Wanted: Men Only

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In case you missed it – Dr. Pepper has come out with a Men’s Only Diet Soda called Dr. Pepper Ten. Why?  Because I guess they feel “diet” isn’t manly enough, so guys won’t buy it. So, increase the calories to 10 and don’t call it diet and guys will rush to the store to buy it. The brilliant marketing people even put the new soda in a “gun metal” grey can – to make it even manlier.  Just what society needed – a semi diet soda in a grey can and commercials that say “It’s Not For Women”.   At this point my goal in life is to meet the person who was sitting on their lazy boy, in their man cave, in front of the 60 inch LCD when this commercial came on and said to themselves “you know, that’s a brilliant idea!”  I have a strong desire to meet this person!

Hey, Dr. Pepper – you want to know what else isn’t for Women?  Guys who can’t admit that they don’t want the extra calories from non-diet sodas, so they have to pick up a can of a soda that is really diet, but not called that, and is marketed for Men Only.

Chalk this up as potentially the worst marketing idea for 2011!

Occupy Your Cube!

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I’ve been trying to come with a “take” on this whole “Occupy Wall Street” thing, and I really haven’t been able to.   I get that people are upset at the economy, but I struggle to see how our nations economic problems, are the responsibility of the richest 1% of our nation.  Who arbitrarily decided that it was the top 1% and not the top 2%?!  That kind of thinking makes me insane – I really think it should be the top 2% and I’m not joining their movement until someone changes that!  But seriously, who decided that?  No one really ever asks that – they just break down the fence and start following the heard and yelling what ever chant the guy/girl in front of them is yelling and pretty soon we have a movement!  “Hell no, we won’t go!”

Here’s my issue – I’m not anywhere close to the top 1% – wish I was – come to work everyday working hard to get there – I mean, I’m a scorecard guy – and the Top 1% seems like the winners, and I hate losing.  Now, I could go around and see if someone would change the rules and give me a bunch of money from the Top 1%, but that seems very, well, un-American.  I would rather get there myself – pull up my bootstraps, batten down the hatches, rub some dirt on it, and all that grandfatherly advice type stuff.  I want to make it on my own, and I work hard each and every day to try and make that happen.

If I didn’t have this job, right now – would I feel different?  Don’t know that – I’m not in that position.  I have been without a job, though, before.  You want to know what I did?  I worked 24 hours a day, to get another one!   I’ve had to take steps back, to move forward – I’ve been down and had to pick myself up – in all of those times – I never spent a minute thinking – well – if only those rich bastards would pay more in taxes – I could get more unemployment, or maybe even a job or anything else.  I’m responsible for me – not some rich person who I don’t even know.

I work in a career, and in a company – that everyday we have to work.  Everyday I face the real possibility of losing income, if we don’t keep working, taking care of our clients, getting new clients, and basically out working our competition.  Each morning I choose to get up, come to work and “occupy my cube” (I actually have an office – but I’ve had a cube, no real big difference).   It’s not that I don’t support the “Occupy Wall St.” folks – it’s just that I don’t understand them.

 

Recruitpedia

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Each week I listen and speak with Recruiting Pros who have a language all their own – like most professions – but for me it’s always fun to listen to what each person is really trying to say to you.  Here are some of my favorite:

Offer Pending:  What it means – “I’m going to make an offer to an individual”; What it really means – “I didn’t pre-close the candidate, so I don’t know if they’ll accept” or “I made them the offer, but they haven’t accepted, but I don’t want you to know that, yet”

Professional References: What it means – “References from those who have supervised you in a previous job”; What it really means – “Those references that you gave me, who are your father’s best friend, your girlfriends dad and your 7th grade basketball coach – don’t count.  We don’t trust they will give us a true insight to how lazy you really are.”  or “my boss feels better about your previous boss telling us how great you are versus your priest telling us how great you are”

Market Offer:  What it means – “We combed through salary survey data to determine what the going salary should be for your position, in this geographic area”; What it really means – “We did our budgets 16 months ago and didn’t anticipate the market moving so fast for this position, so here’s what we can afford to offer you.”

Excellent Benefits Package:  What it means – “We offer a wide array of benefit options, which are paid in full by us and you’ll not have to worry about anything.”; What it really means – “We offer the same kind of benefit package as everyone else – virtually – but saying we offer a “Benefit Package The Same As Everyone Else” doesn’t have the same ring to it as “Excellent Benefit Package”.

