Monthly Archives: February 2011

Should HR Be The Volunteer Police?

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So, here’s the number – 2.7* – an employee is 2.7 times more likely to volunteer (for charitable missions) if their boss volunteers as well.  That number presented to me at a conference recently, from a study Blue Cross/Blue Shield did in one of it’s larger organizations.  Also, an employee is 2 times more likely to volunteer if their bosses, boss volunteers. 

So, what?

At first glance it might seem like an irrelavant number – one study, about 6,000 employees – not really comprehensive enough to prove anything. You maybe right.  But as I thought about it – it seems to pass my “feel” test – it just feels right.  You know when you hear a number sometimes and it just seems valid, that what this seems like – so, I tend to believe in what the presenter was saying based on her statistics.  Here’s what else the study found:

  • Those employees who volunteer, on behalf of the company, have less atrrition (again, seems to make sense)
  • Also, those who volunteer have higher engagement scores
  • Finally, those who volunteer, have higher performance.

It’s the Hat Trick of Good Employee Metrics right? Low Turnover, High Engagement, High Performance – it’s the employees we all want.  So, how do we get them?!?!? Oh, yeah, that’s what the study was all about – Get you Leadership (managers, directors and VP’s) to volunteer – and have them invite their staff. 

So, what does this have to do with HR?

Oh, yeah – sorry, I forgot you dont’ plan holiday parties.  Pull yourself away from that fancy dashboard for a minute – I going to make you strategic.  Find a leader who already likes to volunteer or would have interest in doing it – with a little help.  Work with one or two of the countless organizations in your community right now that need volunteer help and set up the first time, be the organizer – use your “leader” sponsor to rally the troops – and just allow your employees to go an volunteer for this one thing.  Then sit back and see what happens.  It’s pretty cool.  People are talking with each other, laughing, feeling good about themselves and their company. They come back to work and the conversation will continue – the leader that was there getting dirty will be viewed differently by those attend – he or she will view those workers who attended with a new found respect.

You can be in HR, be a planner and be strategic – you have a the secret formula – you know how to lower turnover, higher engagement and higher performance – don’t you think your executives will find that strategic?

HR Self Service Isn’t For Everyone

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Last week I got the opportunity to speak at the 2011 HR Metrics Summit in Chicago.  Interesting group of HR folks that attend Metrics seminars – combination of HRIS, large shop analytics folks, some talent pros, etc. – all with one common denominator – they like numbers, gathering numbers, reporting numbers, talking about numbers – mostly I sat in the corner, quietly and watched.  One theme, that came up time and time again, was the concept of manager self-service – since building dashboards and integrating self service modules tend to go hand-in-hand with metrics – if you want the mangers to do stuff on their own – you better give them the data, right?

As I was listening to a presentation of one major Fortune 500 HR Pro who was going through a case study of how they were going through the process of moving to Manager Self Service for HR administration (think your normal daily HR admin stuff – new hire paperwork, address changes, compensation data, benefits info, etc.).  On there manager self service dashboard, this HR Shop decided to not give the HR Generalists access to the same information that the managers had.  The theory behind this was, if HR still has access, the managers will continue to call and get the information, rather than look it up themselves through the dashboard.  The HR Generalists were trained, as well as the managers, on how to find the information, so if a manager was struggling to find something, the HR Generalist could walk them through it.  This process probably sounds similar in many ways to many HR folks who have gone through this – minus the HR folks not having access.

Here’s what was really interesting about the case study to me – even after they went forward 100% with the self service dashboard, the managers still called HR.  The HR Generalist, being savvy, discovered if the manager would give them their user-name and password, could go in and do what the manager needed, faster than just telling them how to do it (kind of goes against the concept of “Teach a man to fish…”) – but again not unlike probably what many HR folks have seen in their careers.  It got so bad, they actually ended up setting up a “HR Call Center” for managers to call into for these types of needs. Overall result? HR Administrative work, in HR, was reduced by 40%. Really!  Hey, sounds great right?! 

