Modern phone etiquette

Do you ever stop and think about how you come across on the phone?  We do so much of our communication these days in the office through email and text messages that sometimes the art of conversation is lost.

People will make assumptions within 60 seconds about your education, background, ability and personality, based on your voice.  And not only does what you say count, but how you say it.  That doesn’t give you a lot of time to come across professionally.

It may not seem fair but hey, we all judge people by their phone mannerisms.  Here is a little refresher on how to improve your phone etiquette:

1. Try to answer your phone within three rings if possible.
2. Identify yourself when you answer the phone, “Good morning, this is _____speaking”.
3. Have a smile on your face when you answer the phone. As crazy as it seems, people can hear a smile in your voice.
4. Speak clearly, slowly. If you are naturally a fast talker, this may be harder to do (it is for me!).
5. Actively listen to the other person – that is not typing emails, eating lunch or engaging in other distractions – people can tell if you aren’t fully taking part in the conversation.
6. Always be polite and courteous on the phone.
7. Speak with confidence.
8. When away from your desk, forward your phone to voice mail and make sure to check your messages often.
9. Return calls promptly.
10. Remember to treat others as you wish to be treated on the phone.

Once you are conscious of how you come across on the phone, you will sound more confident and professional.   In a judgement-based society, confidence and professionalism are a good thing!

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Dana Sebal has over 10 years Marketing and Human Resources experience.  Outside of her professional career, Dana’s passions include her family, rowing, running, tennis, skiing, yoga, and Beagles.

Where women must be sexy and the men, not so much

Sometimes in some industries, wearing a uniform (think McDonald’s) or something uniform-like (think nurse) is a job requirement.  You could even call the dress code a bona fide occupational requirement as the outfit performs some duty like identify who are the employees and what function they perform, protect the health and safety of the employee, or display the corporate brand or image. 

Now let’s consider establishments such as Hooters in which employees are required to wear a uniform as part of the corporate image.  Yes, their uniforms have the famous logo but that’s not the point.  The point is that the uniforms are designed to put the female servers on display.  The restaurant’s brand is very clear right down to its Hooters name about what their business model is and who their target customers are. 

With that preamble out of the way, let’s get to the case filed against the western Canada-based sports bar, Shark Club.  One of its female employee’s filed a sex discrimination complaint “saying she was forced to wear miniskirts and busty, cleavage-revealing tops”.  

The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal has chosen to look into the matter not on the basis that the employee was forced to wear a sexy uniform; whether or not this dress code is a BFOR is not at issue.  When it comes to human rights, the issue here is that only the female employees were required to dress in sexy outfits, not the men. 

The Shark Club’s defense in the media so far has been that they’ve always been “transparent” about hiring of employees and the job requirements.  The director of ops is basically quoted as saying “but everyone else is doing it!” when referencing other local restaurant and bars that enforce the same employee policies. 

Now I don’t know for sure but I imagine that, like Hooters, the Shark Club is targeting a predominately male, heterosexual, sports-loving clientele.  Given the business model, there may be little reason to hire male servers and requiring them to wear outfits as provocative as the female servers.  Hooters has seen its fair share of lawsuits, including one in 1997 that resulted in “the chain [agreeing] to create a few other support jobs, like bartenders and hosts, that must be filled without regard to sex”.  In fact, Hooters employees are now required to sign the following declaration:

1. My job duties require I wear the designated Hooters Girl uniform.
2. My job duties require that I interact with and entertain the customers.
3. The Hooters concept is based on female sex appeal and the work environment is one in which joking and entertaining conversations are commonplace.
4. I do not find my job duties, uniform requirements, or work environment to be offensive, intimidating, hostile, or unwelcome.

Hooters has seen a few policy changes in the last few years but the concept remains as-is.  But, these lawsuits happened in the U.S. – how will this suit play out in Canada?

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Helen Luketic is the manager of HR metrics & research at BC Human Resources Management Association.  Besides editing this blog, researching and running the HR Metrics Service, she wonders how is it that on “Undercover Boss”, the employees can’t guess that the visiting employee with the camera following them around is actually their CEO.

Dealing with end of summer burnout

I love fall!  I am not sure what it is about the season that I find so wonderful considering in Vancouver it rains most of the time!  But as summer nears its end, I start to feel exhilaration and a sense of renewal.  This is when I sit down and plan out my year, make goals for myself and start to feel revitalized.

Maybe it has to do with conditioning from childhood.  A new year at school, connecting with old friends and making new ones. The vibe on the street is energetic and makes you feel like you can take on the world.

But with the renewal of fall also comes the post summer burnout.  I read a great article on Entrepreneur.com called Helping Employees Beat the Summer Blues that talks about ways to energize your team for the latter part of the year.

