ANCOR has been working in the recruitment and personnel consulting market since 1990 and during this time has acquired a well-deserved reputation as an industry leader.

ANCOR today is the largest Russian personnel holding company, offering a wide range of services, including:

— personnel selection — including the selection of specialists and managers, selection for entry-level and mid-level positions;
— personnel consulting — testing, assessment and audit of personnel, analytical studies of the labor market and wages — an indispensable tool for developing the personnel policy of an enterprise;
— personnel management — Leasing company ANKOR: removal of personnel from the company’s staff, provision of temporary personnel, provision of personnel for long-term projects, mass projects;
— HR services for companies in the oil and gas sector — ANCOR Energy Services;
— HR services for companies in the hotel sector — ANCOR Hospitality direction.
— payroll calculation — Unistaff Payroll Services

Kelly Services is an international recruitment agency founded in the USA in 1946.

In Russia, the company is represented in 20 cities: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Samara, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Veliky Novgorod, Lipetsk, Perm, Chekhov, Novomoskovsk, Yegoryevsk, Barnaul, Nizhny Novgorod, Tyumen, Rostov-on-Don, Krasnoyarsk, Vladivostok, Ufa, Kaluga, Kazan, as well as in Ukraine, Kiev.

Kelly Services offers a wide range of services, including the selection of permanent and temporary personnel in the areas of sales, marketing, office administration, finance, accounting, human resources, information technology, logistics, engineering, production; staffing of industrial enterprises and retail chains, outstaffing, personnel consulting.

The personnel selection agency IMPIRE KADROV was founded in 1995.
From the first days of work, the main goal of the EMPIRE PERSONNEL team was to create a competitive Russian agency, not inferior in quality of services to world leaders in the field of personnel selection.
For EMPIRE OF HR, recruiting means more than the timely selection of candidates for the appropriate vacancy. The agency’s specialists try to offer the Customer a solution to the entire range of problems related to personnel issues, therefore each new contract is considered as an opportunity to establish long-term partnerships. We always strive to ensure that the candidate we present not only fully satisfies all the client’s requirements, but is also able to make a positive impact on the life of the company as a whole through his work. Search and selection of personnel is a delicate area of ​​business, affecting the relationships of both people and companies. EMPIRE PERSONNEL adheres to strong ethical principles as set forth in the agency's Code of Ethics.

The main directions of our work:

direct targeted search (Executive Search)

personnel selection (recruitment)

Antal International Russia
The international recruitment agency Antal International entered the Russian market in 1994. One of the first foreign representative offices of the company was created in Moscow, which became the largest and most successful due to the intensive growth of the Russian economy.
We have taken a strong position in the Russian market in the field of personnel selection for middle and senior levels. Our consultants find candidates for various positions in almost all business sectors.

Recruiting agency (Moscow) Cornerstone has been professionally recruiting personnel since 1993. Main areas of work: executive search (selection of top managers), managment selection (selection of middle managers), headhunting (headhunting). Recruiting agency CORNERSTONE is one of the five largest recruiting agencies in Moscow.
According to the results of the “Top 20 Best Recruitment Agencies” rating conducted by Career magazine, Cornerstone entered the top five largest recruiting companies in Moscow.
The work of Cornerstone consultants is based on a willingness to focus on the interests of customers, the desire to best meet their requirements and needs.
In 2007, Cornerstone successfully closed approximately 1,500 positions at various levels.
Cornerstone is a member of the American Chamber of Commerce, the Russian Managers Association and the Association of European Businesses (AEB).

Since its founding in 2003, the international recruitment agency “Vivat Personnel” has come a long way: it has gained a reputation as one of the most successful and professional players in the recruiting market, established partnerships with large and well-known brands, and, having received a license for international personnel recruitment, has overcome borders Russia.

Today the recruitment agency "Vivat Personnel" is:

A full range of services for search and selection of personnel, education (training), personnel consulting, assessment, leasing and outstaffing of personnel.
- a set of unique personnel solutions for each recruitment project.
- the work of a team of professionals, many of whom have 10 years of recruiting experience.

The continuously expanded and updated database of the recruitment agency “Vivat Personnel” contains more than 500 thousand resumes. Almost 75% of current projects are vacancies for regular clients or companies that contacted the recruitment agency on recommendation.
Among the entire range of services for comprehensive personnel selection, the selection of top managers (general recruitment, executive search, headhunting), mass projects, selection of temporary personnel and regional selection are separately distinguished. International recruitment projects play an increasingly important role in the activities of the Vivat Personnel recruitment agency.

Perceiving its work as not just a search and selection of personnel, the agency strives to develop the client’s business and make it more competitive. Successful work with leading Russian and foreign companies operating in a wide variety of market sectors is the best assessment of the work of the Vivat Personnel recruitment agency!

Recruiting company "HR UNITY Center": recruiting, employment, interviews
Founded in February 1999.

UNITY mission: we help our clients acquire and develop the competencies of their companies through personnel.

We work with people - with their questions, desires, needs, expectations and misconceptions.

Our history is our experience, which helps us solve non-standard problems.

For us, our clients are, first of all, partners. We always value the opinions and positions of our clients. In fulfilling our obligations to the customer, we are well aware that without mutual trust, strategic partnership is impossible. It is the trust of our clients that allows us to achieve complete mutual understanding. Step by step, result by result, we are getting closer to the common goal.

Moscow recruitment agency ABC Consulting is one of the most successful companies in the field of personnel and consulting services.

Since 2002, the work of the ABC Consulting recruitment agency has been aimed at developing and improving services in the field of personnel selection for companies of various profiles. We can offer you a full range of services related to recruitment and selection of qualified personnel.

The team of the Moscow recruitment agency ABC Consulting includes qualified specialists who have extensive experience in using the most advanced methods of recruiting, assessing and selecting personnel. As well as the latest methods of corporate training. The issue of personnel selection for middle and senior management deserves special attention. Our recruitment agency successfully solves such difficult problems. We have hundreds of successful projects in the analysis and selection of personnel for well-known and respected commercial structures. The recruitment agency's clients also include many non-profit organizations.

Good managers hire only the best employees! This truth is confirmed by our own experience: the secret of the success of the Personal Garant company is in our professional team! Since 2001, Personnel Garant has been successfully operating in the recruiting services market thanks to its employees. All of them are qualified, like-minded specialists who have extensive knowledge in the field of personnel technologies and are able to quickly and efficiently carry out the tasks set by the customer.

The first person the applicant meets at the interview stage at the company is the HR manager. Depending on the structure of the company, this could be an ordinary recruiter, a research engineer, or a real manager.

What is the difference between a recruiter and an HR person?

Almost every HR manager will consider it an insult if he is called a personnel officer. If they call him a recruiter, he will grin slightly. And if they ask what the difference is, he will give a lecture on what HR is and what its functions are.

HR stands for Human Resource. Not Research, as most people think. Search is only a small part of what a hiring manager does. And search and selection are also two big differences.

Rersource is the main word in this abbreviation. It is working with human resources, high-quality personnel management, setting priorities, developing employees, drawing goals for them - the main tasks of a manager.

The role of HR

The role of the HR manager in most companies is undeservedly relegated to the background. It is generally accepted that a business is built by the general director, profits come from sales, and the staff comes on their own through advertisements.

In fact, advanced corporations have long realized that the HR department should be on the same line as the CEO and operating departments. This is due to the fact that the HR manager must clearly understand the company’s strategy, know what kind of people are needed for the job, what tasks are required to be performed.

The climate in the team, the mood in the workplace - things that seem insignificant, but take up to 30% of the efficiency of departments.

Attitude to business

Almost 85% of employers ask candidates for the role of HR manager the question: who is an HR manager? And many hear the answer that this is an employee who should do good to people and help them find work. No matter how rude it may sound, an employer should not hire such employees.

The HR position is clear and understandable; he is the right hand of the business. Without a clear understanding of what the company wants to achieve, what the development plans are and the strategy for their implementation, there will be no quality selection.

A real HR manager is a tough, sometimes tyrannical businessman. You must be able to combine humanity with toughness. In an attempt to be good and kind, afraid of rejecting a candidate, many recruiters never grow beyond the average recruiter. In order to learn how to develop personnel and help the company achieve global goals, you must have will and determination, and consider the company’s goals as your own.

Responsibilities

The HR manager must perform responsibilities 120% or more. In his position, there is no concept of a standardized work schedule; thoughts are always busy searching for the best solution.

Each company has its own job description for an HR manager. However, the main points will always be approximately the same. The HR manager must:

• Study the labor market to find candidates for the required vacancies.
• Navigate the regional market if necessary.
• Establish relationships with vocational schools and universities to conclude agreements to attract students to practice with subsequent employment.
• Notify central centers and educational institutions about available vacancies and staffing needs.
• Evaluate candidates based on the qualifications, business and personal qualities of the applicant.
• Organize certification events for company employees.
• Conduct certification activities and analyze their results.
• Work on the formation of a personnel reserve. The basis for the formation of a reserve can be the results of certifications, selection, analysis of responses to resumes, personnel rotation, results of training of individual employees or internships in relevant positions.
• Participate in reorganizations and personnel changes of personnel and organizational structure of the company.
• Develop and implement various activities aimed at managing the number of employees.
• Analyze the work of staff, suggest ways to improve the quality of staff work.
• Develop and implement motivational programs for personnel at all levels.
• Develop career maps for employees, implement them together with management and staff.
• Conduct long-term planning for employee development, analyze the results and recommend measures to management to improve the quality of personnel.
• Provide consulting support to management on personnel management issues.