Wrong! Here’s the deal.  The HR Shop reduced it’s “admin” work by 40% – but it didn’t decrease the Orgs “admin” work by 40% – it just moved it around.  Also, the concept of  “Manager/Employee Self Service” is built on an assumption, a huge assumption, managers want to do this stuff themselves, rather than call HR to have it done.  While that may be the case for many managers and employees – it might not be the case for many others, and in many cases the majority of others.  Manager/Employee Self Service dashboards/portals are a favorite project for HR Shops – big and small – because we get to use technology and the hope is it will take mundane admin work out of HR, and let us do the real cool strategic stuff.  But that is a dream sold to you by the software shops selling you the “solution”.  One problem – what about the managers and employees who don’t want Self Service?

You know – I’ve been in a lot of HR Shops – and no one has ever brought up that question when we were all running down the Self Service path. Not one.  So, you want to be a business partner and be more strategic?  Maybe, just maybe, stop thinking about how something helps you, and start thinking about how the changes you make, impact the groups you support.  Self Service can be great for many managers and employees who want it – but it’s not a 100% solution.  So, people, maybe some very high performers in your organization, want you to help them – they want and need to focus on their operation and making it better, and guess what – performing their own new hire paperwork, isn’t helping.

Mailbox Question!

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From one of the Sackett Nation followers (thx Mom!) –

Tim:

I’m a young HR Pro with some great experience and education – 1 company for 8 years – but recently I’ve been contacted by our main competition about a position that would be a step up.  Better title, more money – but I would feel like a total sell-out if I went over there.  What should I do?

Loyal Beyond My Years

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Dear Loyal,

Here’s what I know –

1. Those who stay with one company – make more money over the long run – assuming you stay the professional route and don’t go all consultant on me.

2. Going to the competition doesn’t make you evil, it makes you human – but don’t assume you will like it more.

3. I’ve left really good companies, with really good people – for better position and money – and it didn’t improve the quality of my life.

4. Within an industry, having perspective of multiple players (i.e., working at the competition, or two) makes you more valuable.

First, consider the fact, if one company is interested in you, maybe there are others. Why do you really want to leave your current position? If your current position matched pay and title, would you stay? If it’s about growth, what are the next 2-3 moves after this one, at the new company?  I know this will surprise some people but I’m super conservative when it comes to career advice to others – especially so, when someone tells me they really like their current position and company (but are attracted to more money and title).

So, what should you do?  I’d go through the process if you feel it’s a company you would like to work for, and if it’s not the right company, I’d go speak to your boss and tell them the competition contacted me about a job and I turned them down.  I turned them down because I really like my job here and the company – I also would like more money and a better title!  I understand you might not be able to give me all that, so I’ll settle for the money part.  Then shut up and make your boss say the next words.

Two things might happen: 1. You’re good – you’ll get some more money (maybe not as much as if you’d made a move) and maybe a “Sr.” prefix to your title.  2. You’re not that good – you won’t get anything, and maybe shown the door.  That’s why I don’t like giving people advice of what I would do – I have had both scenarios happen to me – they are very real outcomes.

Good Luck!

Winning the HR Lottery

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You know what’s funny (well, I think it’s funny anway) – I refuse to play the Lotto. Any of the games – PowerBall, MegaMillions, etc. Until – they get above $100 Million!  Once they get above $100 Million – I’m all in.  Here’s the funny part – I get it – I get how stupid the whole thing is.  I know I’m more likely to get hit by lightening, while running with siccors, next to Kevin Bacon – I get the odds.  I get that I’m actually making my chances of winning even less, by only playing when the numbers are higher.  To me – That’s funny… why in the world do I still do it, when I understand the odds I’m facing?

First – the Lotto is really the last American Dream.  It use to be get a great job, marry, buy house, etc.  Not anymore – all we have left is the Lotto baby.  So, if I’m really going to live the American Dream – I don’t want to “just” win $5, 10 or even 50 Million – I mean, can you imagine actually winning the Lotto and only winning $1 Million!  You can’t retire and quit your job on $1 Million after taxes – you would still have to work – but not only that – you would probably have to work even harder because you would be all ghetto rich and go buy a house and other stuff you can’t afford.  So, if I’m winning – I’m winning the Big One -or nothing.  It’s my dream – go get your own.

