Join us on Tuesday, May 15th at 4p PT | 6p CT | 7p ET as I join the #TalentNet crew (Matt Charney, Crystal Miller, Craig Fisher, and Marianthe Verver) to talk about how processes aren’t evil & can, in fact, make #SocialHR & Recruiting BETTER.

Hope to see you there!

One of the exciting things about working with Dovetail Software is the chance to dive into some interesting discussions with really smart people.  This question came up in week one, and it still has my head spinning.

Employee wellness programs have been all the rage for well over a decade.  Spiraling healthcare costs have prompted companies to start thinking proactively about the health of their teams, and a bevy of programs have been established to address the root cause of the costs.  (Root cause of healthcare costs.  I get all tingly just thinking about it!)  I remember the first time my company discussed charging smokers more for health insurance.  Amongst all the wailing and gnashing of teeth (mostly by smokers), the issue was raised of the legality of “punishing” a group.  Would it be considered a disparate impact?  Would be face potential legal action?  Could we get around it?  In the end, we didn’t charge smokers more for their insurance.  But we did give a discount to non-smokers.  Semantics, to be sure, but there it was.

This has now expanded into tiered insurance plans that include required health screenings and smoking cessation programs for the best plans.  And why shouldn’t it?  We charge more for every other type of insurance based on lifestyle, age, location and other variables.  It’s all about actuary tables and playing the odds.  Nothing new here.  We’ve accepted all of this as part of doing business and reducing risk.  And the returns speak for themselves.  This HBR article from December of 2010 puts the returns for Johnson & Johnson at $2.71 for every $1 spent.  Not bad at all.

That said, we too often ignore these same lessons when it comes to employee relations.  We know that there are some issues that will cost more than others.  Union drives are pricey, and if you are in the middle of a vote, it’s usually too late to change the outcome.  When turnover spikes, we scramble to hold onto our key talent.  By then, the internal and external forces that impact retention have reached a critical point that we very often have no control.  Our efforts are time consuming and expensive, and may or may not have any impact.  We are chasing lightning long after the thunder has subsided.

So how do we get in front of it?  We talk a lot about employee engagement, which is intended to be the proactive piece of employee relations, but in practice is it a litany of issues raised by those who haven’t left yet.  We too often ask leading questions that we hope will get us increased scores, but we don’t always get the level of candor from our teams we really need.  Most often we use multiple choice, which restricts the responses right away.  From there we analyze the areas that are in trouble, while often ignoring those that have “better than average” scores.  But do you really know what is going on?

One Page Talent Management by Marc Effron and Miriam Ort do a nice job of diving into why engagement efforts are so often lackluster, starting with the fact that every consultant has their own definition.  On top of that, they are generally snapshots in time.  To be effective, they need to be action oriented and clear enough for any leader to interpret on their own.  They reference Gallup’s Q12 survey as a short questionnaire that can can predict business outcomes, including turnover and profitability.  Simple to use, simple to read.  Go figure.

This is one of the very few tools, though, that we use to try to proactively measure and impact employee relations.  Why?  What is the difference between ER and wellness?  Why don’t we spend the same amount of time and effort to make sure our organization is as healthy as our team members?  My guess is that it’s hard.  And requires us to think differently about the work we do.  That’s called innovation, my friends, and I’m betting every single one of you can find that word somewhere in your company mission or vision.

I’m looking forward to digging into this issue more.  Dovetail Software is hosting a webinar on May 22nd on the topic, and I’m geeked to get to moderate.  Especially since the panel consists of HR luminaries Steve Browne, Paul Smith and Amy Dillman.  You can go here to register.  No strings, I promise.  Totally free.  And if you don’t like it, I’ll personally refund your money.  How’s that for a proactive offer?

