Monthly Archives: March 2019

Writing LinkedIn Recommendations like We Write Yelp Reviews!

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I want to start a trend.

I’ve had some really great people write LinkedIn recommendations for me. I think all of them are from people I’ve actually personally worked with and had a strong relationship. The dirty little secret, though, is no one really ever reads or pays attention to these reviews. I mean, no hiring decisions are based on “OMG! Tim’s LI recommendations were off the charts! We must hire him!”

The trend I want to start is to start giving each other LI recommendations like we give Yelp reviews of restaurants, hotels, attractions, etc. Wouldn’t that be at least more fun!?!

They would read something like this:

Tim S. on Laurie Ruettimann: 5 Stars – Once walked a mile, drunk, with Laurie to a Sprinkles ATM in the middle of the night because Sprinkles Cupcakes are the best! We have a secret IG group where we talk “ish” about everything, and it’s super fun! Be careful though, she’s always trying to talk you into going to work out and other stuff you probably don’t want to do.

Tim S. on Kris Dunn: 4.5 Stars – I would have given him 5 stars but I was expecting Kris Dunn the NBA basketball player, and while this Kris Dunn does play basketball, he’s nowhere as good as the real Kris Dunn in the NBA. Loves to wear to dress sneakers as part of his get up, which I dig. The only person alive who drinks 32 oz Powerade Zeros in the morning, but didn’t drink the night before.

Tim S. on Steve Boese: 5 Stars – Have you felt his muscles? No, he legitimately works out, under all those fancy suits is a chiseled beast (or at least I’m told). The one dude is constantly on speed dial for a road trip to any sporting event in the world but prefers NBA and Gamecocks sports. Super secret Chairman’s dinners were the best until he sold out and went commercial. King of the top ten list.

Tim S. on Carmen Hudson: 4.5 Stars – Her and I were separated at birth. Don’t even try to question, we have the 23 and Me results, haters! Shoes on point. Perfect travel pal. Drags a dude around with her that’s pretty cool, but he constantly complains about his plane seat while on this way to 5-star hotels. Not a 5 star because she lives in Seattle and that’s too far away from me.

So, what do you think!?! 100% improvement from a traditional LI Recommendation, right? I mean, you would hire all of these folks above, I mean if you could afford them, but you can’t, but you would!

Hit me in the comments with your LinkedIn/Yelp Recommendation of me (oh, this will be fun)! Also, be aware, I might hit you back with mine of you!

 

How to Speak Gen Z – The HR Edition!

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I wanted to share this video on “How to speak Gen Z” that my Recruiting Manager, Zach Jensen, from my office found. Zach is a Millennial and his original comment was something like “I don’t get it!” Zach gets most everything, he’s a complete rock star in recruiting! So, this made me laugh out loud!

Check out the video and then I’ll break it down:

The Gen Z phrases in the video and the meaning:

“Suh” – Hello (short for what’s up – or ‘whatsup’)

“Fam” – Friends – short for ‘family’

“FamJam” – Family – short for I have no idea

“The Fest was Lit” – It was a fun event

“Okurrrrrrr” – Okay – which I’m assuming is Ok – with some Cardi-B r rolling at the end

“I’m finna Dipset” – I’m getting ready to leave

“Them kicks are drippin” – Those are some neat shoes (FYI – I’ve actually heard this exact statement in the wild with a Gen Z)

“BET” – I would be glad to help – or another form of ‘sure’

“Dudes took an L” – My favorite team lost

“He little mad” – He seems upset

“He big mad” – He seems very upset

“No cap” – He’s not lying

“Wierd flex but okay” – That’s an interesting statement

“Facts” – I completely agree with that statement

“Yee Yee” – I agree

“YEET” – That’s exciting news – or – excuse me – or – congratulations on your baby boy – or – basically anything “YEET” is used for almost anything!