Interaction with employees

An HR manager is a multitasking position; in addition to the responsibilities described above, he has a list of additional important functions:

• help employees by answering their questions about the prospects for their personal and professional development within the company;
• select personnel within the timeframe agreed with the customer (immediate supervisor or head of department or division);
• use modern and non-standard methods of search and selection of personnel;
• adapt new employees to work in the company, accompany them throughout the entire probationary period;
• receive periodic feedback from the manager about the completion of the probationary period by employees;
• receive feedback from management about the work of employees and their interaction with the team;
• maintain contact with all company employees to provide feedback to management, inform about assigned tasks, and impartial attitude of immediate managers;
• develop a system for assessing the personal and business qualities of employees;
• submit reports to management within the agreed time frame;
• comply with the laws of the Russian Federation and adhere to them in matters of search and selection of personnel, preparation of vacancy announcements, and conducting interviews.

Personal and professional competencies

Many employers believe that HR is a personnel specialist. The functions of filling out personnel documentation and issuing certificates are transferred to him, and he is given a stack of vacancies that need to be filled.

Unfortunately, most HR employees are unaware of the tools that a professional HR manager has. When approaching the issue of searching for an employee for a vacant position, the HR manager most often misses personal aspects - whether the candidate will fit into the department or whether he will be able to work in a team. Do his career goals coincide with the company's values?

Core competencies

HR Manager Competencies:

• Understanding the company's goals and sharing them.
• Empathy (the ability to empathize). It must be present in doses, otherwise HR will not be able to refuse unsuitable candidates and will quickly “burn out.”
• Result oriented.
• Ability to provide only necessary information.
• The ability to see and hear a person. Often this competence is confused with the ability to “read like a book” of your counterpart. As practice shows, in this case, judgment about a person is more based on stereotypes.
• Stress resistance.
• Analytical thinking.
• Strategic thinking.
• Ability to manage talent.

Personal qualities

The personal qualities of an HR manager should help him in working with people. Too much sensitivity, weakness, and short-sightedness will not allow the employee to efficiently perform the duties assigned to him.

Qualities of an HR manager that are useful in his work:

• communication skills;
• impartiality;
• active life position;
• adaptability;
• strategic thinking;
• ethics;
• self-control;
• self confidence;
• stress resistance;
• attentiveness;
• conscientiousness;
• creativity.

HR rights

An HR manager has equally important responsibilities and rights. The HR manager has the right:

• receive information from senior management about plans for the company’s development in order to form a reserve and personnel search strategy in advance;
• attend management meetings related to changes in personnel policies;
• participate in discussions of issues related to the personnel management system;
• make proposals for talent management;
• interact with all employees, request the necessary information to perform their direct duties;
• manage document flow related to his direct activities;
• inform the head of the structural unit or your direct supervisor about the difficulties that arise in the process of selecting an employee for the position;
• monitor changes in the labor market.

Required skills and knowledge

In his work, HR needs to use a large number of modern progressive tools. Considering what an HR manager does, this knowledge needs to be constantly refreshed and supplemented.

Important skills:

• knowledge of labor legislation, fundamentals of sociology;
• ability to conduct business negotiations;
• literacy;
• knowledge of tools and methods for personnel assessment, the ability to analyze their effectiveness;
• ability to organize;
• planning, quality time management skills.

Where to apply your talents?

Let's look at what the actual work is. An HR manager most often works in an office and a meeting room. Most companies need such employees. Functionally, it can relate to both the personnel department (department) and the operational department. Companies in which cooperation between the operational and HR departments has been established estimate an increase in their profitability and efficiency by 12% (data relates only to indicators of the effectiveness of employees as a human resource).

HR specialists also attend conferences and meetings at universities. Such meetings take place regularly, but the frequency is regulated by the holding of job fairs in the institution itself and the need for young personnel in the company.

People management

An HR manager is, first of all, a huge responsibility. Responsibility to the business, to the staff. A professional employee will never leave the employee potential development map half-finished. The thirst for improving not only oneself, but also the employees of one’s company is fully inherent in HR.

The HR manager is the engine of the company. Understanding his goals and objectives, he supplies high-quality personnel capable of implementing the tasks set by senior management. If the manager does not understand what kind of employee is needed and focuses only on the requirements, without taking into account the peculiarities of the company’s culture or wishes for the employee’s personality, then the vacancy will be closed formally. The time interval between the submission of an application by the head of the department until the end of the internship and the employee’s acceptance into the ranks of the organization is reduced if the HR manager is able to capture the personality characteristics of the candidate and compare them with the personality of the manager.

An HR manager is an essential link in the structure of a large organization.

It doesn’t matter what the position will be called - personnel manager, HR, recruiter. The main thing is how management understands this position and what powers it grants to the employee.

The profession of HR director has existed in Russia for only about 10-15 years. But it is indisputable that in most successful companies she comes second in importance after the director.

This profession, as we know, is very difficult and only those who have the natural gift of intuition, high intelligence, and then only experience can succeed in it. To the ignorant it may seem that this is just “ordering people around”... Try it, let’s see what you can do without modern technologies, best practices, and connections in HR communities!

This time, the nomination “Best HR Directors” was awarded to those who, through their own efforts, have proven to both their company and the HR community that they are worthy of such an award. Let us recall that the selection of nominees was made by nomination by experts - leading recruitment agencies in Moscow (50).

We asked the nominees to send us their photos and answer the quick interview questions, but, unfortunately, due to busyness and other reasons, not everyone was able to do this.

Once again, congratulations to all the winners for this award and thank you for the interview!

How to distinguish an effective top manager from an ineffective, so-called pseudo top manager?

Shevtsova Svetlana, “Miel”:

A top manager is a person who makes strategic decisions and is responsible for the results of the business as a whole. The global task of any manager of this level is to increase the company’s capitalization for its shareholders. Therefore, issues of the performance of a senior manager are directly related to the achievement of business indicators: growth rates, profitability, investments, achievement of goals of supervised departments, etc. Moreover, it is possible to evaluate these indicators only based on the results of a certain time period. After analyzing such indicators, we can draw conclusions about the effectiveness of the top manager.

Olga Artyushkina, Inzhelektrokomplekt:

I think you can only be effective in the area in which you specialize. Many will agree with me that the responsibility for making the right choice when organizing labor cooperation lies with both parties to the agreement: the company for choosing the candidate, and the candidate for choosing the company.

When the right choice is made, success is guaranteed. In other words, for the success of any candidate, not just a top manager, there must be appropriate conditions within the company that ensure the implementation of the goals and objectives set for him.

In my opinion, the success of a candidate for a top manager position requires the following components:
20% of success - the presence of a synthetic higher education: specialized and in the field of management;
40% - presence of effectively implemented projects in similar companies;
40% - the presence in the company that attracts candidates of this level, the resource base to provide the necessary individual compensation package, as well as opportunities to achieve the goals set for the top manager.

An effective top manager must demonstrate through his behavior a balanced approach to achieving his goals.
This will be evidenced by developed analytical, forecasting, organizational skills, as well as skills of the process approach. A successful top manager is always focused on completing complex strategic tasks in order to develop the optimal solution to achieve results.

The key to making the right decision when choosing the right candidate for a given level of position can be its comprehensive assessment.

The initial interview with the candidate should reveal the results actually achieved by him on completed projects through a comparative analysis of the initial and final data (the results should be supported by numerically quantifiable indicators), and a cycle of successive meetings with all stakeholders of the company (heads of interacting departments and senior management) should be supplemented information about the candidate with information about his professional capabilities, as well as to form in the candidate the necessary understanding of the company, the goals and objectives of this position.

Efficiency is determined, first of all, by the ability to achieve results and, accordingly, is measured by the degree of its achievement. However, in my opinion, there are other aspects to the effectiveness of top management. In particular, such as the ability to build an effective and technological management system that can minimize spontaneity in the work of employees and, accordingly, provide for uncertainty and the risk of errors. Of course, it is important to be able to maximize the potential of employees, the need to set them up to achieve goals and comply with corporate standards. In other words, the loyalty and motivation of staff are also indicators of the effectiveness of a top manager.

Davidova Natalia, ABB Automation:

In order to distinguish the effectiveness of one or another manager, if we are talking about the stage of negotiations for the purpose of subsequent hiring, then, in my opinion, the decision should not be the opinion of one person, it should be collegial. The addition of a new manager or top manager is always a “saturation” of both subordinates and colleagues regarding facts and information about the candidate. I think that HR employees are well aware of the methods and techniques for collecting information about a particular candidate, possible psychological tests, etc. The main thing is not to rush into a final decision; if something confuses you, give both yourself and the candidate time to think. Taken together, the financial risks plus the company's reputation when hiring a pseudo top manager are significant... The decision to hire a top manager must be balanced.