Louisiana was a different role and a different challenge. I served as master of ceremonies, as well as presenting on my very favorite topic, Lean HR. New Orleans requires you to be on point at all times, as there are may be those in the audience who sampled the nightlife and are a bit sluggish at times. While I honestly didn’t encounter much of that (Louisianians are a hearty bunch, I imagine), it is always in your mind.

in the end, the challenge for the speaker is the same. Overcome preconceived notions, both of the audience and your own, and focus to deliver a great experience. Not much different than everyday life in HR, I suppose. You go into each experience, each challenge with your eyes open and do your best to deliver a great performance. And, if you are lucky, you’ll be rewarded with engaged listeners/coworkers/employees.

Both stops delivered more than I expected in quality, kindness, attentiveness and feedback. I’m proud to have worked with them, and would return in a heartbeat.

Victorio Milian is a creative and versatile Human Resources practitioner operating in the retail industry. Alongside this, he has been an active blogger for the past 3 years, writing about Human Resources and business trends at his self-titled blog. 

In his words:  “My career path demonstrates an ability to take on new and greater challenges, successfully manage multiple agendas, as well as work across divisions and with diverse populations. This is Human Resources at its best-to maximize the people potential of an organization in order to create and sustain value. In short, I like working with smart people to do smart things.”

He’s wicked smart, and it’s an honor to share space with him.  After this, go check out the rest of his work.  You’ll be glad you did.

Social media is a double-edged sword. It has allowed me to express my thoughts and opinions on a variety of subjects. It has given me fantastic opportunities to network, gain knowledge in different areas, collaborate with creative and intelligent individuals. The benefits have by far outweighed the drawbacks, most of which have to do with time. There simply isn’t enough of it; like anyone I often have to balance multiple priorities so I have had to make the appropriate sacrifices. In the end they have been worth it and I’m a better professional (and person) as a result.

Yet having this platform does come with a price, at least for me. When I first started getting involved in social media, I was scared. Yes, scared. As a practitioner working for a major retailer I was scared at how my then employer would perceive my tweets, blog posts, and other online activities. If they put the pieces together what type of image would they see of me? As the person who was directly responsible for crafting policy and procedures for the company, would they see my efforts as contradictory to that role?

And so I started off as an anonymous blogger. It was hard work maintaining a dual role, one where I couldn’t speak publicly about what I did. When I or someone else would slip up, I would get nervous, thinking that sooner or later someone would guess my secret. After a while I couldn’t do it anymore, and I came out. It was a relief, but the fear took a long time to go away, because I still didn’t discuss it at work. It wasn’t until a co-worker casually mentioned a blog post of mine that they liked that I truly began to relax.

Nowadays I’m a jet setting HR blogger (sarcasm alert!) but it wasn’t always that way. And now I face a different issue, one that’s still based on fear. I now have an established platform through which people read and enjoy my work. I have gained a measure of influence and most importantly to me, respect from my peers. Yet I find myself hesitating to write certain posts, or broadcast certain opinions, because I’m afraid.

I resigned from my previous company in September. Since then I, along with millions of others, have been searching for a role, an organization, a place to be a part of. I know that eventually I will land in the right role or, barring that, create for myself. As with any job search there has been plenty of ups-and-downs.Unfortunately, there’s been many incidents where I’ve had to honestly question people’s professionalism. I don’t ask for perfection; what I do ask for is sticking to your word, following-up, and above all else, acting like you understand that the candidate is a human being, and should be treated as such.

They seem like simple words, and yet I could say so much more. I could be quite specific, naming names, dates, and what was done exactly that warranted my claims of unprofessional behavior. And unlike the average job seeker, I have several thousand connections, online and off, that I could be telling my story to. And that’s where the fear lies. I fear some days I will just not care about my reputation, one that I’ve built over many years, and let as many people as possible know exactly why they shouldn’t consider working for XYZ organization, or why they should avoid working with a particular recruiter.