So, I have to be honest I’ve actually heard about half of these in the wild many times, primarily from my 22-year-old son’s college baseball team. When you get 36 boys together between 18 and 22, this is basically much of their language between each other, not really with those older or younger than themselves.

So, how can we use some of these in HR for our young Gen Z employees?

Don’t. Just don’t ever use these with your Gen Z employees! Unless you write a talk for your CEO for something like a new employee orientation and you sprinkle some of these phrases in and tell her that the ‘fam’ will love it! And while she might be big mad when she finds out you played this joke on her, it will be really funny! YEET!

Career Confessions from Gen Z: Tips to Being Successful

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Everyone’s goal is to be successful.  There are little changes that you can make each day that can have a big impact on your success.  Three things that are not taught in a college lecture hall, but that will make you stand out among your coworkers and be successful are:

1. Being on Time

Being on time is so important no matter what it’s for. Punctuality is great for work, attending a sporting event, or meeting friends for dinner.  When you’re on time it shows that you care and that you’re putting forth effort.  When a you’re late, you’re holding up others and showing that you don’t respect other’s time.  Your being late simply makes everyone else late.

In my opinion, if you’re not 5 minutes early, you’re late.

2. Having a Positive Attitude

Having a positive attitude changes your whole outlook on life and your optimism affects those around you.  When you’re positive, it makes others around you more positive too.  Of course, the opposite is true as well. When you’re negative it makes others around you more negative and brings down the mood.

My dad is one of the most positive people that I know, and even though positivity bugs me at times, in the end I am thankful for it.  He tells his employees at work all of the time that Monday is his favorite day of the week.  As we all know, Monday’s are usually peoples least favorite day of the week, but going into a Monday with a positive attitude helps the day go better.

3. Staying out of office politics

Avoiding office politics is another important thing you need to try and do because once you’re involved in them, it’s hard to get out.  You should only worry about yourself, the work you’re doing, and the things that are in your control.

Yes, it can be frustrating when you feel that you’re putting in more effort and working harder than your co-worker in the cube next to you who is always playing on their phone; but you can’t worry about that and let it bother you.  You need to just keep doing your work and in the end you will be the one rewarded.

You Will Be Recognized

If a you can consistently do these three things everyday, YOU will be the one promoted instead of the coworker that shows up five minutes late everyday.  YOU will get the next important project instead of the person that is always negative and doesn’t want to be at work. Lastly, YOU will be the one that’s promoted over the worker that spends most of their time online shopping.

Even though these may seem like small things, in the long run they will help get you recognized and YOU will be rewarded for it.

Mallory Armbrustmacher graduated from Grand Valley State University in 2017 with a BA in Human Resource Management. She is an HR Generalist with the State of Michigan, Talent and Economic Development Department Human Resource Office, where she coordinates ADA Reasonable Accommodations and Ergonomic Assessments. In addition, she takes the lead on various special projects, conducts new employee orientations, processes payroll, and assists in labor relations, classifications, and selection. She is currently studying for the SHRM-CP exam, but also loves spending time with her family and friends, playing games, and cooking.

Career Confessions of Gen Z: HR without a Degree

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It was exam season of my 2nd year at UC Berkeley, the “#1 Public University in the World”. Per the typical college student in the midst winter, I thought, “What am I going to do this summer?”. Little did I know, this single thought would change my life forever…

To paint this picture a little better, I am currently writing this blog from my desk at work in Detroit, MI. If I didn’t have that little thought, I would currently be finishing my final semester of college in a couple short months.

What did I do exactly?

I accepted a job as a sourcer at a company that I knew I loved despite being less than a year away from completing school.

How did I do it?

I internalized what I really wanted and compared the pros with the cons.

Cons of leaving school to work

  1. I won’t have a college degree if I drop out — at least not yet
  2. I have to leave a good amount of friends that I’ve built great relationships with
  3. All of my family is back in California

Pros of leaving school to work

  1. I was going to school to do what I am doing now
  2. I have spent 3 internship seasons building relationships and finding mentors (something I lacked in the past)
  3. I was DROWNING in debt – loans, friends, etc. — I could pay this off if I take this job!!

