Human Resources 101

From the book, Volunteer Management: Mobilizing All the Resources of the Community, by Steve McCurley and Rick Lynch

1. Don’t involve management in the decisions as to if and how to utilize staff within the agency. Everybody loves a surprise.
2. Don’t plan in advance the job descriptions or support and supervision systems for the staff. These things will work themselves out if you just give them time.
3. Accept everyone who applies for a position, regardless of whether you think they are over-qualified or under-qualified. Quantity is everything.
4. Assume that staff can pick up whatever skills or knowledge they need as they go along.
5. If you do insist on training staff, be sure not to include the management with whom the staff will be working in the design of the training.
6. Assume that your management already knows everything it needs about proper staff utilization. Why should they receive any better training than you did?
7. Don’t presume to recognize the contributions that staff make to the agency. After all, staff are simply too valuable for words.
8. Don’t reward management who work well with staff. They are only doing their job.
9. Don’t let management supervise the staff who work with them. As top management, you should be sure to retain all authority over ‘your’ staff.
10. Try to suppress any problems that come to your attention. Listening only encourages complaints.
11. In case of disputes, operate on the principle that “The Management is Always Right.”
12. Or operate on the principle of “My Staff, Right or Wrong.” This is no time for compromise.