So, what does the Lottery have to do with HR?  It’s the concept that a very small number are going to win, and most are going to be living the “real” American Dream of living check to check, average work environment, average leadership, just plain average.  But! for a slight few – they win the job lottery – even some in HR win the job lottery.  I use to think, there was no such thing as the job lottery – the people working for those “Great” companies, getting those “crazy” benefits, and “outstanding” quality of life – well, they were just the tops in their field and the recruiting departments of those teams searched the entire universe to find the best.  Right!? I mean don’t tell me it could be right place, right time – I stumbled into a 7/11 looking for a roller hot dog and Slurpee and the clerk talked me into spending $1 more dollar on a ticket and now I’m the richest guy in my trailer park…it couldn’t be that…could it?

I believe in every great company, they are great people employed, doing great things to keep their companies on top.  I also believe, in the worst companies, you will find great people, doing great things, just trying to keep their companies afloat.  In fact, those great ones, at the worst companies, might be even a little better than their counterparts at the best companies.  I also believe that every company, even the great ones, have “pretenders” – people who live off the reputation of the company they work for – and try and pin their company’s reputation on their chest as their own.  I know this because I run into many of the “pretenders” professionally, and within minutes of having a real conversation with them, it’s painfully obvious, they are not their companies.  That’s how the Lottery works – it doesn’t discriminate, it doesn’t show favorites, it doesn’t force you play – it just does.

Don’t believe me? You are at a great company – and I must be wrong!  Check out your demographics.  I’ll bet 75%+ of your workforce comes from within 50 miles of your location.  So, what you’re telling me, is you live in some “freak” community where 75%+ of the people just happen to be the top in their field!  No you don’t – you just happen to have one very common trait with many of your co-workers – you all were in the right place, at the right time.  You all one the job lottery!  Don’t be defensive – there isn’t any need – I’m not going to be defensive when I win the $100M and someone says, “you’re only rich and powerful and where polka-dot shoes because you won the lottery!” For which I’ll say – “Yes, yes I did. No get back to work, ironing my underwear.”

Embrace you good fortune my HR brethren, I’ll even celebrate your good fortune with you – but please don’t act like your G*d’s gift to HR because you were lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.

5 Minutes is Changing the World

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I went to a really cool event this past Friday – called Ignite Lansing 4.0.   Ignite is like a local TED event – except that made some small changes to move it along – since locally you probably aren’t going to have the same talent level as you would see at TED.   Ignite isn’t special to Lansing, although Lansing does have one of the bigger events in the world, there are Ignite events happening in hundreds of communities all over the world.

So, what is it? (that’s what my wife kept asking me, when I told her we were going)

  • 5 minute presentation on anything you want. This event had preso’s on The Lost Art of Mac & Cheese, Roller Derby, hiring individuals with Disabilities, 52 Cups of Coffee (about meeting a new person each week for a year), From Daily Chai to Apple Pies: The Immigrant Experience, Failing, etc.
  • 20 PowerPoint slides, that automatically change every 20 seconds – lose your place – too bad – it’s moving forward without you!  
  • A rock star like stage  and atomosphere (lights, music and fake smoke), this one was held in an Airport Hanger, just a few yards from the actual runway – including an audience with access to alcohol, and a live twitter stream on the screen – so don’t suck!
  • A very supporting audience – because at the heart of it all, it was about community – it was about a group of people coming together to say “hey, this is why I think it’s cool to be in Lansing, MI.” This is why it’s cool to be a part of a dynamic community – and how can we all connect.