 

Honestly, it was one of the easier decisions I’ve had to make because it made perfect sense for ME. After 8 months in my current role, I couldn’t be happier with my decision.

What I did not know would be an added benefit for me was empathy – more specifically, I am more motivated than ever to seek to understand. I think this is a benefit in all aspects of life; seeking to understand something before you seek to be understood. Now that I’m much more open with my experiences and invite the same from others, seeking to understand has become second nature to me and I can’t imagine a close-minded life.

So, I guess the point of my story wasn’t to tell you all that I dropped out of school – it’s to let you know that people have got a lot of junk sometimes. It may take a little digging to come out with that nugget of gold I like to call understanding.

Hunter Casperson — self-proclaimed “Sourcing Nerd”, is currently an Associate Talent Strategist at Quicken Loans out of Detroit, MI. Originally from Southern California, he spent lots of time outdoors and in turn, loves nature. Hunter attended UC Berkeley where he studied Math & Psychology for three years before joining Quicken. His all-time favorite thing to do is beat-box, where he has consecutively ranked amongst the Top 10 in the United States over the past 3 years (under the name Huntybeats)!

The One Reliable Rule of Thumb in HR and Recruiting…

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The English phrase rule of thumb refers to a principle with broad application that is not intended to be strictly accurate or reliable for every situation. It refers to an easily learned and easily applied procedure or standard, based on practical experience rather than theory.

In HR and Recruiting we have a lot of these ‘rules’:

– Never give a reference check beside dates of employment.

– Employee files are confidential and should be guarded with your life.

– Don’t ask personal questions in an interview.

– If it’s important it should be written in a policy.

– Take every allegation of wrongdoing seriously and investigate.

– “It was a mutual decision for me to leave the job” means it wasn’t a mutual decision to leave the job.

– That which is measured gets done.

– Try not to ever set precedent.

– Everything falls apart around day 2 of your vacation.

– A candidate hasn’t really accepted the job until they actually show up to work on Day 1.

– If it’s on the ‘roadmap’ of your HR or Recruiting technology vendor, it means it’s not actually built and might never be built.

– The employee who is tattling on another employee is usually guilty of something.

– There are more than two sides to every employee harassment story.

– It’s not really an open enrollment meeting if there aren’t cookies in the conference room.

We love our rules in HR! It’s ironic that I love the profession so much because I’m a low rules kind of person. The reality is, in my couple decades of HR and recruiting work there really has only been one Rule of Thumb that has been the same at every organization I’ve worked in. Big and small. Public and private. Across all industries…

– Things change.

So, what is your favorite rule of thumb in HR and/or Recruiting?

 

 

 

 

What Employees Are Most Receptive to Your Pseudo-Profound Bullsh*t?

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I have to tell you I’m just in love with this headline for so many reasons, but probably mostly because everyone who reads it instantly starts shaking their head in agreement to someone they know who is ‘Pseudo-Profound’ and they know the employees who buy into it!

The best part of all of this is there was an actual study done! Yes, Academics finally doing important work! The title of the paper is – The Complex Relation Between Receptivity to Pseudo-Profound Bullsh*t and Political Ideology by some researchers at a Swedish university. From the study:

Among Swedish adults (N = 985), bullsh*t receptivity was (a) robustly positively associated with socially conservative (vs. liberal) self-placement, resistance to change, and particularly binding moral intuitions (loyalty, authority, purity); (b) associated with centrism on preference for equality and even leftism (when controlling for other aspects of ideology) on economic ideology self-placement; and (c) lowest among right-of-center social liberal voters and highest among left-wing green voters…The results are supportive of theoretical accounts that posit ideological asymmetries in cognitive orientation, while also pointing to the existence of bullshit receptivity among both right– and left-wingers.

