Monthly Archives: November 2012

9 Wishes for New HR & Talent Professionals

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My favorite part of the fall conference season is the fact that I get to meet a ton of HR and Talent Pros and connect.  Of those, the ones I have the most fun talking to is the newbies!   They are still in that point in their career where HR is fun and exciting and they get jazzed up talking about the stuff we (older, I mean experienced HR Pros) no longer find as fascinating.   I usually find myself answering questions – you know the type – “how would you handle…?” or “what would you do…?”, etc.  Which gives me an opportunity to tell them here’s how I screwed it up when I first started, and here’s how I handle it now – which are usually very different.  So, as I reflect on this season I’ve come away with a few wishes for my fellow HR and Recruiting Pros who are just joining us on this journey.

I wish new…

 …HR pros would unlock the doors to their departments – wait – change that – actually take off the doors all together.

 …Corporate recruiters would make more outgoing calls then they get incoming calls.

 …HR pros would spend more than 50% of their time out of their office/cube walking around talking to employees and hiring managers.

 …Recruiters would never feel like it’s their responsibility to staff their companies – it’s not – it’s your leaders of your departments – you’re just the tool they use to accomplish it – but they’ve got to own it – ultimately they make the final decision, not you, which means it’s there responsibility.

 …HR pros never learn “soft” HR math.

 …Recruiters learn how to recruit before they learn how to build recruitment processes.

 …HR pros spend their first month (or more) in position actually working in operations, marketing and finance – it will make you a better HR pro!

 …Recruiters would build relationships with their main competition’s recruiters – this will make you better as well – and you won’t be giving away the corporate secrets!

 …HR pros would build more influence in their organizations than more process – one is easier to do – which is why you don’t do the other.

I guess I wish all of this stuff, because it’s stuff that I had to learn over time – and if I could have one wish for our newbie HR and Talent peers it would be they could have all of this knowledge up front as they come in the door.  Because I can’t have that wish – I’ll throw out a challenge to my HR brothers and sisters – take a new HR pro under your wing – it doesn’t have to be in your organization – just find one and do it.  Here’s what you’ll find – they will help you more than you’ll probably help them – helping a newbie will energize yourself, help you slow down on your own decision making and reflect on what you’re doing and its importance – and because of your experience it will allow you to go out and make some adjustments to your own shop that will have great impact to your business!

Things Most People Hate To Talk About

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Hey – it’s voting day – get out and vote – if you don’t, you aren’t allowed to bitch about what’s wrong with America!  If you do vote – Democrat, Republican, People who wasted their vote on a 3rd party – go ahead and bitch away!

I always find it funny when people refuse to discuss certain things – how they vote is a huge one, salary is one, etc.   I’m in HR and Recruiting so I talk salaries everyday with folks and you tend to get pretty comfortable with it.  I’m also very open politically and I have fun with it, and I laugh when someone judges you based on a label you give yourself.  “Oh, you’re a Republican – you must hate women and just love money” – well, I love women and I love money – I also love puppies, my kids and Diet Mt. Dew – not sure how republican that is – but there I said!

I get it – there are a bunch of people who are just idiots and are unable to see beyond who you voted for, so you stay quiet.  It’s lame and shallow of those who are judging you – but welcome to adulthood and reality.

Here’s my voting record since I was old enough to vote:

1988 – Bush, Sr. vs. Dukakis – I voted Bush (I was 18 and Dukakis didn’t seem presidential to me – plus I didn’t know what presidential was or any of the platforms – but MTV wanted me to vote)

1992 – Clinton, Bush and Perot – Perot fascinated me because he was so quirky, but he also scared me liked a creepy uncle.  I was in college (University of Wyoming – Go Pokes!) and I voted Clinton.  I supported woman’s right to have an abortion, I didn’t have any money and I was paying my own way through school – Hello, Democrats!

1996 – Clinton, Dole and Perot – Perot still creepy uncle, but I understood him more. Dole was death walking. Clinton was the guy you wanted to take with you to Vegas.  I voted Clinton – I’m a personality guy and I was doing very well at the time in my career – God Bless America, I wanted four more years of the same.

2000 – George W., Gore and Nader – Gore seemed very intellectual, but was totally different from Clinton. Nader seemed like someone who would bomb a federal building. George W. was likable and owned a baseball team – what more do you need from a President!?  I voted George W. – I was doing very well financially and I wanted to keep more of that money.

2004 – George W. and Kerry – This was the 2nd election in a row where the Democrats bombed on bringing someone “electable” to the table.  4 more years of George W.  – Big Government scares me, lower taxes are good, I hate unions.

2008 – Obama vs. McCain – Some will find this hard to believe – but I totally voted for Obama.  I bought into his message and quite frankly into the whole package.  The country needed someone who could turn the country around and I really thought if anyone could do it – he could, especially over McCain.  I was wrong. Many of us were wrong.

2012 – Obama vs. Romney – I’m voting Romney – I’m traveling out of state today, so I voted early. My hope is when I land they’ll let me vote twice in a new state!  Government spending is out of control.  Obamacare will kill our healthcare system – I know doctors, PT’s, nurses, etc. that just feel this is the totally wrong direction – taking away the cost aspect. Plus I still hate unions and Big government!

So, there you have it – a Republican who votes like an Independent and has social Democrat tendencies.

For the record – I wish we had a true 3rd party option – both the Democrats and Republicans don’t want this because they know all those independents would jump in a heart beat – a true party in the middle. My 3rd Party would have planks to support better education funding at all levels, women’s rights to make their own choices, more states rights and less federal government, a simple tax structure without all the loopholes and a foreign policy that focused on figuring out how to stop making us the world’s police department.

