Not every employee is capable of selling products or services to potential customers. The selling process requires an employee to possess a particular set of interactive and persuasion skills, as well as a compatible personality profile (garrulous, self-confident, unafraid of rejection, etc.). While some employees enjoy the challenge, most want no part of it and only a minority are neutral about the idea. For those tasked with a selling job, it’s typically a reflection of individual personality that would generate success or struggle.

For compensation practitioners, having the right person involved in the selling process can be more important than the compensation program itself, because dangling potential rewards in the face of the wrong person can be a waste of money and represents lost business opportunity. Read the rest of this entry »

Earlier this year the Chartered Management Institute released research revealing that gender pay equality among managers could be 98 years away.

The 7^th annual UC Davis Study of California Women Business Leaders paints a similarly bleak picture. It reveals that less than 10% of the 400 largest public companies based in California has a female chief executive. Despite efforts to improve gender equality, this rate has improved by just 0.2% in the last year.

In addition, the study shows that over a third of the biggest companies in California have no women on their board of directors. This is a group that represents nearly $3 trillion of shareholder value. Read the rest of this entry »

So you wanted to be in HR ever since college and now you’ve finally landed your dream job in some well reputed organization. But now that you’re into it, you find that your daily tasks are performed in the same manner as they‘ve been done for ages. Your personal role is limited and, sometimes, you feel that HR doesn’t have a considerable role in the company’s main agendas. If they prioritize, HR Issues always come second when it boils down to deciding the future strategy for the company.

In these situations most HR professionals look to other – mostly senior people or those who have authority to look into HR stuff and show direction. They don’t think of taking the initiative, because doing so would be equivalent to challenging the status quo. It’s common not to think of doing things or saying things that would put the other person in a slightly uncomfortable situation, especially when the other person is more powerful or senior. We avoid this because we want to avoid the hassle of explaining and defending our point of view. So we end up doing the same things without changing a bit and we also keep on feeling sorry for ourselves that we chose this field. We put all the blame for things not being worked out the way they should on higher management, but we don’t realize that it’s us, the HR professionals, who have specialized in the field and who should bring about change.

Unlike what most people think, being an HR Professional is a challenge. This is especially true for a workplace in Pakistan where HR is still evolving and where most of the HR practices don’t meet the standards of what others consider best practices. I’m not talking about MNCs that surely follow popular international practices. I’m talking about companies that are big enough in size while still being at a developmental stage where they are unsure about accepted HR philosophies and practices.

So for all those people who think that they have HR inclinations in them but also think that HR is dull , boring or that there is no thrill and competitiveness in the field … you are mistaken. This is actually an opportune time to make your mark, as you have a big playground in front of you to play in. For example, how many “certified” OD professionals do we have out there …and what effort is going into developing psychometrics in the South Asian context. I can’t see any. What we typically cite are western studies carried out according to their norms and culture. For that matter, I can’t even find HR professors in universities who have concrete industry experience and who can present unique case studies developed in a Pakistani perspective. Recently, a well known telecom’s HR head in Pakistan got notice for criticizing and proving that certain agile work models are not possible. When are we going to come out of the stereotypical thinking that HR is supposed to keep a check on people and their work at all times? Why don’t we consider trusting them? Read the rest of this entry »

Businesses spend millions of dollars every year to create bigger, louder, and more unique and memorable marketing experiences to attract new clients. They work to carefully and painstakingly plan out touchpoints and client journeys, engagements and events, with the goal of hitting just the right note at just the right time when they’re trying to win you over to their brand.

But while that’s all fine and good – for us and for them – it’s only half of the equation. The other half is how your brand responds after a messed up a client interaction.

A significant part of your brand’s reputation is built on what you do after you’ve made a mistake.

Not long ago. a financial services company came to us wanting to become more of a customer-focused organization. They wanted everyone in the company to put the customer experience first on their to-do lists every day. On a teleconference that connected teams in New York and Minnesota, one executive stunned the group by telling the simple story of how he became a lifelong fan of an online shoe store only after they had sent him the wrong size shoes. Read the rest of this entry »

Do you remember this line from the movie “A Few Good Men?” Jack Nicholsonwas telling Tom Cruisethat average folk couldn’t deal with the harsher facts of life. As a result, higher ups would tell them what they wanted to hear. They would offer excuses, verbal hedges that sidestepped reality and offered the illusion of comfort.

Today we remain stuck in the mire of a severe economic malaise, a situation that is causing enormous employment anxiety, deep concern for the future and perhaps more than a few sleepless nights. As organizations ponder the question of whether employees can handle the true state of affairs (health and future prospects) they can choose to deal from either the top or the bottom of the deck with their internal communications.