So, basically what they found was that the farther you are away from the center of moderate political ideology, whether conservative or liberal, the more receptive you are to pseudo-profound bullsh*t. If you tend to be super-conservative or super-liberal, you basically buy into bullsh*t more than others.

Now, this doesn’t have to be a leader who is trying to be pseudo-profound, we all know individual contributors who take over meetings also trying to be pseudo-profound as well!

It does speak to employee selection and leadership style. If you have a leader who you know tends to lean towards the pseudo-profound spectrum of bullsh*t speak you probably want to surround that leader with employees who will actually buy into their bullsh*t. Which means you’ll be looking for people who are farther away from center on their political beliefs but also probably have a bit of a lower cognitive orientation. I mean we want them to really buy in completely!

The reality is, this is how organizations, and countries, go very wrong!

I work with leaders constantly who will say they don’t believe their employees actually tell them the truth. Well, they are mostly right! Your employees are buying into your pseudo-profound bullsh*t and you selected them for that propensity, thus, they are telling you what you want to hear, not because they fear you because that’s all they are capable of!

It’s a really fine line. We want engaged, motivated employees. We want visionary leaders who can paint this picture of success and get everyone to buy in. But, we also don’t want people to follow blinding down a path that sends us over a cliff. At the same time, those type of employees are the most challenging to work with, so it’s easy to understand why organizations and hiring managers tend to pick those most receptive to pseudo-profound bullsh*t.

On a positive note, in ten years of writing, I’ve never got to write a post where I said bullsh*t this many times! Also, “Pseudo-Profound Bullsh*t” would be a great autobiography title for me!

 

Are you ‘Manager Shaming’? #WorkHuman

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Do you know what’s wrong with companies and organizations?

I know the answer because I go to a lot of conferences and listen to a lot of speakers. All of them will tell you exactly what’s wrong with your organization and every other organization. Turns out we all have the exact same thing wrong! Which is comforting in a way.

Our Managers Suck!!! 

Yay!! We figured it out!! We all agree!! Good for us!!

Can I tell you something? I hate Manager Shaming!! HATE IT!

Almost every speaker, at every conference, who speaks about the employee experience or employee engagement, or just about anything to deal with people blame managers. It’s lazy analysis for the most part. Let’s find someone or something everyone loves to hate and then we’ll blame them for everything, and then I’ll give them some great plan that you can’t possibly pull off, filled with funny little stories about my kids.

Look, I get that we have managers that are struggling, but the reality is we put them in a position to fail and now we just want to shame them and blame them for every single ill we have in an organization.

We have to be better than this. We were the idiots who put these folks in charge, didn’t teach them to properly lead people, or hold them accountable to properly lead people, or actually select them based on who had the right DNA to lead people, and not who is the best individual contributor but truly has no ability to lead people. It’s so stupid.

I want us all to start calling out Manager Shaming at conferences.

Cool tell me all my problems are my terrible managers, but you better be super quick to help figure out how to solve this or we get to throat punch you right on stage! If I hear about one more ‘study’ on how they found out managers suck and this is the ‘real’ problem with helping our organizations be successful I’m going to vomit.

So, how do we stop “Manager Shaming”:

1. Understand we are all part of this problem. It’s not ‘managers’, it’s all of us. We all suck because we all allowed this to happen. Also, most of us are managers.

2. Stop picking people to be managers based on they were the best at something, that has nothing to do with actually managing or leading people!

3. Build a leadership program that not only teaches and mentors employees on how to be effective leaders, but then hold them accountable to be that person.

4. Stop blaming and start fixing. It’s not a ‘manager’ issue. If it’s broke. If you are not successful. That’s an organizational issue. We all own that.

5. Move people out of management roles who are unable to lead people. You know who they are, just make the move.

6. Celebrate, publicly your great managers, and be very specific about the behaviors you are celebrating.

Select, educate, measure, reward, repeat. We aren’t trying to launch the space shuttle. We are trying to do something way, way harder. We are trying to lead people!

Stop Manager Shaming!