An “A” Candidate – What it means – “This candidate is top level talent in the industry, with the reputation and references to back up their experience.”; What it really means – “This is the best person (or only person) we could find to accept your marginal pay rate, crappy location and bad company culture.”

Niche Recruiter – What it means – “The recruiter only networks and recruits for a specific skill set, and/or industry.” What it really means – “You think you need someone who specifically networks and recruits only for what you are looking for – the reality is a great recruiter can find you anyone you need regardless of skill/industry – but it makes you feel better if we tell you we have that specific niche.  So we are “Niched”.

I blame marketing for all of this!  No one can just say what is really on their mind anymore – it’s not “P.C.”  Instead we “dance” with each other and tell each other what we want to hear – and we leave with this wonderful false sense of security that everything is fine.  And you know what – it usually is – about 99% of the time.  That’s the problem – it’s that 1% of the time that you need a true partner who is going to tell you “what does this really mean”, instead of “tell me what I really want to hear” – it’s what gets Talent and HR Pros in trouble!   When in doubt – Speak the truth.

Do You Root For American Companies to Succeed?

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As HR Pros I think we have the slight ability to come off anti-union and pro-management – emphasis on “slight”!  It probably comes from too many interactions where we feel our hands get tied with contract language that either negatively impacts our ability to do our jobs effectively, or language that just lacks plain common sense.   The one thing I always hope for though, is in the end the union and management still have the same goal (I said I hope!) – to make the company successful.  Having a successful company usually ends up working out well for both parties.  A successful company has more profits, more profits allow for larger pools of dollars to negotiate over, and while both parties never get everything they want – both get more for sure.  If the company isn’t successful – both don’t get more.  Pretty easy to figure that out.

This past week on 60 Minutes, General Electric CEO, Jeff Immelt, was interviewed and made a very interesting comment at the end of the interview when talking about his own employees at GE, that is getting quite a bit of media play –

 

“They root for us. They want us to win. I don’t know why you don’t.”

 

His point is that people around the world “root” for their local companies to succeed. In Germany the German citizens root for Siemens to be the best in the world, the Japanese want Toshiba, Honda, Toyota, etc. to be wildly successful.  In America we have way to many citizens who think our big companies are “evil” if they are succeeding.  Isn’t that strange?   I get why this tide has turned – too many big companies have done bad things – so we think it’s alright to put them all into the same bucket.  But that goes against all common sense.  If we want a strong economy, and more jobs, we need our companies to kick butt!

I hear people, in the media, on blogs, in person, etc. rail against American corporations for being profitable, for hoarding cash, for basically being a successfully run company.   My company works with General Motors.  When GM declared bankruptcy a few years ago, and the government bailed them out – as a supplier we had to make some concessions, if we wanted to continue that relationship (I think any one of us running the company would have asked for the same thing).  GM has once again become profitable, they renegotiated our contract, and increased our contract.

Now, GM doesn’t determine if my company stays in business or not – they are a small part of our overall business – but I root for them to succeed.  I hope they make a Billion dollars a day!  I hope GE and IBM and Apple do the same.  I hope Bank of America gets through their crisis and comes out better on the other end.  We need all of our American companies to be successful – globally.

Here’s what I know.  I have friends and neighbors who work for GM – some in management, some on the line.  When they go out and buy a car/truck/SUV – they buy GM.  They want their company to succeed.  They want their company to make money.  It’s good for their family, it’s good for their cities and it’s good for America.  I root for American companies to succeed.  Do you?

 

To Tell or Not to Tell – The Hi-Po Question

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The Wall Street Journal has an article this week saying that only 28% of companies tell their employees what their ranked in terms of future potential (i.e., High Potential, Low, etc.).  From the article:

According to a report released Monday by consulting firm Towers Watson, just 68% of companies formally identify high-potential employees, and only 28% actually tell the employees they’ve been labeled as such. The survey was based on a study of 316 companies across North America.

“This is really a missed opportunity,” says Laurie Bienstock, co-author of the report. “You need to wonder how [organizations] are fostering the development of these high-potentials if they’re not informing them.”

Don’t you just wonder!?