Instead…

I’m going to let it go. I am putting the fear aside, so that you may get a clearer picture of me. Not because I’m scared, but because I’m a professional. I will not allow fear nor anger to guide my decisions. If there’s something to be learned from this–it’s that your decisions help reinforce mine, to be better, to be that professional that people respect, not just for the position they occupy, but because they lead with integrity and honesty. That is who I am as a person. It is what I will continue to demand from those that want to do business with me.

No offense intended to anyone involved in its production or the Wall Street Journal, but this article from Joseph Walker is at best off target and at worst dead wrong.  Here’s a taste…

“The human resources department is known for being touchy-feely, but in the age of big data, it’s becoming a bit more cold and analytical. From figuring out what schools to recruit from to what employees should be offered flexible work arrangements, data analytics are helping HR professionals make more informed decisions.”

That’s only a little, but it’s a good sample.  Click the link above for the rest, then come back.  I’ll wait.

(Full disclosure: I read the book when it first came out and loved it.  I was lukewarm on the movie because of how much was left out, as well as the fact that the focus changed dramatically from the book.  And I’ve played roto baseball for 20 years or so.  And I’m a huge dork.  Glad we got that out of the way.)

OK, welcome back.  Now here’s the thing.  Neither the movie nor the book is about statistical analysis.  At it’s core, it is about a team short on resources that has to find a new way to win the war on talent.  Yes, the Scott Hatteberg story is a nice one.  I don’t recall the movie showing anyone yelling “picking machine!” at him during spring training (as they did in real life…and the book), but still nice.  David Justice did have a middling season for the A’s.  The movie did, however, leave out the fact that those same A’s had three Cy Young contending starting pitchers on the squad that year (Hudson, Zito and Mulder) and that they were the reason the team won most of their games.

The article is, I’m guessing, referencing the movie, not the book.  But that’s ok.  It’s still off target.  As a practitioner, I’m a little offended by Walker’s insinuation that HR is just now starting to get hip to analytics.  I know plenty of smart HR folks that have been slicing and dicing numbers for years.  But that’s not the point, either.

The key to the “Moneyball” approach isn’t just running numbers.  It’s about finding hidden value that no one else is going after and capturing it for yourself.  Back to Hatteberg.  It wasn’t just that Billy Beane saw his OBP (On Base Percentage).  Anyone could see that.  The point was that no one else thought OBP was all that important.  That’s what made Hatteberg valuable.  Had it just been a matter of the statistics, big teams would have outbid Oakland.

The book also delves into the scouting and minor league management of the Oakland farm system.  The same principles are applied.  No, they haven’t worked out every time.  Jeremy Brown (the hitter shown in the last few minutes of the film, but a major discussion point in the book) still isn’t major league talent.  But that’s not the point.  The point is he was undervalued, and they went after him.  The statistics only support that strategy.  That’s the heart of Moneyball.

If HR were to truly adapt the Moneyball approach, here are the kinds of things you would see:

• Candidates who are, on paper, under-qualified for a role are interviewed and hired because despite not having the pedigree, they have demonstrated the right attitude and aptitude to become long term assets.
• Talent is sourced from a number of innovative sources that are known to produce good people and good workers.  An example I’ve seen in real life is an organization that made a huge push to recruit in a specific local ethnic group.  The eastern Europeans they went after were smart, capable and appreciative of an opportunity.  This group produced top performers, including their Employee of the Year.  Other hires were tough to keep around for more than a couple of years.
• Employees are reviewed not on how well they’ve done on their current role, but instead have their performance broken down into key skills.  Those skills are then translated into other roles they would be likely to handle successfully, and they are deployed in a way that maximizes their value to the organization.  Like Hatteberg moving from catcher to first base.

That’s what Moneyball is about.  New ways to source talent, new ways to use talent, new ways to get the most from your resources. The statistics make it go, but they are enablers, not the focus of the approach.

Once upon a time, I got up, went to work, left, and didn’t think about work again until the next morning.  I can’t remember exactly how long ago it was.  The end.