Here is a summary of the points to deal with mid-year burnout and revitalize your team:

1. Ask employees how they feel about summer coming to an end.
2. Ask employees what their goals are for the year.
3. What motivates your employees?  Find out how to make them more productive.
4. Help create a sense of accomplishment in your employees work.
5. Praise people for a job well done… I don’t think we do this enough.
6. Increase your employee recognition efforts.  If you don`t have an employee recognition program, start one.
7. Talk about career paths to get people focused on their career goals again.
8. Increase levels of responsibility if possible.
9. Create some synergy in the workplace and do a team based project to get people working together.
10.  Start a mentor program.  If you already have one, good for you!

Not all of these points may be relevant for you and your company, but I hope at least one helps your team work efficiently and productively through to the holiday season.

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Dana Sebal has over 10 years Marketing and Human Resources experience.  Outside of her professional career, Dana’s passions include her family, rowing, running, tennis, skiing, yoga, and Beagles.

Branding Through Recruitment

In my last post “Are you committed to your brand?” I talked about employer branding and how it relates to your current employees.  You can learn a lot from the people in your company, but what about the people you are trying to attract to work for you, or the people who no longer work for you?

How can the recruitment process help you with internal branding?  Think about it, would you rather work for a company that is ranked highly in Canada’s Top 100 Employers and has a great reputation for treating its employees well, or a little known company that doesn’t have any employer brand recognition?  Most people would take the safe bet and go with a company they know about.

When looking at your employer brand and how recruitment can help in this process, take a look at the following:

• What does your recruitment process say about your company as a place to work?
• How do you use your brand in your recruitment efforts?
• Walk through the recruitment process. What does it say about your company as a place to work?  How long is the interview process?  Does the recruitment process adapt for the different generations you are trying to attract and retain?
• Research how people feel about the recruitment process as a whole with your company.
• Evaluate the orientation program. Does this process make people proud in their decision to work for your company?  Design training materials that will engage your new hires and align them with your corporate brand values.

What about the people who no longer work for you?  Do you conduct exit interviews?  How do you manage the exit process?

When committing to employer branding, it is important to carefully plan how to manage those employees exiting your company – yhey are still ambassadors of your brand even though they no longer work for you.  You want them to remember their experience with your company as positive and to spread the word that your company lives up to its employer brand promise and is a great place to work.

If an employee has a great experience in your company they will tell 10 people.  If they have a terrible experience, that same employee will tell 100 people how horrible your company is.  How do you want your brand positioned?

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Dana Sebal has over 10 years Marketing and Human Resources experience.  Outside of her professional career, Dana’s passions include her family, rowing, running, tennis, skiing, yoga, and Beagles.

Employee, I praise thee!

So you’ve heard me going on about my amazing experience at Disneyland.  (Yes, I’m going to milk this experience for all it’s worth.  What can I say, lessons in HR are all around us!)  But it wasn’t all about the service at D-land itself, the resort area hotels themselves seem to really help lock in that overall “I heart Disneyland” experience. 

A shout out to the hotel I chose on a coworker’s recommendation, the Sheraton Park Hotel in Anaheim. The staff was super helpful with all my questions, approached me when I looked confused, offered tour suggestions when I was poking through the brochure board, finished my sentence for me when I asked to switch to a room by the pool bar, even came and got me at the hotel lobby bar when the airport shuttle showed  up… I mean c’mon, I had to watch what I could of the Germany vs Argentina World Cup quarter-final game.  All around, impressive service. 

Upon leaving, I ran up to the concierge desk and asked “who could I contact to let them know about my great experience?”.  Perhaps, say, a manager I could speak to?  They then handed me one of those generic comment cards.  While my intentions were good, I still haven’t filled out that puppy. 

At least the staff that I personally thanked know I appreciated their service.  For those that weren’t on shift when I left… tough. 

Can we find simple ways to say “thank you” to someone who has offered good service?  Better yet, can we say thank you so that their higher-ups know about it?  If you spent so much effort making a good service experience and generating a return customer, why not make just a little more effort to ensure that your staff are appreciated for the hard work?

And please, make it easy for folks like me to submit that feedback.  That comment card lay at the bottom of my purse so long it became a tattered mess I had to throw out.

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 Helen Luketic is the manager of HR metrics & research at BC Human Resources Management Association.  Besides editing this blog, researching and running the HR Metrics Service, she is busy working on a policy which would allow her to wear her Mini-Mouse ears to work.

Do you love your job?

With summer now upon us, I am finding it harder to keep my nose to the grindstone and focus on the tasks at hand.  And in talking to friends, I have realized that this really is the time of year that people start to have qualms about their position and are sometimes itching to move on to a new opportunity. 

When it is hot outside, do you really want to deal with employee problems, hiring new staff and conducting training sessions?  Of course not….who would?  You and I know that Bob who tells you he needs time off because his second aunt twice removed is in hospital and asking to see him really has a tee time with his buddies.  Can you blame him?  No.  Do you envy him?  Yes. 