If we are talking about an already working top manager, then the assessment of his effectiveness may be different, depending on the tasks assigned (measurable or not), as well as on the structure of the company and the procedures adopted in the given environment. Clear setting of tasks, provision of authority, timely professional control - all this can be linked into a single procedure that will help you determine the effectiveness of your work in a fairly short time; of course, all deadlines are adjusted for a specific sector of the market and business. In this case, HR must have a very good understanding of the company’s work so that pseudo top managers have as little chance as possible of misleading you.

Demchenko Yulia, 3M:

I believe “top manager” is a job description. If a person is appointed to a certain position, then he becomes a “top manager”. Therefore, it seems to me that the adjective “pseudo” does not fit the noun “top manager”.

I assume you meant to ask about unprofessional, low-performing senior executives. This certainly happens. And, unfortunately, more often than we would like. The problem is that this is discovered after appointment to the position and it can be extremely difficult to replace such a manager or correct him.

In my opinion, the main differences between an effective top manager are:

1) a clear understanding of and adherence to the goals and culture of the company (employees must understand that they do not work for a specific manager, but for the company.

This is more relevant for Western companies);

2) accepting responsibility for decisions made by the board or management.

This is quite difficult, especially if the decision is unpopular or contradicts the top manager’s own opinion.

But without this it is impossible to unite the company, carry out centralized changes, or introduce new projects. A top manager who sabotages change and demonstrates this to his organization makes the company extremely difficult to manage;

3) the ability to part with weak employees. This is simply the scourge of our time. We all want to be kind. “A good person is not a profession” is a phrase that is familiar to everyone. But most managers have considerable difficulty in parting with a bad employee, especially if he is a really good person.

This is a natural human feeling, but an effective top manager can still do it;

4) the ability to grow your own replacements. This is not true for all companies, but for large and mobile ones that provide opportunities for career growth, including for top managers. Raising a new generation of professionals is a big and difficult task, which begins with competent selection and continues for a long time afterwards.

Elohina Marina, “VTS clima”:

The main difference, in my opinion, is the speed of decision-making. A top manager must make a decision with lightning speed; he must clearly imagine what should happen in the end. Any delay in decision may lead to the fact that all actions, in the presence of very high competition in the market, will not be relevant. The main qualities of such a person are: purposefulness, determination and uncompromisingness, which a top manager can afford due to the enormous responsibility for the final result. When making decisions, there will be no reservations, such as: “You know, I need to think”; on the contrary, a decision will be immediately given and reasoned comments will follow - why exactly this way and not otherwise.

When making decisions, a pseudo top manager will be guided by data from certain departments, will analyze the internal and external environment, weigh the pros and cons, and will almost always choose the least risky and not always self-justifying decision. The pseudo-top manager is more absorbed in the decision-making process than the decision itself.

Zamurieva Inna, Infra M:

Just as any effectiveness is determined by results, the effectiveness of a top manager is determined by labor results and key performance indicators.

Top managers, in my opinion, are akin to project managers. Top managers are given certain tasks - projects, on which the top manager throws all his energy. The results of the work of a real top manager will not take long to arrive.

A pseudo top manager may have important traits inherent in a real manager - such as charisma, the ability to manage people, the ability to set tasks for subordinates, the ability to make decisions, and the ability to bear responsibility for decisions made.

But the trouble is that a pseudo-manager does not have these qualities together, and as a result, there is no need to talk about the results of work in this case.

Zarubina Tatyana, Russian Tea Company:

Top manager is a senior manager who works for hire. A person holding the position of top manager makes decisions that directly affect the fate of the company - its development, position.

Top managers are people who built a business, manage it, and, overcoming routine, look to the future. They are interested in opening a new business (completely unfamiliar products, markets, etc.).

Whenever shareholders appear in a certain number, a need arises for a top manager who will “steer” the process, without experiencing the shareholder’s motivation.

The main thing for a top manager is the opportunity for self-realization, the opportunity to claim a decent salary corresponding to his qualifications. A pseudo top manager does not possess these qualities.

Ignatieva Elena, “Nycomed”:

The question is very global, if you answer seriously. And in short, an effective, real top manager will never ask the question: “Do you have any complaints about the buttons?” He is “sick” and considers himself responsible for everything that happens in the company. And of the two eternal questions: “Who is to blame?” and “What should I do?” - the latter is of paramount importance to him. A true top manager always looks several steps ahead.

Kosyakova Tatyana, Mosstroyrekonstruktsiya:

In my opinion, there are at least two factors that objectively determine whether a top manager is effective or ineffective.
The first and main thing is the specific results of the team’s activities. Achieving set goals within the planned time frame is the most obvious confirmation of the success of a manager who was able to independently select the optimal resources.

It is important that an effective leader always takes responsibility for the team result, regardless of what it will be.

And the second factor that determines effectiveness is the feelings that employees experience when communicating with their manager. On the one hand, in this context, praise and recognition by the top manager of the personal achievements of his subordinates are very important.

On the other hand, it is necessary that criticism of professional shortcomings be correctly structured and aimed at the immediate achievement of results. A competent leader knows how to create an atmosphere of cooperation, professional mutual assistance and a working psychological climate in the team.

As a rule, successful top managers are those who devote themselves 100% to their work, have strong charisma and are demanding of their subordinates. They set specific tasks, at the same time trust their employees and do not interfere with them in solving the assigned tasks. An effective top manager is a leader with an impeccable business reputation who enjoys authority and respect among his colleagues.

Of course, a top manager is a leader. He must be able to lead employees, manage them with talent and not be afraid of change. And he must also be a good psychologist. Endowed with the gift of “feeling” others, he maintains morale, creates a coherent team and gives it the right vector of movement. It is the top manager who must convey to his team the mission, main goals and future prospects of the company.

As for pseudo top managers, they, as a rule, successfully create the appearance of work and are excellent at the art of self-PR. Such managers can sell themselves well, but fail to achieve results. Anyone will be to blame, but not themselves. Another distinctive feature of them is the habit of spending time talking on abstract topics.

An effective leader has a creative life attitude, clearly sees the goal of the company and his work, separates the main from the secondary, is constructive, flexible in his approaches, but firm and persistent in achieving the goal, has a developed will, and does not give up when encountering obstacles. He can take unpopular measures, but he also knows how to praise and quickly transfers knowledge. And you can distinguish an effective manager from an ineffective one only by the deeds and results of his work.

To begin with, I would like to exclude those people whose characteristics would not describe managers as effective or ineffective top managers. First, we must mention the business owners, whose effectiveness cannot be questioned. After all, if a businessman has managed to build a business of such a scale that we can talk about him as a top manager (and not just an entrepreneur - the owner of a small private business). And it doesn’t matter what determined his effectiveness as a manager: charisma, flair, management technology, or simple carrot-and-stick mechanisms.

Another thing is that when we talk about a top manager, we mean a large corporation. And in a corporation of the size that fits the description of a top manager, owners rarely remain “at the helm,” leaving the burden of management to professional hired managers.

I also don’t want to talk about so-called “family” companies. In our country, a sufficient number of quite large companies have been built on the principle of nepotism. In such companies, the brothers-in-law and sons-in-law of those in power find themselves in “cushy” positions. It is often unnecessary to talk about their professionalism in general.

Thus, we move on to the portrait of an effective top manager.
As noted above, the top manager must be a hired professional manager. Such a person with solid experience can abstract from the emotional component of business, concentrating on the strategies and technologies of management as such. In general, I am a supporter of the idea that a manager is a profession that needs to be learned.

The second point that distinguishes an effective top manager from his ineffective counterparts (pseudo top managers) is the ability to take a so-called “helicopter view.” If a manager at the highest level cannot evaluate the business as a whole, focusing his attention on the little things, he is worthless. Moreover, when assessing a business, he must see the benefits and threats specifically for the entire business, and not for himself or his immediate environment.

This top-level view of business continues in that a true top manager must be able to set a task at the level of the entire company (or large business function), and not meddle with his vigilant control in operational minutiae.

Thirdly, a top manager must be able (and most importantly, be willing) to make major, strategic, critical, life decisions. And take full responsibility for them. After all, very often we see a top executive who strives to limit his status solely to powers and privileges, shifting the burden of decision-making and responsibility to his subordinates.

An effective top manager will never deliberately show off company names, regalia, awards, salary or similar external attributes of the position, but will base his professional weight on achievements that
shows the business under his leadership.

Usually, the success of a business is visible to everyone, and the seeming detachment of the operational level from the managerial level will most likely indicate that the work is structured SO well that it practically does not require the involvement of the manager himself in the process.

Which, in turn, speaks about the effectiveness of management. In conclusion, I would like to note that one of the essential qualities of a top manager is his ability to communicate with people at different levels.

A top manager must easily find a common language with partners, be able to clearly and clearly formulate a task to a subordinate, and be able to give him correct and reasonable feedback. And the most important thing is to be able to find an approach to a business owner or senior international manager in global companies.

Madudov Oleg, Uralchem:

There are three ways to try to distinguish an effective top manager from an ineffective one.
1) Check the candidate for the position based on previous jobs. Find out all the details of his previous activities, conduct an analysis, as one of my friends says, - an analysis of traces of life activity - completed projects, the consequences of decisions made and everyday work.

2) Give the candidate, as part of testing, the opportunity to choose a difficult task and see how he copes with its solution. In this case, evaluate not only the solution itself, but also the execution parameters.