Let me tell you a little HR secret Laurie – employers don’t need to tell Hi-Po’s they are Hi-Po’s because Hi-Po’s already know they are Hi-Po’s, that’s one reason they are Hi-Po’s they have great self-awareness.   What employers need to do with Hi-Po’s is the following:

1. Pay them.  Above market, above average and low potentials within the same work groups and make sure they know it.

2. Challenge them.  Lead positions on projects, putting them in positions to communicate to senior leadership and shine, getting them into the organizational “circle of trust”.

3. Treat them differently.  Yep, that’s right HR Pros – treat your Hi-Po’s differently than you treat your Low-Po’s – they expect, they want it, they’ll appreciate it.  It will tick off your Low-Po’s, and that’s a good thing – you need your Low-Po’s to be uncomfortable – you’re in charge of making your organizations talent better, not running a charity event.

The other fact from the article that only 68% formally identify employee potential is surprising to me – and not that it’s low – that number seems high to me.  Hi-Po, No-Po, Low-Po, etc. is a big HR shop game that is a luxury for most organizations.  Is it critical for successful succession planning? Yes.  It is also something that takes a ton of organizational resources to accomplish and maintain.  Once you get that data, you then have to do something with it, and keep doing it.  That usually means the development of an entire group within HR, depending on how big your organization is.  So, 68% seems like an inflated number – I’m guessing the survey was given to only large corporations.

Should you tell an employee what they are ranked?  I have and I would – but it really depends on the culture and engagement of your organization.  The one thing I will tell you is, if you have no plan on what you are going to do with this data, don’t start – it will be a waste of time.  I see so many HR Pros run down this path of determining who their Hi-Po’s are without any idea of what they are going to do next.  It’s like “Hey! We found out Joe and Lynn are our Hi-Po’s! Isn’t that great?!”  No, not really – so, what?  The real work comes after the identification in developing your Hi-Po’s into their next level position and building succession, the real work is not in the identifying.

 

5 Reasons it Sucks to be Salaried

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If you haven’t been following the UAW negotiations with the Big 3 Auto’s it provides about as good a theater as watching any of the great reality TV shows out there.  This week Ford came to an agreement with their UAW workforce that includes:

  • 5750 new jobs
  • $6000 ratification bonus payments (basically this is a bribe to get them to vote “yes”)
  • About a $3.75 per hour increase
  • 4 – $1500 inflation bonuses
  • Profit sharing checks that will average about $3,752
  • Oh, and $250 dollar year-end bonus for meeting performance objectives (I guess they aren’t big on pay-for-performance compensation at the UAW!)

Pretty cool if you’re a UAW member!  GM and Chrysler UAW members get slightly different stuff, but it all basically equates to around the same thing – a lot of money.

If you work in a union environment, but you’re not union, the classic next step is to complain about everything the union is getting, that you are not getting as a salaried worker for your company:

1. Union workers get better health insurance, and pay less for it.

2. Union workers get paid overtime, double-time and well, heck, more than me.

3. Union workers get to complain about their boss and when they do, they get sent home with pay!

4. Union workers get more breaks throughout the day!

5. Union workers get those “cool” jackets to wear that say stuff like “Local 825 – Working Less, 4 More”.

In which, as an HR Pro, I look at Mr. Salaried Worker, and I listen, and I shake my head agreeably (so they really know I’m listening – HR Pro Tip!) – then I firmly, but softly tell them one thing –

“I hear what you are saying – if you would like I will start your transfer paperwork immediately – would you like the position where you put the nut on the bolt, or the one where you push the button all day?”  

I then walk back into my air conditioned office, check my facebook, call home to see how the wife is doing, pull a cold soda out of the small fridge that is in my office, by the small conference room table, turn up Pandora (because my favorite song is on), shut my door (so not to bother anyone), close my eyes and think what it will be like when I finally get to retire and not have to listen to people whine about what others have, and what they are unwilling to do to have the same thing.

 

 

The Power of Branding in HR

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I have a grandmother who is 84ish – and she loves Kentucky Fried Chicken.  I only tell you this because I took the boys over to see her on Saturday and we didn’t get to KFC, instead we stopped at McDonald’s and brought her a cheeseburger (Are you glad you stopped by this morning to read this!).  I had to bring her McDonald’s over KFC because of road construction.  My grandmother – like most 84ish Americans, is a Democrat.  I’m not – but I love her deeply, so I try to spice up the conversation and get her going.  Right now in Michigan we have a Republican governor who she hates – but I don’t think she really knows why she hates him.  There is one political commercial that has been running non-stop in Michigan regarding building a bridge from Detroit to Canada.  Now we have a bridge already, plus a tunnel from Detroit to Canada, but a company out of Canada wants to build another.  This would make it that much easier for people, goods and services to travel back and forth – create jobs, blah, blah, blah.