Management 2.0 #WorkHuman

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I was at the WorkHuman conference this week in Nashville and came across some great content I wanted to share. One of my favorites was from Professor Gary Hamel who has a very real, no-nonsense approach that you probably either love or hate, he’s not your normal HR conference speaker.

He shared his theory on Management 2.0:

 

So, I really like this, but also know how hard, in reality, it is for most of this to happen in an actual company! Let’s break them down.

1. Of course, you want everyone to act like an owner. It’s just really difficult to pay and give flexibility to everyone like they are an owner.

2. Operating units are small. Makes sense because the smaller the unit the easier it is to know who actually owns getting stuff done!

3. Leaders are chosen by the led. Great theory, in practice this can go very wrong. But it’s very aspirational and feel good.

4. No internal monopolies. Yep, I’m all in, just don’t tell Mary who is the top salesperson by a mile and has other ideas.

5. Control comes from around, not from the top. And we all act like adults. Another hard one to put into practice, but with small units it could happen and it would be a super awesome work environment.

6. Tasks are chosen not assigned. This one instantly feels very Hippie, right? But, if you have great measures that are agreed upon on what success looks like, why do we care how the tasks of making success actually get done?

7. Coordination is the product of collaboration. Yes, I’m all in.

8. Decisions reflect the wisdom of the crowd. First, let’s assume the crowd is wiser than any one person. That’s a giant assumption and if you’ve worked in organizations, especially really successful organizations, what you find is there are usually a person, or small group, that is a bit wiser than the collective. Let’s be careful on always assuming more equals better. Not actually true.

9. Compensation decisions are peer-based. And welcome to Lord of the Flies.

10. Everyone reports to the customer. Yeah, another one I’m willing to buy into, but we also have found out that the customer isn’t always right and sometimes the customer is downright awful to your staff. In that case, you don’t report to the customer!

I love that Gary’s Management 2.0 really gets you to think about what leadership and management could be. He would argue all of this is 100% doable, I would argue some of it is doable, and some of it is pure fantasy. Even if you had an executive team that drank the Kool-Aid, much of this would still be next to impossible to pull off.

But, this is what is great about WorkHuman. You get content that will challenge the norm and make you truly think differently about what you believe is best.

So, what do you think, could you make Gary’s Management 2.0 work in your organization? Or what parts would you like to steal and try right now?

 

How am I Really Doing?

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One of the things that is very important to me as I navigate my professional career in Human Resources is feedback and constructive criticism. I cannot stress enough how important it is for managers and supervisors to communicate with their people frequently. In my opinion, the relationship between a manager and his direct report can be compared to an intimate relationship between a couple.

There are many things that go into a romantic relationship, but two things that are non-negotiable are transparency and communication. Your significant other always expects you to be open and honest with them no matter what the situation. I think that managers owe their employees this same courtesy.

Praising or giving recognition to an employee when he’s doing well is simply not enough. A manager must also have the tough conversations when an employee may be missing the mark in an area. There is nothing worse than having a disconnect on performance between an employee and their manager. Part of the problem is that most companies are not requiring anything additional from managers in regards to feedback and reviews. Companies who place a higher focus on performance management will benefit by changing the culture through feedback and recognition.

Most companies that I have been apart of up to this point follow the typical annual performance review process. However, a manager should be communicating with their subordinates all throughout the year in addition to the formal review. Employees cannot be expected to increase efficiency on a task when the only time they get feedback is at the end of the year.

Companies that implement regular employee feedback have turnover rates that are 14.9% lower than for employees who receive no feedback (ClearCompany). That’s a very interesting statistic to think about. Managers and supervisors could be saving their companies thousands of dollars in turnover costs simply by giving more consistent feedback. 43% of highly engaged employees receive feedback at least once a week (ClearCompany). This feedback does not have to be a half hour- or hour-long formal meeting either.

Ensuring that your employees are highly engaged is critical to the overall company success. Feedback and recognition are imperative to keeping an employee engaged.