Not everyone who came up wanted to change the world – but when I left Ignite – I got the impression that many around me felt like this was certainly a step towards changing our environment, changing perceptions of those from the outside of Lansing and Michigan.  I coupled this with the recentChrysler SuperBowl Emeniem commercial about Detroit and really for the first time in a long time – I get the sense that Michigan reached it’s bottom and we got our legs under us again, a sense that we are slowly but surely coming out of a recession that arguably hit Michigan harder than any other state by far.

Will 5 minute presentations change our world?  Every change needs a fire-starter, and I think events like Ignite, like TED, are really just that. They plant ideas, not everyone will go away with the same ideas – but someone will take an idea and run with it, and just maybe one of those ideas changes our world a little, or a lot.  The whole thing reminded me of an idea I heard about Detroit – about why Detroit/Michigan is probably considered one of the best places to start a new business right now – why you ask? The reality that the recession has put us in: super low commercial real estate prices, high unemployment = low wages, local and state governments giving away crazy tax incentives, new Republican governor, etc.  Right environment, Right Time, Right Energy…

5 minutes might not change the world – but I sure think it’s helping to change my world.

Who’s Better – Big HR or Small HR?

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This isn’t really a fair question – but someone asked me this recently.  What they were trying to get at, was are HR Pros in very large Fortune 500 companies, better than the HR Pros you find in small to medium sized companies.   It’s not a question with a simple answer, because you find great HR Pros in both areas, and you find horrible HR Pros in both areas.   But here’s what I think you find more of in each:

Large HR Shop:

  • HR Pros skilled in very specific segments – think 10 feet wide and a mile deep
  • HR Pros that have a better understanding of technology (since they have the resources and need to use large scale systems)
  • HR Pros who have a higher level of what I call “Political Savvy” – they know how to CYA!
  • A larger percentage of HR Pros who fail to connect with business outcomes (calm down big shop HR Pros!) – with larger numbers and specialization, it’s more difficult to really connect your outcomes to the organizations bottom line.  Tell me what percent of revenue increase do you get by increasing marketing’s group overall diversity by 3%?  See – it’s difficult – the pie gets cut into too many slices to be noticeable.
  • HR Pros that have a better sense of programs that have broad reach (diversity/inclusion, OD, succession, etc.)
  • Big HR shops tend to have some bottom-feeders, which is more about the nature of large organizations, than large HR (it’s easier to hide, and large orgs are more willing to give people too many chances).

Small HR Shop:

  • HR Pros skilled in a variety of HR functions – think a mile wide and 10 feet deep
  • HR Pros who are more creative (no money, forces the creativity process – don’t argue with me until you have no money and still have a CEO yelling for results)
  • HR Pros who are skilled at telling executives – “No, you can’t do that.” (as in no, you can’t hit employees no matter how much they frustrate you)
  • HR Pros who are forced to show exactly how much money will be “saved” or “made” for each decision they make – direct bottom line impact
  • HR Pros who are real good fire fighters, and rarely have time to focus on the long term objective of moving the organizational people practices forward

So, who’s better?   Depends on the needs of the organization you are working with.  But, here’s what I know – if you are a HR Pro in a small shop, and you’re good, and you like it, and you have aspirations of moving up in HR into a big shop – there is a very good chance you will not like it.  It’s just not for everyone.  Big HR shops get involved with some extremely cool projects, cutting edge HR stuff, which are great. Small HR shops really get an up-close and personal view of how their decision making impacts the business, which can be extremely satisfying for those looking for that impact. 

I know great people in both small and big HR shops – I tend to see the big guys not respecting the small guys as much as they should – but that’s life – buy a helmet and deal with it (if you’re from a small shop you probably already know your helmet size).   I also tend to see small HR making the bigger legal snafu’s – primarily because they tend to be moving so fast, things get missed.   Who’s better – the HR Pro that can see the benefits of both, make relationships with both and learn from both – those are rare indeed.