Instead of focusing on everything you are missing while working, and how guys like Bob are shirking their jobs to go golfing really tick you off, take some time to regain focus and learn to love your job again.

Here are a few ways to help re-focus your energies and to start feeling the excitement again that you had when you first started your position:

• What were your reasons for taking this job?
  • Make a list and keep it handy for those days you really don’t feel like being at work.
• What is wrong with your job?
  • Write down everything you don’t like about your job and then make a list on how you would change these things no matter how ridiculous these ideas are.  Having a plan will make you feel better.
• Dress for success.  Remember how you much time and care you took getting ready when you first started?  Dressing for success will make you feel good about yourself and in turn you will perform better.
• Socialize.  Get out of your chair and go say “hi” to your colleagues.  Don’t just email your question.  Go ask it in person.  Not only is it good for you physically, it is good for you to emotionally connect with the people you work with.

When the honeymoon is over and the job relationship is in full swing try to rekindle some of the old excitement.  You and your job will be better for it.

For further reading on this topic check out the following books:

                                        

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Dana Sebal has over 10 years Marketing and Human Resources experience.  Outside of her professional career, Dana’s passions include her family, rowing, running, tennis, skiing, yoga, and Beagles.

Creating stories, the bad ones

Today I was challenged with a tough conversation, and one I learned a lot about myself and all employees.  Terminations in general are pretty scary and can rock the boat.  But what we don’t usually see is the internal stories people create.  In my particular case, the person who was terminated was open, communicative, and willing to improve their performance.  When they were terminated, another employee who is also open, communicative, and willing (although not needing to) improve their performance felt their job security was in jeopardy.

The backlash was incomprehensible.  I saw tears in a typically strong and fun person.  I felt empathy for someone who usually challenges me.  I heard a word such as “being let go, fired, quitting” from what usually is a committed and loyal employee.

The outcome was good, we squashed the story created, but it took a while to dig to get where the fear was stemming from.  Once we both acknowledged what was the cause, we were able to see how a story can be bad.  Her personal learning was that she needs to continue to be outspoken, open, and willing as these are her strengths and natural, and that her coworkers termination is not the same path that she is on, even if they shared many similar characteristics.

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Agata Zasada is a junior HR generalist in a fast-paced company no one in Vancouver ever has heard of, lululemon athletica.  She has three years of experience in HR supplemented by a BBA in HR. Outside of her love for her career, Agata has been learning to run as well as practicing yoga (mainly Savasana), and is known for her witty humour.

Would you be missed?

If your HR department suddenly disappeared, would you be missed?  People would obviously notice that you are gone (I hope!), but would they really miss you?  It’s a question that many companies are asking themselves (or they should be) and the answers can really inform important conversations in your department or company – where do we add the most value?  What should we be focusing on?  What could we stop doing? Should we make this change?

Bill Taylor, writing for HBR blogs, suggested three ways in which companies can answer this question affirmatively in his blog, “If Your Company Went Out of Business, Would Anybody Notice?”.  Do you fit into any of these?

1.  You provide a product or service that is so unique that it cannot be provided by your main rivals

In HR, who are your main rivals in different areas?  Is outsourcing a rival?  Are there other departments whose responsibilities overlap with yours?  When you look, it can often be relatively easy to find good-enough alternatives.  What can you do to make your offering truly unique for your clients, whether it be your employees or your employer, or whomever you consider a client?

2.  You have created a workplace that is so dynamic and energetic that employees would be hard pressed to find a similar environment elsewhere

While you could apply this to the larger context of the organization, what this point is really looking at are the employees within the department (i.e. not your ‘clients’).  Are your fellow HR members engaged, driven, and excited to show up to work on Monday morning more so than they would in another department or at another company?

3.  You have forged a uniquely emotional connection with customers that other companies can’t replicate

A lot of the value in HR resides in the quality of its relationships with employees in the organization.  Have you forged this deeper connection? Does the value of your relationship go beyond the economic benefits you offer?

Bill Taylor’s message is “if your customers can live without you, eventually they will” and “if you do business the way everybody else does business, you’ll never do any better”.

Answering affirmatively to any (or maybe even all?) of these questions, I think, gives you clout in the organization.  It gives your department the respect to try new things and to help shape company strategy.  I enjoyed writing this blog because I enjoy thinking about HR as a business, not just as a necessary expense, and I think this is an insightful way to think about it.

Good luck with your answers! I’d love to hear them!

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Krysty Wideen is a learning and organizational development consultant with The Refinery Leadership Partners, based in Vancouver. Failing to leave her day job at work, she often finds herself relating every day, commonplace observations and activities to insights about leadership, business, human resources, and anything, really. Now she has a place to share her observations and insights.

