Trish MacFarlane
Leadership Pipeline: Building and Growing Your People
Today I am live blogging from the Human Resource Executive Forum. If you are an executive in human resources, this is truly an event that needs to make your radar each year as you plan your travel budget. I have attended the last two years and continue to be impressed with the quality of the discussions and how the event is morphing and emerging as a unique way to interact with CHRO’s from some of the largest global organizations.
This morning, we’re kicking off with a discussion about building leadership pipeline in your organization. The panel is moderated by Kevin Cashman, Sr. Partner at Korn Ferry International. Panelists include:
- Lucien Alziari, SVP of HR and Corporate Responsibility for Avon Products, Inc.
- Kathleen Barclay, SVP of HR for Kroger Co.
- David Binkley, SVP of Global HR for Whirlpool Corp.
- Audrey Boone Tillman, EVP of Corporate Services for Aflac
One of the ideas that came up early on in the discussion was how to be an effective HR executive within your organization. Lucien Alziari brought up a great point. ”It’s hard to be neutral on talent.” The challenge as an HR professional is to find an organization to work with where talent is truly the focus.
2 Emerging Themes in the Changing Workplace
- Treat employees like adults
- Simplify
- Break down the silos by moving from a paternalistic relationship with work/ boss to a collaborative relationship. Employees, “should not display loyalty, but discretionary effort and relevant skill for the work at hand”, said Erickson. By focusing work on projects, offering options on the time and place work can be done, and specifying principles, you’ll be treating employees like adults and fostering collaborative relationships.
Social Learning: A Panel Discussion at HR Technology Conference
I feel like I came “home” today. I’m currently sitting in the Social Learning session at the HR Technology Conference. Led by moderator Jeanne Meister (Partner, Future Workplace), this panel is discussing how they each use social media tools both in their professional and personal lives. Panelists include:
- Robert Campbell (VP & CLO, Cerner Corporation)
- Don McLaughlin, (CLO, Cisco)
- Laurence Smith (VP, Global L&D, LG Electronics)
- Susan Steele (National TD Director, Deloitte) Read the rest of this entry »
How Visual Spatial Skills Affect Leader Performance
I was listening to a talk radio show a couple weeks ago on my way to work and the caller was talking about the differences in visual spatial skills in men and women. He didn’t go into any depth but it was interesting enough that I made note and wanted to learn more. I read up from theorists such as Louis Leon Thurstone, Jean Piaget, and Howard Gardner. After reading many articles and scientific studies about visual spatial awareness, spatial acuity, spatial memory, and the like, it’s not clear to me that it’s an issue of gender, but of what type of learner the person is. Read the rest of this entry »
Stalking and Violence: More Common Than You Think
When you embark on a career in Human Resources, you will soon find that stalking and violence are closer than you think. No matter what industry you are part of, it’s there. And, contrary to popular belief, it’s not just stalking and violence against women. There are also quite a few reported cases against men. And, many cases are never reported, so it’s challenging to really talk about the commonality of the problem.
I recently read a post by my good friend Sarah White that addressed the very personal side of this issue. You can read her post HERE. It’s not a post to judge. It’s a post that demonstrates that these situations can happen to anyone. And, people often suffer in silence. Like Sarah, I had a situation where I was stalked for about nine months. It happened when I was in my late teens. It’s nothing I want to get into the details of but suffice to say that it involved looking over my shoulder at every turn and fearing this person would make good on his threats to hurt me and to hurt himself. It did not end until he did hurt himself and I finally told my parents. They helped me report the problem so that the person could get help.
Benefits of Connecting Disengaged Employees
Picture the scene: You’re the HR manager at company XYZ. An employee calls to schedule time to speak with you about an issue. The employee arrives and begins to explain that he feels his career is stalled. He was hired as a xxx (could be any level employee) and he tells you he has skills that are not being utilized. He is able to give specific examples of times his supervisor has not recognized his abilities. He is now unchallenged, disengaged, and ready to leave your company.
Does this sound familiar? Well, if you’ve worked in HR for any length of time, I’m certain you have had this conversation and likely, more than once. The problem is that once an employee reaches the point of coming to HR, it is often too late. Why do companies do this, and what can HR do to help managers shape the culture so that they do not lose valuable employees? The key is getting employees connected.