Now go Vote!

A Conversation: with your Least Engaged Employee

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You: “Hey, Lee (Least Engaged Employee) – how are you doing?”

Lee: “You know, working hard, hanging in there, one day at a time” (winky face)

You: “We need to talk.” (this is what all HR Pros say, it’s #1 in the “What to say when you’re in HR” handbook)

Lee: “About what?” Now, somewhat nervous because HR never talks about positive stuff.

You: “You know, it just doesn’t seem like you’re real excited about your job, or the company, I’m not sure.” Classic HR beating around the bush – also in the handbook

Lee: “No, really (deadpanned) I love it here.” Voice trailing off as he looks for a way out of this nightmare

You: “Well, that’s a relief because we love having you here.” Being able to effectively lie to yourself and employees – Handbook page 27.

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It’s funny because it’s to close to the truth for too many HR Pros and Hiring Managers.  We want engagement, but we have no idea how to talk to a person who isn’t engaged.  Let’s try one more script between you and Lee.

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You: “Lee, I need to talk to you about something that I’m very concerned about.” Set the tone immediately – it is serious – Lee’s position hangs in the balance.

Lee: “Sure. What is it?” No one ever turns down talking with HR – what choice do they really have…

You: “I’ve noticed that your lack of engagement with your job, with the organization is starting down a path that isn’t going to end well.”

Lee: “What do you mean!? I love my job, and the company.” This is what low engagement employees say, because they aren’t showing it.

You: “No you don’t.  If you did, I and your manager would be seeing this out of you: example, example, example.”

You: “So, we have 3 choices: 1. Continued lying to each other until we fire you; 2. Continue lying to each other until you leave on your own; or 3. We fix it.”

Lee: “I’m not lying – let’s fix it.” Lee just told you 2 lies in that small statement – Lee is lying and Lee probably won’t fix it without major help

You: “So, tell me why are you no longer engaged?”  Then shut up, wait, wait an uncomfortably long amount of time for Lee to speak.

Lee: “Lame reason I think you want to hear to get you off my back, and back to my desk so I can update my resume on Monster.”

You: “No, really, why?” More uncomfortable silence

Lee: “Something closer to the truth you both already knew.”

You: “Now, let’s come up with how we can turn this ship around.”

You and Lee: “Plans, promises, measures, next meetings followup dates, morning hugs, etc.”

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We tend to treat our least engaged employees like a virus.  Stay away, wash our hands of it and hope it goes away.  Rarely do we ever really go out and “engage” our least engaged employees.  Seems like too much work, too much time, too much of headache.  It is.  It is also the only way to move in the direction you want to go, the fastest.  That direction might be to turn the employee around, or it might be to kick them off your buss – either way – the conversation must be had appropriately to move in that direction.

Have you talked to Lee lately?

The Law of Diminishing Title Return

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“I don’t care what you call me – my title is meaningless!”

Have you heard this?  If you’re in HR long enough – you’ll hear this a number of times over your career.  You know who says this?  People making a lot of money, people who’ve been out of work and are just happy to have a job, or people who’ve been around so long they actually really don’t care anymore!

Titles are important to people – although that is not the politically correct thing to say – so hardly ever hear the truth when it comes to titles.  Don’t think titles are important in your organization – try changing some – try going, let’s say, backwards in title!  You’ll see how important it is.  The issue I see in many organizations is the concept of Title Creep.  When for whatever reason, usually the business not doing well so you don’t have money to give out, the organization starts giving out titles over raises (“Hey, Janie, doesn’t look like we have any budget money to give you your 3% raise this year, but gosh golly you sure our important to us, so we want to “promote” you to Manager!).  And you know what? That crap works for a little while! Because people love titles!

Just look at banks – they’re really funny about titles!  Everyone at a bank – and I mean everyone – is either a Vice President or a President!  Banks really have screwed up the title thing worse than any other industry.  You will see banks now that the person’s title will be Vice President – Manager of Recruiting, or Sr. Vice President – Director of Human Resources – and I wonder to myself – “So, what is it – VP or Director!? What are you?”  This is where titles go very wrong and stop having value to the individual.

The main problem with title creep is when it’s used and people feel because they have, or have had, a certain title that means they should get that title in another organization.  I interviewed a sharp person a while back who had graduated from college in HR and over the course of about 6 years went from HR Generalist, to HR Manager, to HR Director, to VP of HR in the same organization. Impressive, right?  But wait, there’s more to the story!  She lost her position do to an organizational change (that’s what we call getting fired today so the GenY’s and millennials still feel it’s not their fault) and was struggling finding another “executive” role in HR.  I asked her a couple of questions:

1. From your beginning as an HR Generalist to your final role as VP of HR, how many direct reports did you pick up?

              A: 1

2. From your HR Gen role to VP role – what responsibilities did you pick up?

             A: Well…I still do everything, but I also am now more strategic.

Oh, boy.  So, I got to share with her some advice. Stop looking for an “executive” role, find a solid HR Gen or HR Manager role – you my friend are no VP of HR!   Title Creep really hurt her.

In HR we have a major role in this concept of Diminishing Returns in regards to Titles, and that role should be to stop handing out titles like it’s candy from the bowl on the receptionist’s desk at the front door.  We should protect titles and not allow them to diluted, because most people do like them, and they can be a valuable tool in your compensation tool box, but only if you don’t use them very often.

BTW – best title ever is from K Swiss Kenny Powers commercials!