The commercial is against this bridge – it’s evil, it’s all about this evil republican governor building a monument to himself, oh and by the way we have bad roads and we should be fixing roads, not building bridges.  They say a lot in a 60 second commercial!   Here’s the funny part – the commercial is paid for by the private owners of the other bridge!   Also, the state government isn’t paying a dime for this bridge – it has nothing to do with the governor, and has nothing to do with taking money away from fixing our bad roads!   But someone said on a commercial over and over – so now my Grandma believes it – in her mind this is as true and anything can be!  She even called the governor’s office and told him to forget about the bridge and fix our roads!  Just like the commercial told her to do…

What does this have to do with Branding?  Everything!

You don’t have to be good – to say you are good.  Read that again.  How many companies do you know that say – “Hey! Come work for us! We are Average!”  No one! Everyone is great, everyone feels there employees are their most “important asset”!  The fact is 99% of companies are average to work for – they are scrambling everyday to keep up, to make their leaders better, to cut cost and increase profits.  But we all go out and build our employment brand that we are great.

I’m not telling you to go out and say “Come work for us, we’re slightly better than most!”  The majority of Americans hate political ads for one simple reason – they know most of what is being said is a bending of the truth – there is absolutely no transparency.  The key to great employment brand is to try and get some reality mixed in with your bullshit.  That’s tough, real tough!  But if you really want a culture that reflects your brand it’s key to get it right.  Anyone can lie and tell you how great they are to work for – that’s easy – but a great company will tell you what’s its really like to work for them. Why? Because they want “True Believers”, they want employees who are in it for the long term and want to be part of the change.

As for my Grandma – she just wants better roads and a grandson who will bring her KFC!

And when I woke up, I was 70…

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My friend Kris Dunn has a saying in his family that started with his father – “We Work” – it speaks to the work ethic his father instilled in him, and he is attempting to instill into his own boys.  I tend to think that my father and Kris’s father would have gotten along really well!  I’m sure my boys are sick of me telling stories of things my father made me do growing up in his household.  My dad was classic in saying “I don’t care how late you want to stay out – but you will be going to school/work the next morning.”  I never questioned it, I just got up and went to work.  Both my parents were that way – I never once remember them staying home from work because they were sick.   During my high school years my dad would wake me up at 7am to go chop wood – we lived in the city!  He always was helping someone out with some project, that somehow included me – which was his way of just getting my butt out of bed.  But you know what – it worked.  I work.

I was thinking about this a lot this week as I interviewed a bunch of candidates for recruiters, to work with me at HRU.   I find myself interviewing, really only concentrating on one thing: Do I think this person is a “worker”?  You know what I mean – someone who doesn’t even realize that the clock struck 5pm – that doesn’t even take a second to question whether they should come into work when they have a sniffle.  Someone who has it wired into their DNA – to work.  I tend to really like those kinds of employees! Like Kris’s dad – like my dad.

My dad turns 70 next year – he still works a professional position – 50+ hours a week.  I beg for him to retire.  It’s selfish of me – I have 3 sons – I want my sons to have memories of my Dad, like I had of my grandfather – but the bastard works to much!   Plus, it would certainly help logistically – since Kim and I are trying to cart 3 boys to 3 different practices, events, etc. – I need a full time driver – who better than their grandfather!  He feels that is a company is still willing to pay him a good salary at 70, and he still enjoys and feels respected by those he works with and supports – why shouldn’t he keep working.  I can’t argue with that.

I know people – you know people – who want to retire “young” – 40, 45, 50 – you hear them all the time.  I don’t ever think that.  I work.  Doesn’t matter if it’s in this office, or at home, or somewhere else – I’m going to work.   I have a strong feeling that one day about 30 years from now, I’m going to wake up one morning and realize, I’m 70.  Then I’m going to throw my legs over the side of the bed, take my shower, have a glass of Metamucil, and go to work.  I’m a Sackett, that’s what we do.