In defense of consultants

My name is Holly.  I am a consultant.  Who would have thought 4 words could be perceived so derogatorily.  Many times I find myself squirming when I listen to how badly consultants are portrayed by just about everyone.  We are seen as purveyors of snake oil, greedy, sneaky, liars and cheats.  Granted there are consultants like those, but I happen to know quite a few and we aren’t all part of a band of thieves roaming the land seeking out the gullible yet moneyed firms.  If you think of your consultants as part of your larger pool of talent, you may discover that you’ve got resources you didn’t consider you had.

Here are five great ways to use a consultant:

1. External research and synthesizing best practices – let’s face it, research can be time-consuming and time is one thing my clients consistently don’t get enough of.  Don’t just ask your consultant to research, ask them to help you make sense of the information for your industry, current business challenges, etc.  It may take a little longer, but will be much more valuable in the end.
2. Strategy-planning – when you are in charge of a unit, you are typically tasked with developing strategy, but it’s hard to orchestrate and participate, so this is a time when it is smart to call on extra help.
3. Design work  – this can be the fun part of your job, but you don’t have to give up all the good stuff, just get yourself a sidekick, one who will collaborate with you, not present you with a fait accompli.
4. Program audits – sometimes I’m asked to come in and develop a new strategy, and along the way I find out that there are lots of great things that already exist in-house and there is potential to re-purpose content, which can be quicker and cheaper.  Conducting an audit will not only give you insight to what you have and what’s working, but may also help you flesh out some of those skeletons in the proverbial closet.  To paraphrase Shrek “better out than in”
5. Contingent staff – instead of trying to figure out how to justify hiring another FTE, why not consider a “retainer” – hours per month that you think could enhance your ability to deliver.  Maybe this is a “thought leader in residence” or a OD consultant for a myriad of projects, rather than per project.

In a future post, I’ll talk about some of the things to look for when choosing a consultant, as well as working with one.

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Holly MacDonald is an independent consultant with well over 15 years of experience in the learning & development field.  Holly is a bit of a techno-geek and can often be found playing online.  When she steps away from her computer, she spends time outside: hiking, kayaking, gardening and of course walking the dog.  She lives on Saltspring Island and is a leader in the live/work revolution.

It’s your job to motivate me

It’s been hard keeping up the motivation to work these last two weeks.  (Sorry, boss!) 

But I’m both human and honest so let me tell you:  how motivated would you be if you’re working while the Olympics are happening in your town, you’re steps away from the German and Irish house (essentially, official national beer gardens), and your office is across the street from the flaming cauldron?  My beautiful office is now a curse because now when I look out the window,  everyday I get to watch thousands of people walk by, sometimes a tidal wave of red when they jump up and cheer in unison every time the home team wins a medal.  Sighhhh….

I know what you’re thinking… you feel sorry for me and wish you could ease my pain.  Yeah right!

Which brings me to this brilliant piece of research I read in the Harvard Business Review.  The discovery of what really motivates workers is #1 on their list of Breakthrough Ideas for 2010.  Is it the pay, flex time, recognition or just being really engaged in the work?  Heck no!  It’s progress at work!  Go figure, actually getting stuff done is motivating to a person:

On days when workers have the sense they’re making headway in their jobs, or when they receive support that helps them overcome obstacles, their emotions are most positive and their drive to succeed is at its peak.  On days when they feel they are spinning their wheels or encountering roadblocks to meaningful accomplishment, their moods and motivation are lowest.

I bet you’re now thinking back to your best work days and linking up those times when you felt like, “Yeah! I rock!”.  Who really enjoys spinning their wheels because politics, lack of resources, indecision, or the inability to get a hold of someone is holding work back?  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy recognition as much as the next person but sometimes I just want to stop banging my head against the wall.

So pass this around to managers you know!  Managers:  your job is to remove roadblocks for your employees, provide the right resources, coach, enable creative solutions, and generate support and buy-in.  In short, your job is to help your staff make progress at work.  Progress = Motivation.  In other words, if your employees aren’t motivated, chances are that it’s your fault.

As for my lack of motivation right now?  Don’t blame my manager.  We really only have the German Haus and athletes to blame.  And here it is, for one last time:  Go Canada Go!

The best of the worst business words

Last week, the venerable CBC News posted a funny and cringe worthy story, “The most painfully annoying business jargon”.  It’s a summary of some of the worst words and phrases that we use in business today.  Among my most favourite (or is it least favourite?) are:  “full service”, “circle back” and “learning” used as a noun.  Shudder!

After an unscientific poll with my colleagues of some other choice words that are overexposed and have lost all relevance (aka the Tiger Woods Syndrome):

• touch base
• at the end of the day…
• economic downturn (the phrase formerly known as “recession”)
• leading edge
• “tomorrow’s (insert word such as leaders, talent system, etc.)”

