If you are a human resources manager, you naturally rely on a lot of people in your organization to get things done. And it’s natural to show your gratitude to people who have helped you. But when it comes to showing appreciation, business consultants caution that you should look beyond the obvious people to those who might not immediately come to mind, but whose help has nonetheless been important.

Mentors are people often overlooked when it comes to showing appreciation, according to business strategist Dorie Clark. This might happen because they are not around on a regular basis. But the advice they give can make a big difference in your performance. Having a more senior manager in your corner to offer advice and encouragement is a real stroke of good fortune and should not be taken for granted.

When considering people to thank, don’t ignore a person just because it may have been a while since he or she helped you, Clark says. Even though you may not have seen the person in a number of years, he or she almost certainly will be glad to hear from you. Clark relates a story about a person who wrote a thank you note to a college professor a few years after she graduated. He was touched that she remembered him.

Also, remember support staff, Clark says. If someone important has helped you, in addition to thanking that person, think about the people under him or her who may have made his or her efforts possible.

The method of thanks that is the most personal and has the most impact is a handwritten note. The note should include specific details about what the person did that was helpful to you.

If you want to send a gift as a way of showing your appreciation, you need to keep in mind any legal restrictions that may apply because of the person’s position, or any ethical considerations – something that may pose the appearance of a conflict of interest, for example.

Also, when sending a gift, it is best to take into account the recipient’s interests, Clark says. If the person is a big football fan, for example, getting him football tickets probably would be greatly appreciated. If the person you wish to thank is more inclined toward the arts, or something cultural, a ticket to a symphony or an art exhibition would be more appropriate.

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With the uncertainty in the economy, and companies demanding more and more from their workers, employee engagement with their jobs has sunk lower and lower. Business analysts say that to keep your company productive, you need to have employees that are engaged with their jobs.

The experts offered a number of ways to build and maintain employee engagement.

One way to rev up employee engagement is right at the start when they are hired. You can use the process of bringing them on board to build their engagement. You have workers who are naturally receptive and enthusiastic as they begin their new job, and so onboarding provides a great opportunity to show how much you value them and what you can offer them, says business advisor Alice Snell. Making them go through a process where they sign the same forms five times or not having a computer at their desk is not the way to do it.

Also, when they start you need to let them know right away what the goals of the company are and how the employees fit in with those goals.

Another way to maintain engagement is to keep the lines of communication open, especially in offering positive feedback for a job well done.

Another way to keep the energy and enthusiasm of employees high is by giving them a feeling of community, such as sponsoring company activities or working on team projects.

The company also should offer employees chances for advancing their careers, help them develop their skills and potential, treat them like professionals, and give them a sense of empowerment by letting them know that their opinions are valued.

The company also needs to have an effective reward system in place. This involves more than just pay, because beyond a certain point, pay is not the prime motivator. Other kinds of rewards focus on giving employees more autonomy and authority to make decisions on their own, giving them more challenging work, and giving them more recognition, according to a number of business analysts.

Leadership is important as well – it is difficult to maintain engagement among employees if managers and executives do not appear to be engaged themselves, says business executive Judy Whitcomb. And finally, the image people have of the company matters also. If people feel they are working for a company that is respected and admired, they are more likely to be excited about their work and to stay as an employee.

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A  recent survey has provided some evidence to suggest that people in human resources have become the target of aggressive actions by other workers simply because of their role in the organization.

Almost one-third of the Kentucky-based human resource workers surveyed in an online poll reported being the target of aggressive behavior, which included things like interference at work, verbal abuse, even threats and intimidation. The percentage of human resource workers who reported being bullied was about the same as for workers in general. However, more than half of the people in human resources believed they were targeted specifically because they worked in human resources.

An earlier study of nearly 1,500 human resource workers was conducted in the United Kingdom. In that survey, more than half of the people in human resources reported being the target of aggressive behavior at work.