To start with the “why” of it all, we need to go all the way to the beginning of the employee life cycle. Sourcing/hiring. Many companies have a reactionary style of hiring. Managers wait until there is an unexpected resignation and a position opens that they need filled “yesterday or sooner”. The recruiter of HR manager must scramble to write a job description, get it posted, and begin looking at potential candidates. This knee-jerk reaction to hiring does not lend itself to finding employees who truly have the qualities and skills that will make them most successful in the position.
“Connection Fact” #1: Companies need to have a well thought out recruiting strategy to be most effective in hiring people with skills that closely match those required in the position. When skills match position requirements, employees are more likely to be engaged in the work.
Leaders, Are You Independent or Dependent?
“Independence means rebellion, risk, tenacity, innovation, and resistance to convention.”
I first heard this quote several months ago during a conversation with fellow blogger Steve Boese. He was reading the book ‘Slanted and Enchanted: The Evolution of Indie Culture‘ and it struck him as a meaningful quote. Since then, he has written about it on his blog and even had the author, Kaya Oakes, on the HR Happy Hour show to talk more about independent thinking and indie culture. What’s interesting is that the quote keeps rolling around in my head and coming back to me.
Why? Because as much as I like to think I’m independent, I believe that as humans, we gravitate to being dependent. It’s our natural state of being. Although, it seems as if admitting that you are dependent is equivalent to career suicide. However, as long as I can be influential in a positive way while still feeling support, I’m content depending on other people. If I can be persuasive and respected while collaborating and my voice is still heard, I’m ok with dependence.
Dependence CAN be a positive experience.
Human Resources in a Self Service World
There are only so many people in life that I want to have a relationship with. My family, friends, and some colleagues make the list. In addition, I want to have people like doctors, hairstylists, and neighbors know enough about me that they qualify as relationships too. But beyond that, do we really need to be forming relationships with every person we come into contact with? Personally, I get irritated when a waiter or waitress wants to sit down and chat me up while taking my order at a restaurant. Why? Because a majority of the time by doing this they ultimately mess up my order. And, if I am at a restaurant, I want to be visiting with the people I am there with, not a random person on the wait staff. Sound harsh? Well, it’s just one area where I want my service to be fast and efficient, but not a relationship.
The real disconnect comes from the fact that we are taught that in order to give good customer service we must connect with the customer or client. We must think how they think, know what they want, provide service higher than their expectations. That is all true, but in 2010 as we are moving into a self-service world for many transactions, as organizations we need to have our eyes open to the areas where we can implement this to actually provide better customer service.
As organizations, we need to connect with customers where THEY are.
Before You Terminate, Find One Positive Thing
I want to share a story with you. It may not be a “real”, but it is certainly a story that nearly everyone can relate to.
The story is about you, a mid-level manager at a large organization. You’ve worked there for eight years and you are doing ok from a performance standpoint. You meet most of your targets, you attend the mandatory training that HR makes you attend to learn leadership skills, and sometimes, you try to apply what you learn with your team. Mostly, you don’t. Your view of the business world is that it’s just work and that is why they pay you to be there. You’re a hard worker, but you don’t feel passion for the work or for the mission of the organization. After all, you just need the paycheck.
You’ve been managing a team with average turnover for the last five years. Lately, one of your long-time employees has been taking a nose dive in the performance area. She seems generally disinterested at work, she misses deadline after deadline, and her colleagues have grown tired of trying to cover for her. Today, it’s taken a turn for the worst. She has lost her temper with a client on the phone and now you’re having to pick up the pieces. You’re feeling like you’ve had enough. You cannot think of one positive thing she has done. You want to fire her.
Tyranny of the Inner Circle
What does a leader do when he/she can’t rely on their inner circle? What happens when members of that inner circle outright oppose the leader or at least, through their actions and in-actions, act contrary to the leader’s intent?
These are questions that cut right to the heart of human interaction. You’ll find it comes up in the boardroom, in businesses all around the world, in school committees, in churches and temples, in girl and boy scout troops, and yes, even in your own home and family. It’s because there are so many situations where a leader is needed and a leader cannot be successful without an inner circle they can trust and rely on.
I’ve wrestled with these questions over the years, as I’m certain you have. Earlier this week, I was given the insight to understand just how tyranny in the inner circle can destroy success. As I participated in the Leadership Experience at Gettysburg hosted by The Conference Board, which I strongly encourage you to consider attending, questions like these are the ones we explored. The Civil War, and many military engagements, are microcosms where leadership plays out at its best and at its worst.