I just remembered that I few years ago I received a magical gift from a coworker called Human Resources Bingo; definitely not recommended reading for the HR pro that takes themselves seriously.  C’mon, when you see words in there that you know you overuse, doesn’t it make you smile, just a little bit?  Hey – hold the phone- “metrics” is one of the words listed!  Where is the contact information on the website so I can give some constructive feedback?!?!!

I digress… what other jargon would you recommend for this list?

*The Fine Print:  Thanks to my coworker Kyla for making full use of her email fwd function by not only tipping me off with this story but also giving me some of her most favourite hated words.

Want to learn HR? Blogging is where it’s at

A recent online poll by HR Executive Online shows that 90% of HR professionals are reading blogs with 48% saying that “HR blogs give me new, fresh ideas about the HR profession and where it’s heading”.  I’ve definitely found that reading HR blogs is a great way to keep a pulse on what’s going on out there on a timely basis, have your thoughts and beliefs challenged, and 9 times out of 10, it’s a very entertaining way to learn valuable HR lessons, such as on HR metrics.  Best of all, blogs are a super quick and easy read if you only have 3 seconds to scan information. 

Case in point, Suzanne Boyd’s Peoplestuff.  Suzanne is one of my fellow bloggers featured by the BC Human Resources Management Association and she is getting a round of e-applause by readers for writing about her beef with processed foods and its impact on employee health and wellness, all done with a pop culture twist.  Fistful of Talent named her blog as one of the “Best of the Blogosphere” for 2009.  Congrats to Suz!

If you’re looking for quick sound (read) bites to stay fresh and inspired in your career, check out the list of some of my favourite blogs in my blogroll.  A special shoutout to The DL on HR – writer Agata Zasada is wanting to hear about your perplexing HR conundrums so she can give you her valuable advice in her blog’s Q&A format.

Hey, I think I just gave you an example of how social networking can be used as a learning tool….

The best business school (and cheap, too!)

I heart Dragons’ Den, the best “reality” show around.  It features 5 highly successful entrepreneurs (the “Dragons”) who have experience building companies, have money to burn, and are looking for the next great idea to invest their venture capital.  Entrepreneurs pitch their idea, state the value of the company and make an offer to the Dragons.  The Dragons decide whether or not they love the idea so much that they invest in the company with their own funds.  In the U.S., Dragons’ Den is essentially Shark Tank (but is, alas, a more superior version). 

Looking for money for your latest HR venture? Brush up on the basics of the perfect pitch.

This show is so great, it should be mandated viewing for all HR professionals.  If you’re looking to brush up on your business know-how, then tune in.  Here is a recap of what I’ve learned so far in my free business school: 

To sell an idea, tell a compelling story.  There are no PowerPoint presentations here!  It’s a bedtime story for adults, talking about the inspired way you came up with the idea and describing your vision.  The story seems to get the Dragons more excited than the actual product. 

Show decision-makers the money.  The Dragons react positively when shown sales figures, profit margins, revenue, projections or target market size.  They’re not looking for a novel or again, a PowerPoint presentation.  They are most excited when these numbers are concisely presented to them on a 3 x 5 recipe card.  After the deal is sealed with a handshake, the Dragons have their staff look at the detailed fine print. 

Promote a greater cause, while making money.  If the idea you’re presenting makes money and promotes a greater good (e.g. environment), the Dragons will definitely be interested.  They want to make money but they are also interested in leaving a legacy. 

Prove that you’ve done your grunt work and that your idea is viable.  Your idea may be brilliant but if you haven’t yet invested any of your own time / money / life to bring that idea to life, no one is interested.  Put it all on the line and prove your idea works before presenting it to anyone else. 

Make a realistic claim on the value of your idea.  One of the biggest mistakes that entrepreneurs make in their presentation to the Dragons is an overvaluation of their company.  You may think $1 million is a realistic valuation but it’s more than likely that the Dragons think your idea is worth a lot less.  When you inflate the value of your idea, company – or even yourself – you lose credibility.  Do the long division and make sure that the cost/benefit analysis is real.
One frequently heard quote on the show:  “Don’t be greedy”. 

Understand the trends.  The population is aging… provide services and products to assist them.  The new generation is entering the workforce… figure out how to tap into their energy and offer work/life balance.  Figure out what people need first and then offer it.  

Understand your audience.  Know who you’re pitching to and whose purse strings you’re after.  Each Dragon has a different background and different spending habits.  Figure out who you want to convince and learn everything about them.  Then, target your presentation to what they care about. 

Now go into the world, HR’ers.  Talk the business talk and go make us proud in 2010.

My 2010 wish list

Ten years ago I was determined to bring in the new millenium with gusto, praying that Y2K would blow over and practicing not starting off dates with 19XX.  Well, another year is over and a new decade about to begin.   It’s been an amazing and amazingly productive year.  When I look back, I think “wow!” at all the fabulous people I’ve met and all the great work that I’m hearing about.  It just occurred to me that at the beginning of this year I would have never considered blogging; the world and our minds can change pretty rapidly in the course of just one year!