3) Conduct a mini-fieldtest: let them try themselves in action. But in a small way. Less than what we will entrust to him in the future. Look at the degree and quality of fulfillment of assigned tasks.

Of course, there is a fourth way: immediately take a job and “step on a rake.” Maybe it will pass...

But this is not our method. We try the first two. Sometimes we connect a third one.

An effective top manager clearly sees the task as a whole, understands the result and knows how to convey this information to his subordinates. When achieving a goal, he starts from the potential of his employees, knows how and with what to motivate them, knows their strengths and development opportunities. Doesn’t set vague goals or unrealistic deadlines.

Chekhova Oksana, NOMOS-BANK:

What distinguishes a good manager from a pseudo-manager is the ability to create a team of employees and manage them - set clear goals, motivate people, control work and evaluate results. This applies to managers of any
level - from junior to “top”.

The only difference is in the level of tasks and the number of subordinates. Unfortunately, very often the concepts of “manager” and “specialist” are confused
and are replaced, which is why in many organizations there are many specialists, but few good managers. Very often, people simply do not understand that leadership skills also need to be learned. Strategic vision and understanding of the business is also very important for top leaders - they must first of all understand where they are leading the organization and be able to convey this to their subordinates.

"Sprandi":

An effective top manager knows how to recruit employees and work with a team, and shows an extraordinary interest in business. An effective top executive cannot be lured away with money; he can be attracted solely by posing a problem that interests him. Main features.

• Prioritization skill.
• Ability to set tasks and monitor their implementation.
• Charismatic and leadership qualities.
• Ability to motivate people and authority of opinion.
• Ability to clearly plan and manage your time.

The question about pseudo top managers already contains the answer: for a pseudo top manager, the external attributes of the position are of great importance - the creation, sometimes, of very hectic activity, as a result of which there are no real, concrete achievements (sales volume, production...). The top manager creates real business plans with specific indicators in a timely manner and achieves them.

Kharitonova Natalya, “DKS”:

In my opinion, effectiveness in all positions - from worker to top - is determined by performance results. To what extent do they meet the objectives?

If the tasks are completed, you can analyze the efficiency of using resources (including personnel) - the “cheaper” it was to achieve the result, the more optimal the set of management methods used by the top. Here, however, cheapness must not only be understood in the literal sense, but also take into account the emotional assessment of actions.

For example, 1 excavator operator with equipment or 100 workers with shovels can dig the same hole in the same time. Perhaps 100 workers with shovels will cost less at a given moment, but choosing this method of solving a problem will affect the relationship with these employees (they will have to do hard, dirty work that they are unlikely to be happy with), and, ultimately, their reputation companies in the longer term.

It seems to me that the peculiarity of the evaluation of top employees, in comparison with other employees, is the long-term nature of the tasks that they need to implement. The results of a top executive's work, as a rule, cannot be assessed in a quarter... I am cautious about candidates for a top position who insist on fixing a certain amount of a monthly or quarterly bonus in the contract - such people, as a rule, are process-oriented, not result-oriented.

I think that an effective top manager must be a highly qualified specialist in his field of activity, and also have a sufficient level of adaptability in new situations. In addition, this must be a balanced personality in terms of moral and psychological parameters, which does not mean a fictitious ideal at all - the person simply must have fewer distortions in consciousness caused by the stresses of our time. An effective, high-level employee is usually self-critical and does not experience major problems with the outside world. I see a successful self-sufficient, stress-resistant personality type, who at the same time has flexibility of thinking and the ability to structure space “for oneself.”

A pseudo-specialist, on the contrary, will convince the head of the personnel service of his qualifications, colorfully describe his life and professional experience, and will demonstrate excessive “positivity”, masking uncertainty, mental defects, and often unreliability. Such a candidate loves to pronounce words that seem fashionable, strong, beautiful to him; loves to show how principled he is, and how many “goals” he is able to cross.

During an interview, this type shows itself very clearly, and you can identify it quite quickly. Unfortunately, in our strange times, the opposite is often true, and the boss takes risks by giving preference to a pseudo-specialist. Often because he himself grew up from the same personalities, often because at a certain stage of development of companies they need just such “dolls” who perform representative functions, not having anything to do with making fundamental decisions.

In general, this is a very broad topic, covering not only the HR spectrum, but also to a huge extent, requiring a thorough sociocultural and sociopsychological analysis of our time, its positive and negative factors.

Shelamova Maria, Philips:

Everything is very simple. Focus on results. What has the person achieved? How long-lasting are his achievements? The achievements of a TOP manager cannot be short-term; it takes years to change the company, achieve results and lay down prospects for business development (and not achieve “short-term” results).

Does the built business (department) continue to bear fruit when the manager has already left? This checks whether the top manager has built something or achieved short-term results by destroying processes, relationships, etc. And it is also important to understand by what means the results were achieved. “The end justifies the means” is the motto of fly-by-night companies. None of the founding fathers of modern multinational giants dreamed of hitting the jackpot and vacationing in the Bahamas for the rest of their lives.

What do you like and dislike about working as an HR?

Vikentieva Eva, “Shipbuilding Bank”:

This profession contributes to the development of the company and the people working in it. At the same time, it is a creative and humanistic profession that requires an understanding of the nature of human behavior, interactions with other people, his reactions and interpretations. Finally, this is a profession that requires internal mobilization and readiness to solve various kinds of difficult situations.

Demchenko Yulia, 3M:

HR is a very interesting and multifaceted profession. I love it because you can do anything in HR. There is a place for sales, marketing, financial analysis, communications, and psychology... Everyone can find something for themselves.

But not everyone can cope with this work. And, of course, this is a profession that is necessary for any organization. I am glad that understanding of this is growing in our country. You need to be able to think, but at the same time have developed intuition. It is very interesting and responsible that you participate in the strategic development of the company for several years to come.

You make a real difference to business results by putting the right people in the right positions. And... what could be
more interesting than people?

What I don’t like... This has already become part of the specifics of the profession for me and does not cause any negative emotions. It’s even difficult to call it the verb “don’t like.” HR is a profession for people who can cope with stress and can make and implement unpopular decisions. You need to be prepared for the fact that they will not love you. That's for sure! And, unfortunately, HR director is a position where you are forced to work alone. Information is often confidential, you cannot consult, discuss, complain with someone, after all...

Zamurieva Inna, Infra-M:

In HR work, I like contact with people, when in the general mass of employees you can see a person, understand him, and, therefore, find out his motivation, which is the main factor in effective work.

Ignatieva Elena, “Nycomed”:

I like all things with a plus sign. I like helping. I really don’t like it when you have to do something with a minus sign -
make “difficult decisions”, apply punishment, fire.

Lebedeva Larisa, “Russian Product”:

Every job has its difficulties. What I like about my work is that by building processes, we influence what
The company's asset, like people, begins to work. And it is important that our processes support the achievement of business goals, then you,
the company really needs it.

Mikhail Lvovsky, Samsung Electronics:

Almost everything in HR attracts me. Otherwise, why do something you don’t enjoy?
I absolutely love communicating with people, I like to solve their problems whenever possible.

Problems are interesting when all your knowledge about personnel management technologies is mobilized to solve problems that are significant for business. Situations are depressing when HR is treated as a formality, in the category: “... all competitors already have, we need too...” There is very little meaning in such work, and the functionality comes down to servicing departments in terms of selection, and sometimes - to organizing corporate events.

The attitude of management towards HR is always the cornerstone. But this, unfortunately, is a common problem, and not only in Russia...

Madudov Oleg, Uralchem:

Likes: dynamic work. In a company that is growing quite quickly, a wide range of new and interesting problems appear that need to be solved.

I don’t like: “The executioner knows no rest, but still, damn it, Work in the air, work with people...” - Vladimir Vishnevsky. I must admit that when it is necessary to fire someone, sometimes the cats scratch their hearts.

Chekhova Oksana, NOMOS-BANK:

You like everything about HR work, because HR is the people you work with. It is impossible to succeed in this profession if you are an introvert. You need to be able and want to work with people. I don't like the fact that in many organizations HR people are still treated as technical staff, and not as specialists in managing their most valuable resource.

"Sprandi":
- I like active interaction with people and the opportunity to influence the effectiveness of the team as a whole. I don’t like that sometimes the company’s management does not pay the necessary attention to the HR service (however, at my current place of work, I am treated as a business partner, and this is very pleasant).

Kharitonova Natalya, “DKS”:
- I like the fact that our work cannot be called boring: every day there are new people, atypical tasks, sometimes we get original solutions. Don't like it - emotional devastation at the end of a hard day.

Shelamova Maria, Philips:
- I like helping people achieve goals through worthy means, I like giving people opportunities and seeing them grow and develop. I don’t like it when they try to blame HR for everything, from the fact that there are no worthy candidates on the labor market, to the fact that an employee leaves without working with a bad boss.

How did you get into this profession? How did it all begin?

Vikentieva Eva, “Shipbuilding Bank”:

Psychological education, a PhD thesis on the topic of organizational culture and experience in coaching preceded entry into this profession. At a certain point in time, there was a feeling that there was an opportunity and desire to systematically implement the accumulated knowledge and developments not only in one-time projects, but also in everyday activities.