The conflict may be the result of the changing duties of workers in human resources, which has become more strategic than in the past, according to Teresa Daniel, a human resources professor who conducted the survey. Because their job is to challenge and coach business leaders, their interactions can set off conflicts or defensive responses that might ultimately lead to more aggressive behavior, Daniel says.

Human resource workers offered their own reasons for the aggressive behavior. One reason may be that their role often is not fully appreciated or understood by others. Another is that they often have to deny managers’ requests, and another is that managers may feel they are not properly qualified to make the policy decisions they do. Another reason is that the human resource person is the firewall in many instances, protecting the interests of other employees, but taking heat in the process.

Daniel says there are several things human resource professionals can do to blunt the aggressive behavior. She says human resources should increase the communication with managers and do it before problems arise. Human resources needs to better educate managers on how to handle routine problems that relate to the workforce. She says human resource workers also need to become more knowledgeable about the business itself – the financial elements, customers and operations – to get a better understanding of what motivates the behavior of managers.

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A number of business experts argue that human resource departments need to take the lead in implementing sustainability programs for their companies. Human resource departments are best positioned to spearhead this type of initiative, they say.

Sustainability generally refers to the efforts made to enhance quality of life for employees, society in general and making efforts to help the environment. To really be effective, these kinds of initiatives, business analysts say, should not be just some afterthought for advertising purposes, but well-thought-out efforts that are part of the company’s overall strategy.

Sustainability programs have many benefits for companies – they can help with employee engagement, they can improve a business’ processes and they can improve the image of the business. They also can actually help add to the bottom line.

While business analysts believe that a firm’s human resources department is in a good position to take the lead with sustainability, not many HR departments are involved with such efforts. Only about six percent of human resource departments responding to a recent survey said they helped to create such programs, but about one-fourth said they are helping to implement them.  Moreover, the survey showed that three-fourths of the organizations responding were involved with some kind of sustainability program.

Companies are implementing sustainability programs for a number of different reasons – to make a contribution to society, to give themselves a financial advantage over their competition, to help the environment, to help save money on their operations, and out of concern for the health and safety of employees.

But there are obstacles that need to be overcome in starting a sustainability program. Some of the most common are the cost, problems with figuring out how to determine the return on investment, lack of support, and a lack of knowledge about how to go about starting such programs.

But the positives are undeniable. Most of the companies that had sustainability programs and responded to the survey cited better employee morale, more efficiency in the workplace, a better image, and higher loyalty among employees as the major benefits.

But to make sustainability most effective, it should be codified into a formal company policy with goals and policies that are connected to the company’s overall strategic planning process.

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According to consultant Brad Power, human resources can and should be an integral part of the change and improvement at a company. Power lists a number of ways that human resources can do this.

One important way that a company’s human resources department can drive change is through the hiring process, making it clear to those being recruited that the company values new perspectives and fresh ideas and that you want to include them in the change process. As you bring them on board, you can orient them to the changes that are taking place. A training program can incorporate improvement strategies as well for new employees.

Also, human resources can contribute to change by spearheading recognition of those who become change agents in the company. A company’s human resources department can develop retraining processes to move people freed up by process improvements into new assignments.

With regard to finding the right people, a firm’s HR professionals can help company leadership accurately describe what job requirements are and then effectively assess the skills of employees/applicants –  then match the two.

Human resources departments also can help change by developing rewards that match with the new ways of doing things. For example, at a health insurance company a manager who oversees the way the company works with healthcare providers developed a new structure that was guided by medical specialties, such as obstetrics and gynecology. By doing this, workers would work in a specialty and be more knowledgeable about what they were dealing with. The firm’s human resources professionals needed to provide help in figuring out how to link rewards to the new performance model.

Human resources also can be effective in developing programs to help improve managers’ skills at making change in an organization. At one railroad company, for example, the human resources department set up a process excellence group to help improvement and change at the company. This group takes selected managers and puts them through a program that lasts more than a year to train them in new skills.

Maintaining improvement and change at companies comes down to the people who work there, Power says. So it is easy to see how processes in human resources can retard improvement, or help to accelerate it, depending on how HR responds to the situation.