 

3 Things HR Pros Can Learn from “Moneyball”

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There’s a new Brad Pitt movie out – calm down HR ladies this isn’t your “Legends of the Fall” Brad Pitt movie – this one is about baseball and he doesn’t take his shirt off! (BTW – my favorite Brad Pitt movie of all time? “Meet Joe Black” – he plays the best looking version of “death” that you’ll ever see)

The movie is called “Moneyball” and it’s based on the true story of how Oakland A’s General Manager, Billy Beane, changed baseball by focusing on statistics and measures in selecting baseball players, versus traditional baseball selection methods that were subjective at best.  Beane’s new approach turned the Oakland A’s into a contender, at the same time spending less than half the salary of clubs like the Yankee’s, Boston and the Dodgers.

So, What can an HR Pro learn from Moneyball?  A bunch – but I’ll give you 3 (adapted from Fast Companies – 3 Lessons Every Manager Can Learn from Moneyball):

1. Production trumps all else.  I know organizations that only hire from certain colleges, or look to recruit from big name companies – all of that really doesn’t matter.  Find someone who produces – that’s what matters.   We spend so much time on where someone graduated from, and how the person looks and where they grew up – then we go and hire this “china doll” and they don’t do a darn thing!    I’ve been known to piss off my hiring mangers, once in a while, because I won’t allow them to move someone off the bus – for the simple fact “they just don’t fit in”.  Really?  Well the metrics show me they’re one of your top 3 employees in your group! Find a way to make them fit in – that’s your job as a leader.

2. Give Your Employees a Gift.  And by “Gift” I mean – “tell it to them straight”!  We don’t do anyone any favors by beating around the bush.  If someone has a career-derailer, tell them – tell them soon – tell them clearly – tell them what will happen if they don’t change it.  It will be the best gift they have ever received.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen managers let go of good, solid employees, because they had one thing wrong – and no one would give it to them straight – and give them the opportunity to change.    Beane’s approach was very direct and to the point – our goal is to win championships – you need to change this or get better at this – or you won’t be a part of this process.  It’s not – “well, it sure would be helpful if you could get a little better at such and such.”  It’s “We love you – you need to do this – now – or we will still love, but just not while working here any more.”

3.  Sometimes the Mix isn’t right and needs to be changed.  We’re HR Pros, our primary job is to build top performing teams of adults.  As with any team, you might have the best talent, but the mix of individuals isn’t right, so the team doesn’t perform as it should.  Don’t be afraid to mix it up.  That doesn’t mean you have to go out and fire people – but it might mean you move some people around from one team to the next.  Let’s face it, most of the jobs in our organization can be learned by a high performing person from another part of our organization – that’s just reality that most of us don’t like to admit to!  If you have a good manager who isn’t making it “happen” in their department, swap him with the lady in operations who is an up and comer and see what happens.

 

Do You Have The Right Job?

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I came across a new HR Blog (well, it’s new to me) – A Fool With A Plan – that reminded me of a classic Chris Rock bit about whether you have a Career or a Job (warning: some language not appropriate for some work places – unless you work at my office, then you better wear earmuffs):

How do you know if you are in the right job/career?  Time seems to move way to fast.  You get to work and before you know it’s lunch time, then you look up and it’s time to go home, or you make the “choice” to stay a bit later to finish up something you are working on.  Unlike Chris – I believe people can have jobs they love as well, that might not be a career.  Plus, I know a ton of people who have very successful careers – who hate what they are doing.

It’s not easy finding both a great career and a great job.  You might find a career that pays you a ton of money, and you really like that, but something is missing, something just doesn’t satisfy you.  Don’t get me wrong – I’m not here to tell you to forget the money, and just do what you love!  Those people usually are trying to get me to pay them for stupid stuff I can do on my own for nothing!   There’s a balance.  Very few of us are lucky enough to do what we love, and what we love pays us enough money to get all those things we think we need.

I’m proud to come from a family of hard workers, from my grandparents to my parents, I was lucky enough to have been surrounded by people who just naturally worked.  I try to bring up my 3 sons with those same ideals – I don’t complain in the morning when I’m the first one up and off to the office – it’s what I do – it allows us as a family to have a very comfortable living – that makes me feel good.  Would I rather be out golfing or fishing all day – things I “love” to do?  You better believe it!  But I’ve yet to find someone to pay me what I make in my “career” that allows me to sit on a boat, on a lake all day.

I do agree with Chris, though, on major thing – if the clock doesn’t seem to move when you are at work – you are in the wrong job!