Zamurieva Inna, Infra-M:
- It all started with communication with a large group of people. At the age of 26, I was elected Chairman of the trade union committee of a large scientific organization. This was a big, very big plus for my future work. It was then that I realized that I could and wanted to work with
people. Having received the appropriate education, I came to work in this field. I started working as a HR inspector, went through all the stages in the HR field, and now I’m with you, which I’m incredibly pleased with.

Ignatieva Elena, “Nycomed”:
- It all started in 1996. I was then a personal assistant to the General Manager in a small representative office of a large international company (I came as the fifth employee to the representative office) and did everything except sales and marketing. When the representative office grew, it was decided to create a personnel department, and I was offered this job. I had no idea what it was, but it was interesting, and I agreed. I had a very wise and professional mentor who taught me a lot and gave me the opportunity to do many things in practice. When I decided to get additional education in the field of HR, I realized that I had already tried a lot in practice. Now I say a big thank you to my mentor for this.

Madudov Oleg, Uralchem:
- It happened somehow by accident. For some time, as a technical expert, I attended interviews, and gained recruiting experience. Then, when I was offered to try myself as an HR manager, I did not refuse. Since then
It’s been 5 years now and I still haven’t given up.

Chekhova Oksana, NOMOS-BANK:
- I came into the profession almost by accident; someone needed to deal with the preparation of employment contracts, recording working hours and entries in work books. So, I started with the basics, then came training programs, performance assessment, etc.

"Sprandi":
- It all started with the psychology department and thinking about where I could effectively apply myself. Came to HR after
7 years of work at school.

Kharitonova Natalya, “DKS”:
- Working as a psychologist in college in the early 90s, during a period of rapid growth in unemployment, I realized that it was necessary to teach students to look for a job that would not only help them survive, but would give them the opportunity to realize themselves. Then I developed the elective “Job Search and Employment.” A couple of years later, when I moved to work at a recruitment agency, this experience helped me a lot. The transition to my current place of work was quite traditional for a recruitment agency consultant - my client at some point became my employer...

Shelamova Maria, Philips:
- I came into the profession by accident. While I was studying, I worked in a Russian company in the sales department, and there I was going to continue to develop. I accidentally ended up in a recruiting agency, and then became a secretary in the HR department of a foreign company. In the end, I realized that the profession had found me.

How do you identify unreliable candidates in interviews?

Zamurieva Inna, Infra-M:
- During the interviewing process, there is always the opportunity to ask provocative questions, which will make the unreliable applicant fall asleep.

Mikhail Lvovsky, Samsung Electronics:
- Fortunately, those people who are trained by the special services to professionally “suppress” emotions and external manifestations rarely leave the walls of their “special” institutions. Therefore, the likelihood of meeting such a professional is rare.

Of course, there are people who know how to deceive a recruiter, but here either your gut instinct will work or it won’t. If not, then during the probationary period the person will reveal himself.

But in a general sense, an unreliable candidate can still be “identified” in a personal meeting lasting more than half an hour. Usually
such a person betrays himself by his behavior, contradictory logic of answers, as well as embellishing his own successes.

I am inclined to believe that a personal conversation between an experienced recruiter and a candidate can protect the company from crooks to a high percentage. Either experience or instinct works. And the candidate himself can refuse the risky idea of ​​finding a job in a company where he will be so seriously checked, starting from the selection stage.

Madudov Oleg, Uralchem:
- “By eye.” It’s easier for me - “in my previous life” I was a security officer. Therefore, catching inconsistencies and various aspects of “incorrect behavior” occurs at the level of reflexes.

Natalya Shilova, Pilkington Glass LLC:

It helps that interviews have several stages. This makes it possible to gain insight into the candidate from the different people participating in the interview and to take into account all impressions and opinions. Independent recommendations from previous places of work play a big role, since, of course, you can identify an unreliable candidate and “catch” some inconsistencies, but there are often candidates who are so able to “sell themselves well” that there are no doubts during the interviews call.

Shelamova Maria, Philips:
- Anyone who immediately announces their salary without asking about work, for me personally, immediately falls into the category of unreliable. The rest are checked by the security service.

What problems do you encounter most often and how do you overcome them?

Zamurieva Inna, Infra-M:
- The problem of retaining a valuable employee. Most often there is only one solution - adjusting motivation.

Ignatieva Elena, “Nycomed”:
- There are a lot of problems: - it is very difficult to find a good professional, and for him to also be a good person...
- we can’t keep up with the growth of wages in the market, but we really want wages in the company to be at a good level;
- in our company, employees have many opportunities for professional growth, but how can we give them the opportunity for career growth... How to retain professionally grown employees?
- headhunters are a big problem. They can lead the most persistent employees astray. - etc., etc.

How are we coping? Each problem has an individual approach.

Mikhail Lvovsky, Samsung Electronics:
- There are many problems, because people are all different.
But the biggest problem lies in the difference in views on HR between the HR manager himself and the company’s management. This is the most difficult problem to overcome.

Madudov Oleg, Uralchem:
- The shortage of qualified personnel is my biggest problem and biggest headache. Especially in factories. There the problem is already reaching alarming proportions. We have to fight both by poaching workers from other enterprises and by training young people.

Chekhova Oksana, NOMOS-BANK:
- The main problem is a lack of understanding of what HR does and why, both on the part of employees and on the part of the organization’s management. And misunderstanding gives rise to skepticism towards the actions of HR. There is only one way - to explain, again and again.
I think this is a problem that all HR people often face.

Shelamova Maria, Philips:
- Involve managers in the process of managing their subordinates. So far I’m not doing a very good job of convincing them for an endless amount of time that the word “MANAGER” comes from the word “to manage,” in particular, subordinates. And for this they receive their salary, and not for the fact that they are able to command the “parade” louder than anyone else.

How has the HR profession and its content changed over the past 5-10 years?

Vikentieva Eva, “Shipbuilding Bank”:
- The role of the ideological and developmental component in HR work has increased. The work itself has become more technologically advanced and systematic.

Mikhail Lvovsky, Samsung Electronics:

Almost all textbooks on personnel management talk about this. My personal opinion is that Russian HR has changed dramatically in 5-10 years. And yet we lag behind Western and even Eastern companies. They started thinking about it much earlier. And, accordingly, they moved on.

Madudov Oleg, Uralchem:
- It seems to me that HR has become more “civilized” - there are fewer excesses that came from the 90s. In general, “HR departments” become “HR departments.”

"Sprandi":
- More and more importance is being given to working with personnel, areas such as motivation (its most varied forms and methods) are actively developing - now the task is not only to find, but also to retain; adaptation, training and certification as a way to maintain a high level of staff professionalism.

Shelamova Maria, Philips:
- It has become more difficult. Many managers want to hire professional HR people, without understanding why, and wishing with a magic wand - HR to solve all the problems of a growing market and a shrinking number of worthy candidates, incapable management, etc.

How do you feel about foreign HR experience - what do you accept, what do you not accept?

Zamurieva Inna, Infra-M:
- I have a very positive attitude towards foreign HR experience. From any experience you need to take something useful for your work. The only thing I categorically object to is the 100% transfer of foreign experience to Russian enterprises. This is fraught with very big problems for business as a whole.

Ignatieva Elena, “Nycomed”:
- I have a very good attitude towards foreign experience, probably because, as an HR, I grew up in a foreign company.

Mikhail Lvovsky, Samsung Electronics:
- I have a positive attitude. But I don’t rush to recklessly implement technologies that have worked well in other companies. It is impossible to be sure that they can take root in a given organization. But any information is knowledge. And this is a very important capital of any professional. And it’s hard to imagine what will be needed tomorrow. Or the day after tomorrow. But, as I already said, they have gone further abroad in the field of personnel management, and we need to look up to more experienced colleagues. A lot is being conceptualized and applied. The rest is left as luggage. In reserve.

Madudov Oleg, Uralchem:

I am sometimes skeptical about foreign experience. Some work methods cannot be applied to us due to the fact that our country has a different consciousness and worldview. Although I have experience working with foreign HR service providers, and I am rather satisfied with it.

Chekhova Oksana, NOMOS-BANK:
- The HR profession has existed abroad for decades, but in our country it’s only about 15 years old. So you need to learn from foreign HRs. Only in this case it is necessary to understand that foreign experience should not be transferred to our realities thoughtlessly, it must be adapted.

"Sprandi":
- I have a positive attitude. Clearly structured technologies for working with personnel certainly need to be adopted.

Shelamova Maria, Philips:
- It is good and is not just an experience, but a path that has already been suffered and traversed by someone. It's stupid not to learn from other people's mistakes...

What new HR technologies are you skeptical about?

Ignatieva Elena, “Nycomed”:
- In business, from my point of view, technologies that require a clear description of all business processes (for example, Balanced Scorecard) do not work well. In business, everything changes so quickly that before the whole process is completed, you can start again. They are probably good at production.

Mikhail Lvovsky, Samsung Electronics:
- To all. Because behind the beauty of form there may be insignificant content hidden. All this is tested in practice. And the worst thing is when they offer you, under the guise of fashionable modern technology, a set of multi-colored rattles for toddlers.

Shelamova Maria, Philips:
- The question is not about the tools, but about who uses them and how. Conversations about the company's mission have died down... What is your opinion on this?