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As a human resources specialist, one of your responsibilities is working with procedures and policies that pertain to corporate culture, the values and goals of the company and how they can be best achieved by employees.

In doing this, human resources should lead the way in fostering the idea of the company as a neighborhood, according to business and psychology professor Art Markman.

Some companies promote a market environment, the idea that each person is paid what according to the value he or she brings to the company,, and that the individual and his or her performance takes precedence. But Markman argues that it is difficult for a company to really function with a market mentality. This kind of arrangement really does little to develop loyalty to a company among employees. It mostly just promotes their loyalty to their compensation.

Markman says companies should promote environments that are combinations of neighborhoods and hierarchies. In a neighborhood, people don’t share things equally, but there is an impetus toward equality. If you have a problem at your home, removing some large tree limbs, for example, a good neighbor is likely to lend a hand. And if your neighbor has a problem sometime, you would lend a hand.

Most people are familiar with hierarchies – everyone has a position, with those at the top getting more privileges, while those lower on ladder usually just take orders. Most companies take the form of hierarchies, where the higher ups take on more responsibility for running the company and get more pay and other rewards in return.

But the idea of a neighborhood gets less emphasis at companies. If you are walking down your street and you see that a neighbor’s trash can has fallen over, you probably pick it up. You do this, Markman says, because you think of your neighborhood as an extension of yourself. You are part of a larger community and you do what you can to help that community.

A company should work the same way. A business really cannot be its best unless the people who work there think of themselves as part of something bigger. People might go the extra mile in their job if they see their boss hovering over their shoulder, but they are more likely to work hard if they feel a part of the neighborhood that is their company, and feel that everyone is pitching in for the good of the neighborhood.

But it’s a two-way street – the company needs to also support these neighborhood values. It can do this, for example, by helping out workers who are having personal problems or providing educational opportunities for employees. Fairness also is important in helping to develop this loyalty.

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There is a lively debate going on in the business world about the idea of certification in human resources. Namely, does it enable an increase in effectiveness or does it just represent a body of knowledge steeped in old, conventional ways of thinking.

At some companies, certification is mandatory, while other companies wrinkle their noses at it, saying they don’t want to go near any human resource person with an alphabet soup after his or her name.

Officials at the HR Certification Institute contend that certification has always been desired by employers, and that it is more and more becoming a requirement, leading to an increase in demand for it. One Institute official said she is hearing from recruiters that employers want the credential, which is more proof of how important it has become.

But others are not so enthusiastic about it.

One business school professor is unimpressed with certification, noting that it really won’t help anyone in the current job market. A person with a master’s degree in human resources will certainly be more sought after than someone with a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification, he said, especially by bigger companies. He added that experience also will hold greater weight than certification.

If you already have an advanced degree, certification in human resources is essentially useless, the professor added. What is more important, he said, is what a person can bring to the job, the ability to take on managers and challenge their viewpoint, to bring something new to the table.

Netflix is one company that is unimpressed with credentials in the human resources field. A recent job advertisement on the company’s website states that it’s not looking for an OD practitioner, a person with a certificate, or a person who specializes in policy guidelines. These are all signs that the person is steeped in the old ways of doing human resources, the type that is not done at Netflix, the job posting says. These are designations that the company really does not assign much value to.

So, the debate continues – between those who believe that the credential lends greater knowledge and expertise, and those who believe it locks a person into an old-fashioned way of thinking. But, as with any position, on-the-job performance will most likely be the deciding factor in this debate.

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One very good way of learning about how things are going at a company and the atmosphere of the company is to listen to the stories employees tell about their work experiences.

You may hear more positive stories – about the hard work that people do to keep their customers happy, or how they work with customers to determine new products. But the stories also may be more negative – how management didn’t like an idea, or how management expected too much without providing the needed resources to get the job done.

The question is whether the stories employees tell help to promote the culture that you want at your company, or whether the stories of your work culture will be a hindrance to your success.

