laws and pay people on time. That base-level compliance is the first level of HR maturity.

The next level is the service level. Josh Bersin is a highly regarded HR analyst and researcher, and he states that this is where an organization’s HR function focuses on delivering efficient and standardized HR services, typically characterized by centralized processes, clear service delivery standards, and a focus on cost-effective operations — but still primarily focused on transactional tasks.

The third level is strategic partnering. My goal is to aid a client in becoming a strategic HR organization.

You’re not only doing compliance and providing services that add value, but you are also a strategic partner to the organization. I say to clients, “Let’s find out where those gaps in best practices are, so we can get you to that level.”

I have worked in several different locations, and there’s never been a situation where I walked in and did the exact same thing in one company that I did at another company. It is always a customized service. Even within companies with multiple locations, different locations have their own different culture.

A lot of people ask, “What does it take for me to be employer of choice?” And I say, “Well, it depends. Tell me why someone would want to come work for you.” If they can’t do that, then they are not ready to be an employer of choice.

It doesn’t matter what the HR topic is — people are welcome to reach out to me about anything. If I do not have the expertise, I can help guide them in the right direction. Ultimately, my role with Georgia MEP is to provide services that are tailored to fit a client’s specific HR needs.

For more information on manufacturing HR consultancy services, contact Alfred at alfred.gardner@innovate.gatech.edu.