Other HR bloggers at this time of year are making their predictions for 2010.  I’m not going to even attempt that one!  But I will document for you my hopes and dreams for HR for 2010.  I look forward to revisiting this list next December and seeing how far we’ve come! 

1.  HR understands that social networking has become a must do to survive.  It will no longer lock it down or police it.  It will work within the new world, accept it for what it is and most importantly, take advantage of it.  This doesn’t mean that everyone should sign up for Twitter!  Instead, we should consider the options available and choose what makes sense for the organization. 

2.  More industries and organizations give their shareholders or stakeholders a “say on pay”, giving them information on executive pay.  It’ll open up discussions and build transparency.  On December 11th, the U.S. passed say on pay legislation for the financial industry.  But the financial industry in Canada realized that they didn’t need to wait for the law to step in to do the right thing.  Management guru Peter Drucker would agree:  revamping exec comp is good for the organization and society.  

3.  Companies up their investment in employee learning and development.  Everyone is screaming for the need to increase productivity.  Investing in improving literacy and providing employees with skills to do their jobs better has a better ROI than buying a new computer.  

4.  Derogatory comments about Gen X, Y or Z stops.  This is a form of ageism and should go the way of sexism, racism and other ‘isms.  Let’s talk about how generations differ and how to maximize value through them, much in the same way we talk about any other group in our organization (e.g. women, visible minorities, etc.).  I’m not sure if people who call Gen X “entitled” realize that they have just offended me….  

5.  HR increases its knowledge on metrics and dedicates some resources to it.  I get it – your systems are cranky, your data is garbage, you don’t have the budget… I’ll tell you a secret:  start anyways and you’ll get better at everything else along the way.  Isn’t that how we start anything for the first time anyways? 

6.  As the economy gets better, organizations bring back the Christmas party, merit increases and focus on engagement.  Cut backs shouldn’t be the new status quo to maximize profits but we certainly can get more efficient at how we manage these things.  

7.  Everyone reads What Matters Now.  Shout out to Dalell Amed who shared this ebook with me using another social web took, LinkedIn.  Within 24 hours, I received 3 copies of this book thanks to our profession’s willingness to share knowledge.  If you still don’t quite understand the value of social networking, this is how it works folks.  

8.  HR pros start an email chain on the blog post “18 Breakthrough Ideas for HR Success in 2010”  along with these Holiday Eating Tips. 

Thanks for following my blog this year, for your encouragement, compliments and most importantly for joining in on the conversation.  Happy Holidays! 

Take a break, you hard worker you, and find Waldo! (click on the pic to make it larger!)

These are a few of my favourite things

What's the connection to this post? Sunflowers are one of my favourite things! And I'll consider bribes. There's no connection between the two. I'm just sayin'.

I missed out, big time, on a blog topic so readily available to me – Canada’s Thanksgiving Day, back in October.  Well call me an opportunist, I’m hopping on the American Thanksgiving bandwagon for today’s theme:  Things I’m thankful for in my job!

1.  I work with a great group of people.  I empathize with my fellow HR’ers who have to work with or for terrors.  Why is this still happening in our workplaces?  “Ethical treatment is a fundamental human right.”

2.  Have a great idea?  Do it.  Don’t know how to do it?  There’s enough expertise + smarts that between us, we’ll figure it out.

3.  The office Christmas party.  Sure, there may not be any crystal chandeliers to swing from, but a great meal with my coworkers is always a fun time to bond.

4.  A fair compensation plan.  Between news of abysmal child poverty rates and stratospheric executive compensation, it puts things into perspective.

5.  I’m measured on my deliverables.  It’s all about whether I got the job done and how well, not at what time I turned on my computer.

6.  The results of my performance review is never a surprise.  I’m kept up to date on my progress on a regular basis and feedback is a two-way street.  Likewise, I do my best to never surprise my boss.  I said I do my best… but I’m not perfect.

7.  My coworkers offer suggestions to make my work better.  I listen to them because they’re experts at what they do and they care about good work.  They listen to me when I apologize for having Monday morning grr’s.

8.  My daily can of diet Root Beer.  Sometimes, happiness is as simple as sugar-free caramel-flavoured fizzy water.

9.  Support for learning.  It helps that my organization offers some great workshops.

10.  I can log on to Facebook and LinkedIn and do the social networking thing without being questioned on whether or not I’m working.  I feel sorry for people who have these websites blocked at work because social networking is not seen as a business tool.

So, there’s a lot to be thankful for.  Sure, everyone has days when they would rather not do what they’re doing and wish they’d win the next Lotto Max jackpot.  Hey, that’s life!  But during those moments, I’ll try my best to remember the above instead of blowing $10 on a quick pick.