Some may wonder what the difference is between an engaged employee and a not engaged employee. In my experience, an engaged employee is one that is going to give 100% effort and then some daily. This person is going to do everything in their power to ensure the company is successful. Which in turn will make them look good in the process. An employee who is not engaged typically is a person that is doing his daily tasks and waiting on the next paycheck. Granted, this person may not have any issues with their performance, but you will always get the bare minimum needed from this person. Don’t expect them to go the extra mile.

Jonathan Sutherlin is a human resource professional with experience in the engineering and automotive industry. Currently going for his Master’s in Organizational Change Leadership in a hybrid program at Western Michigan University. He is very passionate about reading, philanthropy, basketball, and fitness. You can connect with Jonathan on LinkedIn or through email at jonsutherlin@gmail.com. When Jonathan is not at work trying to impact lives, you can either catch him in the gym or nose deep in a good book!

4 Ways to Enhance the Workplace for Generation Z

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The youngest talent populating the labour market belongs to a cohort called Generation Z; generally defined as anyone born after 1997. Now making up roughly 30% of the global population, the question has quite rightly been asked: how can we strategize to attract and retain these alien ‘digital natives’?

You will have already seen the researchers and think tanks throwing their scare-mongering claims at you, with each article making different assumptions for what an entire generation demands from their employers. Sounds ridiculous right? The reality is, being born in 1998 myself, even I can’t speak for the hundreds of millions of young people belonging to Gen Z. The irony is, as we explore what might enhance the workplace for Gen Z, in fact makes the workplace better for everyone.

  1. Training and development.

I think I’m safe in saying the concept of staying with the same organisation until retirement has long expired. A symptom of this change in labour market conditions is that job-hopping is a bigger concern than ever. Retention is an increasing challenge then, for a generation with the same lack of organisational loyalty as the millennials before them. Effective and frequent training & development is therefore a crucial factor in fostering a longer-term allegiance, by demonstrating your will to invest in their futures. Not only retaining an engaged Gen Z workforce, but an engaged workforce in its entirety.

  1. Student debt help.

For the Gen Z graduates of today, there is no doubt that student loan repayment will be a significant factor in their financial well-being, with the average cost of a 3-year degree sitting at £35,000. Solutions to address student debt makes employers immediately relevant, signalling empathy in a move that can really make an impact. Its not hard to see this offering a serious competitive advantage in attracting top graduate talent, and once again it’s not just Gen Z that benefits, anyone with a considerable amount of student debt will be more concerned with its repayment before making any meaningful retirement contributions.

  1. Mental and physical well-being.

Amid a generational mental health crisis amongst young adults, employers that can demonstrate what they are doing to promote cultures of openness and support will only surpass those who neglect the issue. The exact same goes for physical health and well-being, which is just as important and entirely interlinked. The common theme of empathy towards societal issues is clearly becoming a strategic tool in attracting and retaining Gen Z talent, and equally, ask yourself which generation doesn’t want their mental and physical well-being to be a priority?

  1. Exam help.

The importance of career-focused perks is again highlighted as we look at employers projecting empathy towards their current or prospective talent’s goals. Offering things like paid study leave, exam materials, or opportunities to take professional qualification exams in-house go a long way to achieving this. No question Gen Z’s are exam and development focused, but yet again we see desires that are not exclusive to one generation.

So perhaps my title was misleading, but hopefully we’ve stripped away the mystery surrounding what Gen Z wants. And at the same time highlighted that it’s very easy to look at Gen Z as making new demands, when really the uncomfortable truth lies in a historic lack of being strategically prepared incoming generations and emphatic around issues that are nothing new.

Josh Milton-Edwards is a fledgling HR professional mad about all things culture, engagement and wellbeing. I work for an award-winning best-practice culture department based in the UK. Soaking up every last bit of the experience before completing my HRM degree in 2019/20. Aiming high and can’t wait to see what more opportunities arise for the taking!