I had plenty of time to ponder this new “un” (welcomed, planned, expected) development while she continued with my cleaning. I’ve laughed about how my penmanship, previously a strength, has eroded over time. I’ve fretted in good company about the decline of written business skills as the use of auto-correct tools and informal Short Message Service (SMS) a/k/a texting and social media communications increase. When it was time to be shown how to properly brush my teeth, I realized at some point that day I had started to take my excellent oral health for granted and had started to take shortcuts. Over time, I was inadvertently reinforcing bad habits through practice.
You and I both know all skills get stronger with practice. As an individual, remember to make sure you are practicing solid habits for improvement, not reinforcing bad habits or poor techniques, whether it’s in the gym, on your tablet, or with your toothbrush. As an HR, procurement or other professional, you place your trust in other people, whether internal or external, to keep up a level of quality, compliance, skill, etc. What controls do you have in place to ensure what was once done well continues to be done well? How frequently are you or your Managed Service Provider (MSP) auditing the process, the desired project control data points, the personnel who are directly involved, etc.? How do you know that practices which were once a strength, continue to be carried out in the same fashion such as IRCA or IIRIRA (I-9) compliance? Are you asking about training practices, internal checks and balances, and monitoring regular audits? Or, are you assuming what was once a strength, continues to be one?
Take stock and take responsibility for what you are practicing as an individual. From that experience, look for opportunities where you can help cultivate good practices for long-term success and compliance from those around you.