Arguing or finally talking?

I looove the movie Jerry Maguire.  It’s one of those movies I watch whenever it’s on TV, along with The Wedding Singer or The Sound of Music.  Everytime I watch it, I unpeel another layer and discover that I love it even more, especially for its classic quotes from Tom Cruise (aka Jerry Maguire):

“Show me the money!”

“Help me help you!”

“You complete me.”

And my personal but perhaps more obscure favourites (and go figure, they’re all from Cuba Gooding Jr. aka Rod Tidwell):

“You are hanging on by a very thin thread.  And I DIG THAT ABOUT YOU!”

“You bet on me like I bet on you.”

“See, some dudes might have the coin, but they will never have the kwan. Truth, love, respect.”

I find that quotes and lessons from Jerry Maguire can be applied to several moments of my life, in the same way that folks claim that episodes of Friends frequently parallel their own lives.  Let’s take last week as an example… I facilitated an HR metrics course and was challenged left right and centre about the standard HR metric formulas and some example calculations.  After all the explaining and defending, I felt exhausted and exposed.  It was a tough morning and I wondered if this is what it felt like being in Scared Straight!.

I snuck out at lunch for a walk around the block to clear my head and just chill out.  The morning was disaster, disaster I say!  I felt like I was arguing with the students and defending my work all morning.  Then it hit me that I’ve seen this pattern in the past.  All the best teams I’ve worked with and all the successful endeavours I’ve been a part of, they all started off with good, old-fashioned have at ‘er debates.

I needed to keep in mind that people are new to this measuring thing and everyone has gotten used to measuring turnover or absenteeism in one way.  Being presented with one standard formula as the end all and be all is a difficult pill to swallow.  At the initial stages of anything, people question everything and that’s a good thing.

It’s only through different perspectives and by questioning everything do you think through everything, make good decisions and are ready to defend/explain them at any time.  By questioning what I was doing, these students were thinking, learning, and absorbing, getting ready to go out in the world and apply their knowledge and defend it to the ones who question them.  This was just one of those times that I needed reminding to keep my ego in check because at the end of the day, it’s not all about me.

And yet sometimes it is.  Here’s where Jerry Maguire and my life intersect once again, with Rod standing in the locker room and screaming at his agent Jerry:

“See, that’s the difference between us.  You think we’re fighting, and I think we’re finally talking.”

Introducing, the Rod Tidwell

 

Finally someone’s showing me some money

In last week’s post, I issued the following challenge:

What I would like is to hear from folks who are using Twitter for work and using it well.  And most importantly, show me the money!  I want to hear whether or not you can prove it’s working for your business.

It’s about time someone responded to this challenge because it’s been a quiet, quiet world out there on measuring the value of social networking.   The response comes from Jessica Lee at Fistful of Talent.  OK, so she didn’t exactly say that her blog post was a direct response to my call for reaction but I like to think that I inspired this piece of work in which she describes finding a quality hire via Web 2.0:

How ’bout them apples? Right? I tweeted something pretty harmlessly. They went to my blog to learn more. They then contacted me via Facebook. And then the wheels started turning. Twitter. Blog. Facebook. Oh, and one other detail about this story? Her friend was following me on Twitter because a recruiter at a competing company recommended that she follow me during an informational interview where she was asking about people in the industry to pay attention to for jobs. Read that again. Community matters. Networks matter. Relationships really matter. And – there was no cost to this hire except for the investment of time and effort I’ve made to be a good, contributing member of the social media community. That’s it.

Good point of view – social networking is ultimately about networking.  In this case there was a straight line between the Tweet to the new hire.  However, as with any type of networking, it can be difficult to draw a straight line from the networking event to a sale or hire.  But I’ll still don’t believe Twitter is all that and a bag of chips.  The time/effort equation to get Twitter working for you doesn’t seem worthwhile.  Wouldn’t you have just as much success not using Twitter but spending more time on other social networking activities?

Most importantly, LinkedIn doesn’t have any Balloon Boy stories

Aaaand I’m back from my holidays.  An e-round of applause to our guest bloggers Suzanne Boyd, Jonathan Lowe, Ian Cook and Kellie Auld who did an excellent job in the last 4 weeks offering their opinion on the world of HR.  Now back to my point of view.  (Hey, I’m not being harsh here, they can go get their own blogs!)

So,  Mylie Cyrus is no longer twittering!  She said “the reasons are simple… I want my private life private – I’m done tryin’ to please.”  Wow, me and Mylie aren’t so different after all.  I don’t want the world to know about my personal life either, unless you really want to know that I’m taking my mom shopping tonight….

But what about using Twitter for business to garner more customers or revenue?  In HR, folks are using this tool for recruiting to generate interest in job openings and garner more applicants.