HR Law of Diminishing Returns

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I was talking to friend recently about an interview process they were going through – I’ll take you through the steps:

  1. First contact – came in the form of a referral – my friend was on the phone with a person from their organization – who referred my friend to their HR department.
  2. Second contact – Recruiter from the organization called my friend up to see if he might have some interest in a position they have open (basic phone screen)
  3. Third contact – next call came from another person in recruiting, doing a more in depth phone screen – basically – so-they-are-interested-in-the-position-but-are-we-interested-in-them
  4. Fourth contact – online behavioral assessment, personality type profiling, etc.
  5. First Interview- basic phone screen with potential hiring manager – your online assessments came back and you aren’t completely crazy, so we would like you to move on.  This call is really for hiring manager to see if there is somewhat of a personality match.
  6. Second Interview – phone interview with Hiring Manager’s boss – if all goes well – we want to do an in-person personality assessment.
  7. Third Interview and in-person profiling – on sight at organization, doing some profiling and finally meeting face-to-face with hiring manager and few others from department
  8. Fifth Contact – interview debrief, some more clarifying questions – everything seems to be progressing nicely.  Then he’s told, we should be getting back to you within 2-3 weeks with an answer.

For the most part nothing surprises me about this interview process – actually pretty average from a corporate standpoint.  The entire process to get to #8 took about 3 weeks – assuming the decision will take another 3 weeks – you have 6 weeks invested into finding a mid-manage level candidate.  The problem with this being normal – is that’s the type of candidate you’re going to get – normal.  My friend is an exceptional talent, wasn’t looking, but through a referral was interested enough to engage this companies process.  As soon as he heard it would take 2-3 weeks to have a decision – he made up his mind that he was no longer interested.  His feeling, why should it take 2-3 weeks more for you to make up your mind – after all those steps – you either know you want the person, or you know you don’t.

I believe we in HR are great at setting up processes to the point we get diminishing returns on whatever it is we are trying to accomplish.  Thought being: “well if one assessment is good, two must be better and if two is better, three must be tremendous” – but after a while more isn’t better.  When I was at Applebee’s we have a tremendous performance management process in place. Twice a year we (the leadership teams across the country) would sit down and specifically talk about each management level person we had, and how they were performing to set of competencies we had.  We would force rank, and determine how to help develop people to move up within the rankings – or did we have someone that just needed to be off the bus (because development wasn’t working).

I made one small change to this process – which usually would take an entire day or more to complete.  We could only talk about an individual for 10 minutes, max. Why 10 minutes? Because once you talk about someone for more than 10 minutes – they turn into a piece of garabage!  They could be #1 on your list, your best performer – and by minute 11 – they turned into someone who couldn’t tie their shoes and chew gum – The HR Law of Diminishing Returns. Too much of something doesn’t give you better – just gives you more – and many times more isn’t what you need.  HR Pros – don’t add, just to add – add only if it’s going to get you a better result, faster.

Hiring, Culture and the Bookmobile

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In HR we talk a lot about “hiring for culture” – it’s a nice, professional way to say, we want to hire people who “fit” in with the rest of us.  We try and define our culture constantly – but usually end up with a list of every great quality we wish our employees had and our new employees “will” have before they can get hired.  Then we start mixing our new “perfect” employees with our old “broken” employees and we don’t understand what went wrong with our “culture”.   It’s a pretty simple concept, that most HR Pros don’t get, and leadership ignores – you can’t change culture by hiring some people to mix in with the old people. 

Changing culture, by changing people, only works (and maybe not even than) if you do everyone at one time – walk the entire staff out at 5pm on Tuesday (including yourself) and the new team shows up on Wednesday morning.  It’s like getting rid of cancer – you don’t just cut out one piece, you cut out the whole thing – or it grows back.   I’ve seen this in play – I’ve watched a line leader replace every single member of his team (12 in total) over a 2 year period – and he ended up with the exact same culture. Why? Because as a new member is brought in, they pick up the culture beginning the moment they step in the doors – so, even though you replaced everyone – they were still infected by those who were still left, and then went on to infect the new ones that came in. 