Human resource consultant Susan Heathfield argues that the stories people tell are potent influences in forming the culture of companies. What employees talk about and the stories they share, can set the tone for the entire organization. It is an important part of the working life of employees, Heathfield says.

These stories have an even greater influence on new employees because they become part of the new person’s learning process. They are instrumental in forming expectations about the company and in expected behavior.

Since these narratives about the company are so important, what can you do to promote positive stories?

Heathfield says the first thing to do is to listen. Find out what kinds of stories are making the rounds at your company, and are they the kinds of stories that are good for the company.

If you don’t like what you hear, get together a team of employees that represents different levels and areas of the company. It will be their job to listen to the stories in the company, to monitor the atmosphere.

Tell stories of your own. When you have meetings, make sure to tell positive and inspiring stories. But also make sure that you have a culture in your company that makes these stories believable. You have to be able to back up your stories with action. Also, make outstanding employee contributions part of your company history, something you highlight on your company website or handbook, and something you pass on to all new employees.

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As you try to fill openings at your company with the most talented people possible, you are obviously working to come up with the best questions to ask job candidates. Naturally, applicants have questions of their own, some more probing than others. But it is to these more probing questions that your human resources department should have good answers if you want to compete for the best candidates.

Some of these questions applicants are more likely to ask than others, but all of them are the kinds of questions that human resources professionals should be asking themselves. Dealing with hard questions also will help your company clarify goals and values to help employees perform better.

Some things that applicants might be curious about are why employees like working for the company, what brought them to the company and what the work atmosphere is like.

Other questions might include the philosophy of the business and its strengths and weaknesses.

Other queries are more of the nuts-and-bolts type, such as what the day-to-day responsibilities of the open position are, how quickly the company wants to find someone for the job, and the next step in the interviewing process. Although perhaps not a common question, a candidate may ask how his or her skills compare with other applicants.

Candidates also might be interested to know what the company values the most in terms of what its employees contribute.

Other questions might include whether there is a career path at the company, chances of advancement and other opportunities the position might offer.

A candidate might want to know where most of the company’s senior management comes from – a particular area of the company or a variety of areas and he or she also may ask about any major problems facing the company or department.

An applicant might also ask about how the open position contributes to the bottom line.

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One of the regulatory traps that businesses sometimes fall into when they use staffing services is the employment classification of contingent workers.

Many times a business that uses contingent workers from a staffing firm takes on certain responsibilities for the workers, responsibilities usually associated with “regular” employment.

By doing this, the company allows itself to be considered an employer, along with the staffing agency, opening itself to the liability that goes with being an employer.

There are some straightforward guidelines that will help a company avoid being considered an employer of the temporary workers.

The first one is something not to do – don’t repeat the same functions as the staffing agency. If you are going to do that, why hire the firm in the first place? Sometimes, businesses will take on the task of recruiting, selecting and interviewing potential temporary employees. This is what you are paying the staffing agency to do. If your business takes on those tasks, the prospective employee will think your business is the hiring organization. You might not be real keen on having the staffing agency do these things, but the firm’s thoroughness will surprise you. If you have doubts, ask the staffing service to show you how it tests and selects employees.

Also, if you have a large number of contingent workers at your company check with the staffing firm to see if it can have a representative stay at your company. Known as an “on-site” arrangement, this is the most effective way to handle administrative tasks,  and it also allows for better communication between you and your staffing firm. It also emphasizes to the temporary workers that the staffing agency is the employer.

Never take any disciplinary action directly against a contingent worker. Always go through the staffing agency. If you want to terminate the worker, you should discuss it and the reasons for it with the staffing agency, and the agency should then take the necessary action.

As part of this, you should be willing to share the worker’s performance shortcomings with the staffing agency. Then, if the worker is let go, the agency will be able to provide the worker with a specific reason, which will usually eliminate the possibility of charges of discrimination. Discrimination is sometimes alleged when a temporary worker is let go but no reason is given, which leads the person to believe something unethical is going on.

And finally, make sure your company policy clearly states that benefit plans are off limits to contingent workers.

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