I previously mentioned my dislike of Twitter.  Perhaps I’m too much on the cusp of Generation Y to understand it.  For Twitter to work, you have to “follow” people in order to get people to follow you and therefore receive your latest posts looking for a “Customer Service Rep extraordinaire”.

I’m not on Twitter because I believe I’ll explode from information overload.  If it was all about business, well, I may be convinced.  But Twitter crosses the line between personal and professional and I unfortunately I’d have to wade through stuff like the Balloon Boy phenomenon.  During the in-flight saga, people went nuts posting on Twitter to the rate of 1000 tweets a minute.  OK, I get the in-the-moment frenzy, afterall I was on CBC reading the latest story.  But if I wanted to use Twitter for business, what did I really get out of this social media investment?

What I would like is to hear from folks who are using Twitter for work and using it well.  And most importantly, show me the money!  I want to hear whether or not you can prove it’s working for your business.

One thing I certainly don’t understand is the HR community’s inability to grasp the concept of LinkedIn.  For those of you who groaned, it’s not Facebook folks, it’s a professional site.  Other professionals are on it busily networking with their customers, suppliers, potential employees and even other recruiters.  The smart folks are using LinkedIn to find out about important events and have discussions with others on topics such as how employers are dealing with the H1N1 flu.

Not taking advantage of the wonderful world of LinkedIn is like telling someone “I know you’re offering me $1 million dollars but really, I can’t be bothered to do anything with it so just give it to someone else”.

I’m showing you the money.  So why are you leaving it on the table?

Top Companies to Work For

Have you ever worked for one of the “Best Places to Work”? 

I have.  And you know what, it really wasn’t… you can’t imagine my excitement when I was hired to work for the company.  Wow!  I’d been waiting a long time to have this opportunity.  I followed the business for some time and when my chance finally came, I jumped at it.  I didn’t think twice! 

So, why was it rated as one of the best employers?  What were the criteria used to measure the designation?  I learned through researching a number of companies that compile the lists of what constitutes the best places to work, that things they look at are:  work atmosphere and social activities, wages, benefits, performance management, vacation and time off.  Depending on who is collecting the data, the criteria may change slightly but most are gathering very similar information.

Unfortunately, in my case, I soon realized that while this company had all the niceties anyone could ask for (a gym, a cafeteria with a great menu at fantastic prices, Blackberries and many other assorted toys), it really wasn’t a great place to work after all.  Don’t get me wrong – all of these things were pretty nice and initially – during the honeymoon phase – these things seemed great!

So, that being said – you might wonder what the problem was then?  Well… I discovered the not so good things or the dark side – as it were.  There were far too many examples of nepotism, favouritism, departments that were completely separate from one another (silos) which created enormous communication issues, unfair work distribution (the social activities?  Only a select few could take part… everyone else had to work), and several other dysfunctional business practices.

Oh, and the performance management?  Well – to be honest – no one understood it and those that worked on developing it didn’t even have any human resources backgrounds.  In fact, almost the entire HR department (I soon learned) was made up of employees that started with the company several years prior and they were just promoted into these roles with no training in their ‘specialized areas’ of HR.  Many in the executive and management team were the same. 

I honestly believe that we need to groom people to take on these roles and when someone has the urge to grow with the company and seems to have the drive, ambition and a good skill set the opportunities should certainly be provided where possible.  However, the key is to give people the tools to work with so that they really can be a “top employer”. 

Have you ever heard the term, people don’t quit their jobs, they quit their managers?  Well, this is why being the top employer has to be more than perks.

So, now I’m wondering – was this just my experience – or are there others that feel their companies have a long way to go even though they are classified as a “Great Place to Work”?

-Guest editor, Kellie Auld

If HR had just been invented…

One of the biggest challenges with change is that you are so often stuck with the old view of things.  How many of you out there had to change organizations because you were still seen as the office junior, who photocopied and made tea, even though you had been there 10 years and were completely in charge of the recruiting function?  First impressions stick and then solidify, making it twice as hard to have people treat you differently.

The whole HR profession has this problem and has been working on it for over 15 years.  Hardly rapid progress.  We have tried a bunch of soul searching – complaining about strategic status – requesting strategic status – getting strategic status etc and yet the HR function remains maligned, mis-understood and under-valued by the majority of our peers in the business community.  A strategy that has not been tried is to disappear and re-appear as something else.  This could work.  I am serious – let’s collectively take a month off (my vote is December) and then come back with a clearer structure, compelling value proposition, strategic drive, and most importantly of all a new name.

If the current impression we are making is not the right one, nor the one we want, why not create the opportunity to create a new first impression. It works – as someone who has changed jobs every 3 years and countries twice – I know it works.

We have most of the answers when it comes to structure, value proposition and strategic drive – so what do we call ourselves….. any ideas?

Guest editor:  Ian Cook