Vikentieva Eva, “Shipbuilding Bank”:
- The mission, in our opinion, is a rather declarative phenomenon. For internal purposes, the values ​​that actually exist and operate in the organization are more important. They create the basis of organizational culture, which is stronger the more they are shared by the company’s employees.

Zamurieva Inna, Infra-M:
- I think that the mission is important for increasing the morale of employees, the only thing is that any slogans should not be divorced from reality. Only then will they work.

Lebedeva Larisa, “Russian Product”:
- I believe that each company has its own development path, it is important to do what really corresponds to the company’s level of development and business goals. Therefore, the fact of a nationwide discussion of any topic cannot influence the importance and effectiveness of the processes being built in each company. For a managed corporate culture, for the organization’s self-awareness, the mission is important.

Chekhova Oksana, NOMOS-BANK:
- There were a lot of conversations, because it was fashionable - how can a company be without a mission! Now the mission is no longer fashion, but one of the company’s business cards, a declaration of intent. So, the conversations have died down, but companies that understand their place in the market and see the path for their further development still formulate a mission, thereby declaring their future intentions to their employees and clients. This is fine.

Shelamova Maria, Philips:
- In vain. A company that cannot formulate a mission and “infect” its employees with it does not have much of a future.

Compare the work of a diplomat and an HR person - what is common and different?

Mikhail Lvovsky, Samsung Electronics:
- The opinion here is clear. HR is a very close brother to the diplomat.
Indeed, in fact, HR, by definition, stands at the intersection of interests: on the one hand, it must, through its work, provide the company with the maximum result from the use of human resources while simultaneously minimizing the costs of this resource, and on the other hand, organize decent working conditions for the staff, trying to satisfy all their needs.

"Sprandi":

HR is definitely a diplomat.
- HR should always show a decent face in front of two parties who look at one problem, of course, differently (on the one hand, the company’s management, on the other, employees), and it should inspire authority on both sides.
- HR must keep a good face even in a bad game.
- HR is always welcoming and friendly, diplomatic, unquestioningly abides by the code of ethics, but at the same time everyone knows about its rigor and steadfastness on important issues.
- Any, even minor, violation of diplomatic ethics sometimes entails unforeseen and often sad consequences.
- HR, as a diplomat, must have greater strength of character and independence of mind than anyone else.
- HR is outwardly alien to passions; he is obliged to observe professional restraint, which sometimes causes surprise.
- The more reputable a company positions itself, the stronger HR is. The role of HR is, of course, great, but many people do not see or understand its work.

Shelamova Maria, Philips:
- A diplomat only represents someone’s interests. HR must do its own business - recruitment is a separate business
line, and HR has several of them.

How do you conduct a telephone interview? What role does it play?

Natalya Shilova, Pilkington Glass LLC:
- A telephone interview gives the first idea of ​​the direction of problem solving. And if a person is not interested in changes, then there will be no effect from training. The practical formation of a sustainable skill lies beyond the scope of training.

Natalya Shilova, Pilkington Glass LLC:
- Trainings are used both to improve the level of qualifications, obtain the skills and knowledge necessary for work, and to motivate employees. Expectations from them and the actual result coincide, since a lot of pre-training work is carried out, aimed both at clarifying the needs and expected results of employees and their managers, and at choosing
training company (and most importantly - the trainer), with which we closely interact on the issues of adapting the training program to our specific tasks.

Chekhova Oksana, NOMOS-BANK

Each company, in accordance with its business interests and strategy, determines the areas in which it will provide training.
their employees, expecting increased efficiency of work processes. If these areas are identified correctly and the training is planned correctly, the learning process is sure to yield positive results. The main thing is not to follow the lead of employees, who may have their own interests, but to proceed from the interests of the business.

Shelamova Maria, Philips:

What professions are in abundance on the market, and what specialists are not enough?

Zamurieva Inna, Infra-M:
- It is difficult to answer this question unambiguously. I will say this - we have a shortage of highly qualified specialists for many professions. And there is an excess of young specialists who have diplomas but no work experience. There is a shortage in the labor market for standard setters, estimators, and programmers for certain software products. There is an excess of accountants, secretaries, as well as professions that do not require special education and training.

Lebedeva Larisa, “Russian Product”:
- Now there is an abundance of people on the market, but a shortage of professionals. Traditionally, there are few engineering and technical specialists, as well as line managers for production (shop managers, foremen).

Due to the high competition of employers in the labor market, the recruitment function is now very important. Therefore, personnel selection specialists are in great demand, and, as a result, salaries are “heated up”.

Mikhail Lvovsky, Samsung Electronics:
- The fact is that in our country there is a kind of “fashion” for professions. At one time lawyers were popular, then accountants, then programmers.
It is now clearly clear that there is a shortage of qualified specialists in all areas, even with the seeming redundancy of offers from the personnel market.
For us, due to high requirements, the search and selection of sales specialists presents certain difficulties.

The trade sector in the country is experiencing a real boom; competition in hiring specialists is great even between completely unrelated market segments. Therefore, finding a good sales specialist is a key problem.

Also obvious is the shortage of production personnel. We are opening a plant in the Moscow region, and we are faced with difficulties in recruiting qualified engineering personnel. Naturally, finding an engineer with ideal experience is not easy. General technical knowledge is considered and emphasis is placed on training in the specifics of our production, which takes place at factories in Slovakia.

Chekhova Oksana, NOMOS-BANK:
- Now in all areas there is a shortage of personnel, at least professional ones. The biggest shortage is of technical and engineering specialists. A good electrician is more difficult to find than an accountant. Unfortunately, this is the result of the imbalance in vocational education in recent years. Even technical universities are now training economists and lawyers. What are we going to do next? There is an urgent need for joint efforts of business and education to determine the needs for specialists for various areas of the economy. Fortunately, they started talking about this at the government level, perhaps things will work out, but there is very little time left.

"Sprandi":
- Lack of accountants, overabundance of lawyers (at the same time, there are few truly competent lawyers).

Shelamova Maria, Philips:
- It seems to me that literally everyone is missing. Although, I personally believe that the only question is how much managers are able to expand the horizons of their ideas about worthy candidates. Why, for example, can’t men work in the reception service? Or why is a person over 50 no longer considered an acceptable candidate?..

Trainings are very popular today. How do you use them? What do you expect from them and what do you get in reality?

Vikentieva Eva, “Shipbuilding Bank”:
- Training, in our opinion, is one of the key technologies in the development of personnel and the company. We actively use training offers from our regular providers and consider new offers from specialized companies. We also conduct internal product trainings. Of course, we expect the development of trained competencies, and, as a result, increased professionalism of employees, as well as motivation and satisfaction of personnel. In general, we are satisfied with the result, but our immediate plans are to strengthen the role of internal trainings. All other things being equal, in our opinion, they are more productive, because can more subtly take into account the characteristic features of the company.

Mikhail Lvovsky, Samsung Electronics:
- My personal opinion is that training should be only part of a thorough employee training process. Training cannot provide a ready-made recipe; it outlines the direction for solving problems. And if a person is not interested in changes, then there will be no effect from training. The practical formation of a sustainable skill lies beyond the scope of training.

Upon returning, the employee does not always have the opportunity to apply new knowledge in practice, faced with misunderstanding or rejection of new ideas by management.

It would be ideal for the knowledge gained in the training to be reinforced through projects developed jointly (or with the support) of understanding management and experienced colleagues. I try to apply this principle of building a training system in my own practice.

Natalya Shilova, Pilkington Glass LLC:
- Trainings are used both to improve the level of qualifications, obtain the skills and knowledge necessary for work, and to motivate employees. Expectations from them and the actual result coincide, since a lot of pre-training work is carried out, aimed both at clarifying the needs and expected results of employees and their managers, and at choosing a training company (and most importantly, a trainer), with which we closely interact on issues of adapting the training programs for our specific tasks.

Chekhova Oksana, NOMOS-BANK.
- Trainings are important for both employees and companies. Companies, through training, increase the level of professionalism of their employees, thereby strengthening their competitiveness. And employees perceive training programs as a motivating factor, thus they also increase their competitiveness and capitalization.

Each company, in accordance with its business interests and strategy, determines the areas in which it will train its employees, expecting to improve the efficiency of work processes. If these areas are identified correctly and the training is planned correctly, the learning process is sure to yield positive results. The main thing is not to follow the lead of employees, who may have their own interests, but to proceed from the interests of the business.

Shelamova Maria, Philips:
- This is just one of the tools and not a panacea. They should be by definition, but experience and knowledge are required to understand what is “cured” by training and what is not.

How to quickly determine whether a candidate has analytical skills and the ability to make decisions in the face of a lack of information?

Lebedeva Larisa, “Russian Product”:
- You can give a case, you can ask for written answers to pre-prepared questions, or you can simulate a mini-situation in which the candidate must make a decision here and now.

Natalya Shilova, Pilkington Glass LLC:
- Use specialized professional testing or cases compiled taking into account the specifics of the company’s activities.

Shelamova Maria, Philips:
- There are business games and cases on this topic. They take about 30 minutes and are inexpensive.

Functional responsibilities with the same job title in different companies can be very different. How to solve this problem?