Peopling – a mash up of HR & Marketing
Since today is a travel day for me, I am offering up a guest post I’m truly excited about! Felix Wetzel, the Group Marketing Director for Jobsite and author of the ‘People, Brands, & Random Thoughts‘ blog, is a friend and someone who shares compelling and creative business ideas. For Felix, it’s all about people, brands, sports & politics. His motto is “fortune favors the bold!”
Please be sure to leave Felix a comment at the end and tell him what you think of his concept of peopling. Thanks friends.
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I believe, and have believed for many years now, that HR and Marketing will move closer and closer, eventually overlap and consequently merge. There’s no question about it; it’s a logical outcome, triggered by the behavioural changes that have been magnified and accelerated by social media and mobile and my core belief about business and life: it’s all about people.
I base it on a very simple formula:
people = brand
This common denominator is underpinned by the following:
people = employees = customers = competitors = suppliers = citizens
Money- Should You Ask For A Raise?
Money, get away.
Get a good job with good pay and you’re okay.
Money, its a gas.
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash.
New car, caviar, four star daydream,
Think Ill buy me a football team.
‘Money’ by Pink Floyd- The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
Money is always on an employee’s mind. And, I’ve been getting questions lately about raises. They want to know:
- When is it ok to ask for a raise?
- Can you ask for a raise during a recession?
- Do you have to wait for a performance review to ask for a raise?
- How do you know how much to ask for?
- If another company is trying to recruit me, should I ask for a raise in my current job?
While there are no right or wrong answers here, I’ll give my 2 cents. I personally do not believe in asking the boss for a raise. I do advocate for making sure your boss knows what you’ve been doing, when you’re going the extra mile, when you’ve landed a big account, completed an exceptionally challenging project, etc. In most organizations, if your boss understands that you’re doing great things, an increase will come naturally.
3 Techniques To Give Direct Feedback To Your C-Suite
Earlier this week, I wrote a post called ‘3 Techniques To Give Direct Feedback At Work.‘ There were a few follow up questions posted in the comments that lend themselves to additional posts with further clarification. Here is a question posed by Jay Goldman from Rypple.com. Jay asks:
How would you handle a situation in which giving the feedback could be detrimental to your job? Let’s say, for example, that the ‘chatty cathy’ in your office is actually the CEO. You know she’s not interrupting you on purpose and really wants to see your results, but you also know that she’s pretty sensitive about personal feedback. How would you handle letting her know?
Believe it or not, the question of how to give your CEO or others in the C-suite direct feedback comes up more than you think. Many employees would love to give feedback but either the leader makes himself or herself unapproachable or the company culture supports that the decisions or actions of those in the C-suite are untouchable. This makes the employee feel like there is no use in giving the feedback.
3 Techniques To Give Direct Feedback At Work
Last week, I was flipping through the radio stations as I drove to work. I landed on a talk radio station, the Cosmo channel, and the guest was the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine. Apparently, the editor is also the person who gives workplace advice. I say apparently because I am not a regular reader or listener. The conversation caught my attention because the topic was how to give feedback at work.
The example they used was how to tell a co-worker they are bothering you when they stop to gossip or chat about things at your cube each day. Sometimes, several times a day. I think we all work with people like this. You know the ones, the colleagues who always have time to chit-chat when you’re swamped. What surprised me was that the tactics and advice the editor and the show hosts were giving were all about being indirect. They were saying you should ask the person to meet you after work to talk, make up false deadlines to get them away from your desk, tell the person you really want to talk to her but that your boss is complaining, etc. While I understand they were telling us to use indirect feedback and made up stories to save the person’s feelings, I know there are better ways that work and that will not hurt the person any more than the indirect approach. In fact, the danger of the indirect approaches is that the recipient may never understand there is a problem and the behavior will continue.
Targeted Recruiting Tactics
There are many facets to a robust recruiting strategy. It should take into account the business needs, the organizational culture and finding the most qualified employees. These are the tenets that are widely accepted as some of the most important when determining your strategy. From there, recruiters attempt to find the candidates who are qualified for the open positions. The candidates come in to interview and give us their best sales pitch on why we should hire them. Then, the recruiter, hiring manager, and any other important players pitch why the company is so great.
This is the step where many organizations fall down. In our zeal to get the candidate on board, we throw out every possible reason the company is great in hope that something will resonate with our strongest candidate. It’s a bit like throwing a bunch of darts at the dartboard. You may hit the bullseye, but maybe not. By employing a more tactical approach to the close, recruiters can have greater success in reeling in the strongest candidates while also determining the “fit” of that candidate.