The troubling issues raised could be pending layoffs, reduced or frozen pay increases, hiring freezes, reorganizations or other such “bad news.”

Management messaging can either be straightforward regarding current events – addressing the cause of problem and how economic circumstances would likely affect employees – or they could toss out a series of artful communication hedges (i.e. excuses). In other words, employees could be fed “corporate-speak.” Read the rest of this entry »

Last week, Cisco launched their annual research project to track how technology is changing the workplace. Arguably, the most notable finding from the survey is data showing just how connected young people are to social media; so much so that they will often forgo a pay increase if it means keeping social media access or their choice of a smartphone device.

Study Highlights:

• Many respondents cite a mobile device as “the most important technology” in their lives.
• Seven of 10 employees have “friended” their managers and coworkers on Facebook.
• Two of five students have not bought a physical book (except textbooks) in two years.
• Most respondents have a Facebook account and check it at least once a day.
• Half of respondents would rather lose their wallet or purse than their smartphone or mobile device.
• More than two of five respondents would accept a lower-paying job that had more flexibility with regard to mobile device choice, social media access and mobility than a higher-paying job with less flexibility. Read the rest of this entry »

A lot of talented folks are unemployed or “in transition” these days, working full time in their efforts to land a new job.

When that goal is finally reached, when someone says, “we love you, please come to work for us,” the tendency will be to respond with “thank you, YES.”  However, that immediate, knee-jerk reaction could be a mistake, as at that point you’re a desired candidate with options, while tomorrow you’ll be one of the staff – with little leverage at all.

When the moment of decision occurs, most Human Resource professionals would advise you to give the person who extended the offer a warm thank you, but then to take a little time for reflection on the particulars – the details.  The higher up the food chain you are, the more moving parts will comprise your employment offer.   No one is going to force you to decide right away, so don’t.

Presuming that the career implications are positive, that you don’t have to move to Northern Alaska, and that you want to accept the offer, let me suggest a few tactical strategies to help you make the most of what was offered.  Because with a bit of luck you can do better. Read the rest of this entry »

A recent survey on internal communication revealed that in 68 per cent of firms internal communications to employees takes place but is lacking in some areas. Only 18 per cent of participants indicated that it was comprehensive and complete, the OperationsInc and Performance-Solutions-Group, Inc. found.

Since Pfizer launched the PfizerWorld platform in 2009 to connect the entire organization to a single platform, the biggest transformation was that, “Our messages are far more aligned across the enterprise than they ever were before,” said Bob Libbey, Senior Director, Global Colleague Communications.

“This was a major goal of the PfizerWorld Super Site Project – to speak with what we call a ‘One Pfizer’ voice,” Libbey, a speaker at the upcoming marcus evans 7th Annual Internal Communications & Situational Messaging Conference added.

The platform had more than 60 million hits and over five million article views last year. “This has raised both the overall awareness of the importance of internal communication and the profile of the function itself.” Read the rest of this entry »

In the HR Daily Advisor, Steve Bruce recently reported on the keynote Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh gave at the SHRM Annual Conference.  Hsieh shared that the Internet shoe business places so much emphasis on hiring for cultural fit that it interviews the receptionists and shuttle drivers with whom candidates interact to see if they should get the job, and it also mandates that trainees hit the call center phones during their first few weeks.

But here’s the really interesting thing.  Once new employees are finished with training, they are offered a $3,000 bonus to quit right then and there.  According to Hsieh, this is Zappos’ way of saying, “we only want people who really want to work here.”  Two or three percent of trainees take the bonus and leave, and the employees who remain are more committed to the company’s mission.

Obviously, only a certain type of employee is going to survive and thrive throughout the interview and training process at a company like Zappos, but that’s exactly the point.  Even in a poor job market like this, I still hear of organizations succumbing to desperation hiring so that they’ll have warm bodies to fill gaping holes.

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Have you seen that terrific Daniel Pink (@DanielPink) video Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us?

If you haven’t, take a few minutes and watch it now. It’s really thought provoking.

RSA Animate — Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us from Daniel Pink on Vimeo.

The research Pink references shows that, once basic financial needs are met, autonomy, mastery and purpose – not money – are better motivators of performance.

Pink points out that engagement and motivation come from a sense of self-direction – of trust, and of ownership. The message for managers here is that it’s time to get out of the way.