Zamurieva Inna, Infra-M:
- This is, of course, a problem. It can be solved by changing (adding/clarifying) the job title or assigning ranks to positions.

Lebedeva Larisa, “Russian Product”:
- It seems to me that this is not a problem, since when selecting candidates you always look at their functionality, and not at the title of the position. The main thing is to study in detail what and how he did, what he achieved, what he is still capable of.

Mikhail Lvovsky, Samsung Electronics:
- In world practice, there are quite a few methods for universal job evaluation, regardless of the size of the company and the title of the position. All of them are based on a detailed analysis of the composition of work and comparison with a list of standard positions generated based on the results of research of a large number of different companies.

Natalya Shilova, Pilkington Glass LLC:
- I can’t call this a “problem”, since positions with the same name still have some common basis. Of course, there will be differences in responsibilities; it depends on the specifics of the company, its field of activity and organizational issues. But in any case, such a difference should be regarded as an opportunity to develop the candidate’s professional skills, and if the company is ready to help a person learn something with which he is not yet familiar, and the candidate shows an interest in learning, I think there will be no problem here.

Chekhova Oksana, NOMOS-BANK:
- The National Union of Personnel Officers has developed professional standards - knowledge, skills and competencies necessary for
all levels of HR specialists. It is necessary to implement these standards through business organizations, associations, and universities. Then university graduates will not call themselves HR directors, and company managers will see what they can get from an HR specialist and HR manager. Then, I think, the confusion with job titles will go away, and business expectations will not be disappointed.

Kharitonova Natalya, “DKS”:
- An interview on specific competencies allows you to quickly clarify the range of responsibilities and level of authority of the candidate. Additional information can be obtained by checking the recommendations.

Tseytlina Anna, “Measuring systems and equipment”:
- It is imperative to focus on the existing norms and rules established by the updated ETKS, in my opinion. For the developers of these reference books, life is closer to life and, without abandoning the principle of unification, should be included in the ETKS
positions that have proven their relevance and demand, both from the employer and from the employee.

Shelamova Maria, Philips:
- It's not a problem. Just ask about responsibilities in a phone interview...

How should HR build relationships with its manager?

Lebedeva Larisa, “Russian Product”:
- Here HR is no different from its colleagues from other areas. Relationships with the manager must be constructive and goal-oriented, based on respect and trust.

Mikhail Lvovsky, Samsung Electronics:
- The fact is that a leader is a specific person. Each person has his own approach, and there is no universal recipe.
I clearly know that relationships with any manager must be built on mutual trust, respect for the individual and professionalism.

"Sprandi":
- This must be democratic communication, HR must show and prove its importance in order to effectively influence business processes and people management.

Kharitonova Natalya, “DKS”:

It seems to me that the basis of this relationship is initial mutual understanding. If it exists, then - almost like in family life - any issues that arise can be resolved one way or another. If, even before making a decision to move to a new company, HR doubts the integrity or competence of the future management, it seems to me that nothing meaningful will come of it “for a long time.”

Tseytlina Anna, “Measuring systems and equipment”:
- Be a diplomat in the highest sense of the word, do not neglect politeness and ethical standards. Be able to justify your point of view and accept criticism - after all, a leader is not always wrong.

Shelamova Maria, Philips:
- This must be the strongest bond, based on complete mutual trust. Otherwise nothing will work! Believe the bitter experience...

What qualities should a manager have to become successful so that the results of his work are obvious and concrete?

- In order to be successful, you need to clearly understand what you want, or in other words, what goals you set for yourself, i.e. The first quality is determination. It is not enough to just set a goal, you need to strive for it, and every small victory on the path to success - goals are a result, i.e. the second quality is effectiveness. In a huge flow of information and in a very busy and intense rhythm of life, the following also come to the forefront: the ability to distribute one’s forces and time, that is, emotional stability, and time management. But we must not forget about artistry and healthy adventurism. These are essential character traits of a successful manager.

Sokolskikh Tatiana, “Electrical Installation”:
- To become successful, a manager must have a high-quality level of education, analytical strategic thinking, love his job, be able to resolve conflict situations, be able to take risks, and be sociable. Calculate the situation ahead. Create realistic plans aimed at a specific result. And remember that most often, living people are behind the implementation and implementation of plans.

What role does the level and quality of education play in the process of establishing success?

Elohina Marina, “VTS-clima”:
- It is necessary to define the concept of success, what is it - career, money or level of professionalism?
The issue of education today is controversial. Some are of the opinion that only prestigious universities provide quality education, others say that the quality of education does not depend on prestige, but depends on the student himself. In the issue of education, in my opinion, there should be an individual approach. It is undeniable that graduating from a prestigious institution gives you a competitive advantage at the first stage of your career, because... There is a certain stereotype of thinking in society, and when you come to your first interviews, the recruiter makes a discount on your experience, because... the name of the university gives him hope that you have an excellent basis and are a quick learner, so you can effectively apply your theoretical knowledge in practice. Also, one cannot discount the fashion for education; today it is fashionable to get a second degree, tomorrow it is fashionable to have an MBA degree; Today it is fashionable to graduate from a Moscow university, tomorrow - from a foreign one, and so on ad infinitum. I think that success is influenced not so much by the quality and level of education, but by flexibility of thinking, the ability to navigate the environment, catch trends, and most importantly, the communicative professionalism of the student himself.

Everyone must decide for themselves what is important to them, this applies to both employees and companies. For some, it is enough to get a diploma once and not think about further education, for others, on the contrary, it is very important to always improve your level of education.

A little history and a little about HR terminology

The word “personnel officer” came to us from Soviet times. Then the main functions of these specialists were reduced to filling out work books, maintaining personal files, writing job descriptions, issuing passes, and so on. This work was dust-free and did not require much effort. A specialist in this profile should have a good understanding of office work and labor legislation.

Thus, the personnel service was a auxiliary structure that controlled mainly the working document flow. And although the modern situation has changed radically, in some companies, mostly state-owned, and in our country there are more than 7 thousand of them with about 2 million employees, the “Soviet” idea of ​​the profession still lives. A feature of the planned economy of the USSR was that graduates of universities and colleges were automatically distributed among enterprises, so there was no need to look for, let alone attract, new personnel. The conditions and pay were the same almost everywhere, so they didn’t think about additional motivation. For many years, the only bonus for employees was a bonus.

Nowadays, in most organizations, pure personnel officers have been replaced by HR specialists.

The responsibilities of an HR, or human resources specialist, look completely different from those of a personnel officer.

The term “HR specialist” contains an English abbreviation – Human Resources, which is translated into Russian as “human resources”. Simply put, HR primarily works with people (with these same human resources), and not with pieces of paper.

We can say that this profession is closely connected with the market economy - that is why there were no “HR” in the USSR, and that is why this profession came to us from abroad in the 90s of the last century. During these years, a serious economic revolution took place, a market economy began to develop, and the system of people management at enterprises changed. An HR specialist has become a “bridge” between the company’s management, its personnel and the labor market.

Despite this, modern HR specialists cannot move away from the concepts of the traditional HR department and believe that their responsibilities are limited only to personnel selection (in this case, line managers are often actually involved in this) and administrative, “paper” work.

Whereas the activity of an HR manager involves assuming much broader powers and responsibilities. Unfortunately, often even among heads of organizations and top management there is widespread ignorance, misunderstanding or unwillingness to understand what personnel management actually is as a business function, what functional and managerial elements it includes, what its essence, purpose and objectives are. . What then can we say about the HR specialists themselves?

In reality, everything should happen exactly the opposite. Human resource management is a complex functionality with its own tools, methods, rules and patterns, ignorance or lack of understanding of the specifics of which can cause irreparable harm to any business.

As long as the myth about the insignificance and secondary importance of HR as a business function persists, it is impossible to talk about the adequate perception of the job responsibilities of any HR specialist by others. After all, the main purpose and function of a professional HR manager is to become a business partner of his manager and owner. I would like the company’s top officials to see HR as a partner who shares with other managers all responsibility for the decisions made, together with them develops business strategy and tactics, and together with them is responsible for the result. The key task of an HR manager is to achieve the main goals of the company with the help of its employees!

The range of responsibilities of HR specialists is very wide: they are involved in personnel selection, adaptation, assessment, and training. They (most often together with department heads) develop a motivation system in the company and evaluate the performance of the company’s personnel. They also have to find out the reasons for the “turnover” and fight it - if the company is faced with this unpleasant problem. Of course, this does not mean that the same person is doing all this. Typically, large companies have entire departments and personnel departments, and each employee has their own specialization. In small companies, the amount of work is significantly less (and not all of these tasks are in demand).

What should an HR specialist do in a company?

The answer to this question is key in understanding the role, place and significance of the HRM (human resource management) system in an organization, which most not only HR specialists, but also organizational leaders, unfortunately, do not have an answer to. To a greater extent, this is due to the lack and, as a consequence, misunderstanding of the functional connection between the business strategy and the organization’s HRM strategy.

Very briefly, the point is as follows.

To achieve the strategy of any business (regardless of the size of the business, industry, crisis, etc.), it is necessary to implement only two target functions: to have the resources necessary for the business and to use them effectively.