So, how do you change culture?  The easy answer is little by little, over a very long time – in most cases.  If your leadership wants to change your culture fast – you have a couple of options: 1. Quit (always an option); 2. Create a major event that is completely outside the normal culture.  Sounds easy, right!?!  Companies that have major cultural shifts in short period usually gain this by doing something totally out of your norm – major layoffs, major compensation design changes (think salaried to hourly, or bonus to commission) – something changes that disrupts the culture so much – change has to result.  The problem with this, is you really can’t design the new culture – it’s just going to happen, and what you end up with is a new culture – just not maybe the one you want!

My solution – I do it slowly over time – and I use the Bookmobile method.  I want a culture where people work hard, and weren’t given a lot – because I think they appreciate stuff more.  So, I have one selection criteria I use during the interview process to “pre-select” for the culture I want.  I ask 1 question: “How many times, growing up, did you go to the Bookmobile?”  There are really only 2 answers to this question: 1. I never went to the bookmobile, because they didn’t have that in my area (suburban rich kids, mommy took them to the library in their SUV); or 2. I went all the time, because when it came to the neighborhood, all the kids showed up.  In the end I want Bookmobile People – they got their education off a bus, that showed up in their neighborhood, and allowed you to take a book and trusted you would bring it back. 

Bookmobile people are the culture I want: Willing to do a little more to get their education, you can trust them (or the Bookmobile lady wouldn’t let them get anymore books) and no one’s mom drove them to the Bookmobile – they had to have their own initiative if they wanted to read.  So, little by little I’m building a Bookmobile Culture.

Wanting More, For Someone Else

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You know what?  Being a HR Pro isn’t tough, being a Dad/parent is tough!  But, sometimes they seem to be very similar jobs.

I was reminded this weekend that many times in life, you want more for your kids/employees, than they might want for themselves.  We run into that frequently as HR Pros – you sit through 100’s if not 1000’s, performance management reviews, and in many of those, the conversation is centered around asking the employee -“Well, what do you want out of your career?”  The smart ones usually tell you what you want to here, the not-so-smart ones will tell you something totally off the wall – but either way, you end up feeling like you’re doing the parenting!

This weekend I was taught a lesson that I’ve taught many people in my career.  The usual scenario is me sitting with an executive or hiring manager, explaining to them – there is nothing we can do to change this employee, if they are not willing to change this for themselves first.  Seems simple, right!?  We can offer the best tools, the best teachers and mentors, send them away to great conferences – and nothing happens, it’s the same old employee that we had before.  We (HR, leadership, etc.) keep trying to change the individual, but the individual hasn’t decided, yet, that they are willing to change – in a nut shell – this is Performance Management – and there is a ton of performance management in Parenting!

For me, this is about wanting to turn one of my sons into something they are either not, or are not yet ready to become.  I can yell and push and plead and do everything my Dad probably did to me – but if he hasn’t made up his mind to change, it’s just not going to happen.  It’s funny how we all teach and train things that we haven’t really experienced or understand.  It’s in our DNA to want more for those we care about most. If you are a great leader/HR Pro and you care about your employees, you innately want them to reach their highest potential – it’s a natural feeling.  The hardest part is getting to the point where you understand that no matter how much you want your employee to change for the better – they have to want to change, first, before any step forward will take place.  The hardest thing to do as a leader/parent is to wait for this to happen.

So, don’t stop giving them the opportunity – because you don’t know when the light will come on, when the desire to change will take over – it could happen at any time.  We set the table, we invite them to eat – then they either come and eat or they don’t.  The next day, we set the table again – and again – and again.  One of my favorite quotes of all time comes from Leo Buscaglia (who is a wonderful writer and teacher), Leo says: “We don’t love to be love in return, we love to love.”   As HR Pros/Leaders/Parents – I think Leo has it right – we don’t try and make those we care about better, for something we are going to get in return, we try and make them better (and continue to try) for the simple reason, it’s the right thing to do.  

The hard part is we know, we see the potential – usually because, we didn’t reach that potential ourselves, and through that experience, we want to make sure others don’t miss their opportunity.  So, we will head back to the gym, a little smarter, a little wiser and, yeah, I’ll probably still yell a little too much…