OK, maybe not.  But the idea of work life balance seems to be built on this idea.  You work when you work, you don’t when you don’t.  But that is, for many people, not the way the world works.  Or your brain.

I’ve had the chance to see Jason Seiden speak on more than one occasion, and there is a simple message he shares about solving complex work problems.  Sit someplace quiet, relax, and let your mind turn the problem over.  Your brain knows what to do.  It will get the answer from the depths of your subconscious.

The truth is these quiet moments are often hard to come by.  Other than putting them in your schedule, and hoping others respect it, you are most likely to find those moments at the end of the day, long after you’ve left the office.  But you take them as they come because they are valuable, and rarely do they show up on your timecard.

There is no such thing as a clearly defined “work time” and “life time” anymore.  We live in a knowledge based economy, and for many their value is defined by their creativity, judgement and intuition.  Not things that you could, or should, shut off when you walk out the door.  Should you have some quiet time in your schedule?  Of course.  Will some of it come during “normal” working hours?  Maybe.  Are you going to come up with some of your best ideas when you are off the clock, being blindsided by your own creativity and genius?  Sometimes.  Hopefully.

“Clean out a corner of your mind, and creativity will fill it.”  Dee Hock said that.  I agree.  It’s not about balance.  It’s about being effective and innovative when you can.  And your brain doesn’t have a built in timeclock.  Sorry.

So, if you hadn’t heard, this happened…

Dovetail Software Appoints Dwane Lay as Head of HR Process Design

Zips. Zip codes. Zip+4.  Best invention of the 20th century for interpersonal communications.  Aside from that Internet thing.  Robert Moon was no dummy.

Why is it genius?  Order from chaos, my friends.  Taking the country and breaking it down systematically into bite sized pieces.  Instead of 50 states, you have thousands of small sections.  Zeroing in on a street adress was never so simple.  Huge land mass, now in small, neatly wrapped packages.

We can take inspiration from this.  Order from chaos is our goal.  Taking the hectic, everyday traffic in an HR office and finding ways to harness that energy, bring an efficiency to the motion, and turning the tornado into a Whirling Dervish of productivity.  It’s not an easy task, and rarely one that we can take on without a burning platform of some sort.  Jim Collins was right on that point.  Break it up, break it down, and rebuild it.  That’s the only way to move forward.  It takes change to make change.

Makes you wonder what Robert Moon could have done in an HR department, doesn’t it?

Back in November, I started having splitting headaches.  Migraines, I was told.  Through my left eye and right out the back.  Always in the same spot.  Sometimes when I stood, they would be so sharp I needed a minute or two before I could function again.

Modern medicine came to the rescue.  MRI, MRA, CAT scan. Nothing out of place.  Medication that did little to help.  Neurology took a shot, too.  Different meds, some success.  The problem was that I’m not great about taking meds, so I’d miss them.  And the headaches came back.  For months this went on.  The whole time, there was this quiet, nagging thought about the cause, but I trusted medicine.  Finally, I did what I kinda knew from the beginning I should have done.  I got rid of my new pillow that I loved dearly.  All better.

That’s right.  I knew, deep down, what the problem was from the beginning, but I really liked the pillow.  Really, really liked it.  So I ignored my instincts and went looking for another answer.  I didn’t find it.  Go figure.

Every day, HR professionals go through their days looking for answers to problems that, deep down, we already have.  We want to find a new way to handle that problem employee, when the truth is we should be managing them out.  We try to build up people with training and development around their jobs, when what we should probably help with is decision making skills so we can rely on their judgement.  We work hours on employee engagement plans, when we know the real answer lies in management being able to say “thank you.”  And mean it.

Why? I suppose it is easier to look for an answer other than the one we don’t want to acknowledge.  There is a certain comfort in the unknown.  But real power comes from harnessing the answers we already have and using them.  Making good decisions, even the scary ones, quickly and efficiently.  Admitting what we already know as truth, and using it to change the world.

You have that power.  You have that knowledge.  You have the answers.

Use them.