Under resources that a company or organization must have are understood to be:

√ material resources (land, buildings, premises, equipment, office equipment, transport, communications, etc.);

√ financial resources (bank accounts, cash, securities, loans, etc.);

√ relationship resources (with clients, suppliers and partners, government agencies, etc.);

√ structural resources (business processes, organizational structure, IT infrastructure);

√ human resources (employees who create the main value in the company - key company employees and support staff);

√ information resources (external and internal, electronic and paper databases);

√ temporary resources.

If we look from the point of view of efficiency, then in the most general form, the efficiency of using an organization's resources is understood as the ratio of the final result of a business to the costs that ensured its receipt. That is, in order for a business to be effective, it must increase the efficiency of using resources while simultaneously reducing the costs of their use.

In relation to HRM functionality, everything is the same, but only in relation to a specific company resource - personnel! So, too two goals:

1) have human resources;

2) effectively manage human resources.

From these two HR goals of any company, absolutely clear four HR tasks .

The first goal “to have” forms two HR tasks:

1) Attract the most talented, professional and efficient human resources to the company.

2) Retain key and effective employees in the company.

The second goal “to manage effectively” predetermines the solution of two more HR tasks:

3) Increase staff performance.

4) Optimize personnel costs.

Everything and nothing more! This is the essence of the professional purpose of HR. These are the goals and objectives of the activities of HR and the company’s personnel management service. They are the ones who bring together the goals of the business, as the customer, and the HR department, as the performer.

Everything seems simple and logical, but, unfortunately, the overwhelming number of HR and top managers of companies do not know or understand this and are unable to explain to each other, on the one hand, the role and significance, and on the other hand, the goals and tasks of HR functionality in the company.

This is where all the obvious and implicit problems with the company’s personnel lie and, I will say more, the presence or absence of a crisis in the country has absolutely nothing to do with it!

The reasons for this situation are: the lack of a business strategy in most organizations in the country (by the way, the main reason for this is the lack of a business strategy in the country itself), as a consequence of the lack of functional strategies, including HR strategy; the lack of a basic set of systematized knowledge in the field of human resource management among top managers of companies (often there is an opinion among them: if I know how to talk to people, then I can easily manage personnel); lack of an established HR school (traditions, exchange of opinions, discussion platforms, successful practices, success stories, popularization of experience, etc.); lack of a systematic and practice-oriented system for training, retraining and advanced training of HR specialists.

The work of HR can be assessed by the quality of movement towards the two HR goals outlined above and the effectiveness of solving four HR tasks. Moreover, it is very important that both goals and objectives are unchanged and mandatory in any organization, regardless of the form of ownership, scale of activity, number of personnel or industry. I would like to especially emphasize that the crisis is also not a limiter in the scope and quality of their solution.

We can talk about all this further, delving into technologies and assessment methods (and they exist and actually work), but it is impossible to do this briefly within the framework of this article. And it doesn’t make much sense until the top management itself learns to set clear and transparent goals and objectives in the field of human resource management, and HR specialists begin to think like effective owners and managers of the company’s most expensive resource...

What is the reason for the ineffectiveness of HR functionality and how to improve the situation

First of all, and this is the most important thing, so that the owner of the company, its top managers, HR specialists, and along with them all line managers understand and are imbued to the core with the answer to the most important question: what distinguishes human resources from all other resources of the company and makes it unique compared to them?

We all know how to talk with pathos on this topic, citing quotes from famous personalities in history, talking about how to take care of personnel, but at the first signs of an economic crisis, we thoughtlessly grab the saber and cut, first of all, this very resource...

Always, throughout our history, we have treated and treat a person as a cog, as a consumable material, as cannon fodder, but at the same time, in public statements we choke on words of love and awe...

For all the time that I have been asking this question to managers of any rank and HR with different experience in the profession, I have not heard a clear and intelligible answer that eliminates uncertainty in the interpretation of the meaning - and this is sad. And the answer to the question about the uniqueness of human resources compared to others lies on the surface and is an axiom.

So, the first sign of uniqueness . Only human resource, among all other resources, determines the competitiveness of any organization. You can copy any other resource - buildings, equipment, technologies, products, business processes, financial schemes, promotion methods, and so on. People and personnel of an organization cannot be copied, and they alone determine the competitiveness of any company.

AND second sign of uniqueness . Human resource is the only one of all company resources that is not owned by the company.

Only after understanding this, going through basic HR goals and HR tasks, and developing an HR strategy based on a sound business strategy, can you begin to analyze the effectiveness of the company’s HRM work and correct the situation.

Without these fundamental positions, all HRM work in an organization will be chaotic, unsystematic in nature, working not to prevent problems, but to “put out fires,” and assessing its effectiveness will be a profanation of a good and necessary idea.

The meaning and necessity of such work is zero, since it is not related to business goals and does not solve business problems. Unfortunately, it is “imitation of vigorous HR activity” that is typical in the work of most HR companies and organizations in our country. It is this kind of “work” that is one of the main barriers to the growth of business efficiency.

And as an addition. The presence of an HR strategy, HR goals and objectives still does not guarantee success, since in this situation the question of the competence of the company’s HR manager begins to arise. But here, an unplowed field! And the most serious problem is the inability, lack of understanding, and sometimes even unwillingness of HR specialists to delve into the company’s business issues, to speak the language of business, the language of numbers and specific economic indicators.

HR of most companies do not understand the main business functions of the company (marketing, logistics, production, finance, etc.) - and a lack of understanding of this leads to a lack of understanding of cross-functional connections and conflicts, which should be the main focus of an HR specialist. This means that such a specialist is not able to solve HR goals and objectives of the business, and all work comes down to simulating “stormy activity”, which discredits not only the HR specialist himself in the eyes of managers and staff, but also the role that is really important for the business , place and meaning of HRM functionality.

Gentlemen, top managers of companies! If in your company the management does not represent the area of ​​responsibility of the HR specialist, and all his work is perceived at the level of issuing personnel orders, “team building”, unsystematic trainings and useless seminars (i.e. direct waste of money earned by the company), invite your HR specialist to your office and ask him the right questions.

Maybe you will have the chance to change the situation of dangerous stagnation for the better. Be especially professionally demanding of candidates for this position! After all, the main purpose and function of a professional HR manager is to become a business partner of his manager and owner.

I would like the company’s top officials to see HR as a partner who shares with other managers all responsibility for the decisions made, together with them develops business strategy and tactics, and together with them is responsible for the result.

What to do with all this, especially during a crisis?

During a crisis, you need to save on everything, and HR functionality is no exception. But as with everything related to cost optimization during a crisis, and not during a crisis either, one must approach it wisely and carefully. Before reducing personnel costs, and 95% of them, for most companies, is the wage fund, it is necessary to very carefully calculate the consequences of reducing the number of personnel: how much real cost savings will this give in total revenue and how will this affect the reduction and so falling revenue.

This is an optimization problem, but it must be solved before making a decision to reduce personnel by a certain amount. Such a calculation may perhaps reveal a more optimal solution - reducing the working day or week by a certain amount...

Why am I talking about this? The fact is that crises tend to both begin and end. Will it turn out that by cutting staff now, after the crisis there will be serious problems with recruiting staff? After all, if the staff sees that the company is in a difficult situation, but does not throw them out onto the street, realizing that it will be difficult for them to find work and feed their family, but reduces the size of the payroll by reducing working hours, then they are ready to reduce their income , but be confident in the future. This greatly increases staff loyalty to their company, and the company will only benefit from this both during the crisis and when it ends. Everything needs to be calculated, taken into account and predicted. And this should be done by an HR specialist.

Taking into account the fact that the coming year will be difficult in terms of the economic situation in the country and in most companies, I would propose a number of necessary, in my opinion, measures that will reduce personnel costs without reducing their productivity. The main vector of HR efforts this year should be increasing the productivity of personnel while simultaneously reducing the costs of managing them:

√ recruiting personnel using the least expensive methods (on social networks, referral recruiting, working with students and graduates of universities and colleges; internal recruiting);

√ high-quality adaptation of newcomers, widespread use of mentoring and internal coaching by the company’s own personnel;

√ non-standard methods of non-material retention of key personnel in the company. Indeed, in most companies in all sectors of the economy, salaries will either be frozen or reduced. In such conditions, the HR specialist will be required to be as creative as possible in the field of non-material motivation;

√ building an effective internal personnel training system in the company, its own distance learning and personnel development forms;

√ strengthening the role of internal communications and the internal corporate personnel information system, strengthening the company’s internal HR brand;

√ introduction of simple and effective systems of material motivation, aimed primarily at revenue performance and cost reduction;

√ rallying the company’s team through low-budget events with the active participation of only company employees in their preparation and implementation;

√ maximum possible use of personnel outsourcing schemes for auxiliary and support divisions of the company.

These are the main areas that should be present in the work of HR specialists of companies during a crisis. Naturally, we should not forget about other HR functions, but these are anti-crisis ones and must be addressed urgently.

I am sure that this period will give a lot of understanding to both top managers of companies and HR specialists themselves regarding the goals, objectives, role, place and importance of HR functionality in the business system of companies. The most important thing is not to delay this process of understanding by citing the crisis. Now there is a unique opportunity to cleanse yourself of everything unnecessary in HRM, build the right human resource management system in your company, get through this difficult period with dignity and start effectively after it. And the crisis will help you all!