Fostering Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose

Let your employees take on projects that interest them, that will develop their skills and challenge them to be their best. By providing employees this freedom, you give them a sense of purpose, and ultimately the outcome can be extremely beneficial to your organization.

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Is your recruitment process based on what you know about job seekers…or what you think you know about job seekers?

If there’s one thing over 15 years of in-depth research on job seeker behavior and perceptions have taught us, it’s that now, more than ever, experience matters when it comes to the ability to drive quality candidates to apply for your open positions.

A recent CareerBuilder and Inavero study revealed that top talent wants to engage with prospective employers and experience what it’s like to work for their company before they decide to apply to a position – and they’re increasingly utilizing emerging technology to do it.

How do job seekers really see you? Three questions to ask
If you’ve never taken a step back to consider the experience you offer candidates – from their perspectives – it’s time to do so now.  Below are three forms of emerging media candidates utilize today to find opportunities and research potential employers. In effect, they also provide employers the opportunity to interact with and engage with job seekers on their terms. The following exercises will help you see the experience you’re providing candidates – from their point of view.

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Earlier today, while you might’ve been busy vowing never to eat again, voting for your favorite Muppet (Swedish Chef, anyone?), or shopping for that very special Jaleel White fan in your life… Nationally recognized small business expert, speaker and author Jay Goltz was discussing small business hiring trends and best practices for a free webinar titled Hire With Purpose.

In case you were busy with any of the aforementioned activities – or simply want to hear it again – lucky for you, we’ve got two ways to make sure you don’t miss out on the webinar’s great content: Simply download a recording of Hire With Purpose here or keep reading to check out some of Jay’s best sound bytes on the following topics:

On why hiring the right people is crucial…

• “If you want to have a great company, you can’t do so without great people.” Seventy-five percent of management is hiring the right people in the first place, Goltz says. Unfortunately, most small businesses don’t have a hiring protocol, which can be dangerous, when, according to Goltz’s estimates, only 1 out of 10 applicants will be a great hire.
• “People might forgive bad service, but not bad attitude.” Case in point for why you need to have great employees – they are the face of your business. You can’t always account for things going smoothly in the world, but when you have great people in place to deal gracefully with occasional mishaps, your business will be all the better for it.

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Before the age of 28, Aaron McDaniel had been appointed regional vice president at a Fortune 10 company.  He has managed over 100 people and has been responsible for a variety of job functions from business development to network operations.  I asked Aaron, who now writes the Young Professional’s Edge blog, for his top tips for how to succeed as a manager who is younger than or the same age as most of your direct reports.  Here are some of his key recommendations:

Don’t Readily Reveal Your Age

Don’t make references to college or other things that show your team you are younger than (or the same age as) they are. Instead of describing your experience by highlighting the amount of time you have worked, emphasize the concrete results you have achieved.  You will be more likely to be taken seriously.

Set and Maintain Expectations

Especially with a younger manager, people like to see how much they can get away with, so sit down with your team and outline your expectations at the very beginning.  It is also important to understand what your team’s expectations are of you.

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We’re hearing a lot in the news these days about the need to hire veterans, especially now that so many will return from combat in the immediate future. While hiring veterans and Wounded Warriors is certainly a patriotic thing to do, it also makes sense from an operational standpoint.

Here are five key points for sourcing, recruiting, hiring and retaining this valuable segment of available talent.

1. Military service members are field tested. Regardless of length of service or whether they “saw action” or not, service members have been trained to do what they do under the most extreme conditions imaginable. They have learned to keep their heads in a crisis and to adapt to ever-changing circumstances. Operating as a team towards a shared goal with limited resources is not theoretical to them: it is standard operating procedure. Would these qualities be valued in your organization? Read the rest of this entry »

Forward-thinking leaders understand that collaboration is crucial for any organization that wants to be productive, adaptable and creative. Collaboration allows employees to connect with colleagues, share information and ideas, discover who else in the organization is working on the same issues and increase productivity. People solve problems they wouldn’t otherwise have solved, get work done quicker than ever before and feel connected because they are working together toward a common goal. Why, then, is it sometimes so difficult to make the leap from knowing that a higher level of collaboration would be good for your organization to actually implementing it? What tools does your organization need to help facilitate collaboration, and how do you ensure that your personnel will use those tools?

The key in the corporate environment is to put collaboration literally at the fingertips of employees and to generate mass involvement – which is the only way that collaboration works. You need to eliminate any barriers to entry by integrating the collaboration tools directly into the programs and tools that employees are already using every day. The best way to accomplish this is to look at collaborative capabilities as a series of enterprise services. Read the rest of this entry »