Welcome To The Occupation

It's What You Know In HR

2012-05-29T07:42:00.000-04:00

In January of 2012, I took the Senior Professional Human Resources (SPHR) certification test. Signing up for the test, studying for the test, and finally taking the test were not easy for me. I struggled with scheduling it and consequently had to pay a late registration fee. I struggled with studying, setting aside time to do so and retaining what I read. I struggled with the notion of being tested and the fear of failing. The whole process was quite unpleasant.

Immediately after taking the test, I felt relieved. I also felt confused as to why I went through this process and what benefit it served.

Later that evening as I wrote about the experience for my blog, I realized the weeks studying were quite valuable. Typically, I spend a great deal of time reading human resources-type magazines, blogs and books focusing on the nuances of the field. Occasionally I revisit the basics when necessary and when relevant. But for the SPHR test, I had to immerse myself fully into all of the basics regardless of its personal relevance to me. Hence, I re-learned (and learned) some human resources information I had forgotten, and some of which now I have a better understanding.

The point is no human resources professional knows it all. Nor should he or she expect to. But to be proficient and efficient in this field, one must be on a constant learning path. Many of the basics of HR have remained consistent over the years. But how much of it have you forgotten or need to revisit? The HR field also changes because people change, organizations change, and society changes. To keep up on these nuances, how much time do you spend on this?

Obtaining and retaining this knowledge is important to the organizations that employ us. They count on us to know the basic HR laws. They also count on us to keep up with common law cases that shift the directions of policies and procedures. They count on us to understand individual and organizational psychology, and sociology. They count on us to observe political and societal changes that affect our values and beliefs. They count on us to be ready with all of this information for whenever the time is appropriate.

To be respected and valued as an HR professional in your field and your organizations, you have to bring a respectable value. And that respectable value is knowledge.

Thus, it is important to keep learning. After the basics are learned, learn them again; study for your PHR or SPHR; or take some online or offline courses. From there, continue to read news releases on court decisions, political changes, and fringe benefits for businesses. Continue to read books on the newest psychological theories and societal behaviors. And if you haven’t already, start reading blogs of other HR professionals. Blogs are a great way to network, reaffirm your convictions, and open your ears to leading practices.

The other place to learn is from you. With the highest degree of probability, every person fails. Mistakes are inevitable, and one must know and accept this. Achieving that knowledge gives one the strength and confidence to learn from their mistakes and succeed in the future.

There is a saying, “those who can’t do, teach.” This is extremely true of human resources. Human resources don't make the widgets, don’t write the report, and don’t fly the planes. We teach those people to do all of those things more efficiently, guide them through the risks, and ensure their success.

But before you can teach, you have to know. Before you can know, you have to learn. Before you can learn, you have to realize what you don’t know and be open to self-improvement. Therein is where you will find your value in any organization. It is and will always be what you know.

Acing the Phone Interview: Give It Your All When You Answer The Call

2012-05-16T07:13:00.000-04:00

The longer I work in HR, the more I question the behavior of job applicants. I don't freak out if there's a typo on a resume. But from garbled cover letters to strangely odoriferous interviewees, from lying to acting obnoxious, I wonder aren't folks paying attention to what damages their chances of employment? Aren't they paying attention to all the advice out there?

I think one of the most disregarded advices is how to act on a phone interview. (Guess what. If you're not paying attention while talking to me on the phone, I can tell.)

So when Melissa Crossman asked if she could do a guest post on the subject while I was on a blogging vacation, I said it obviously cannot be said enough times. Here's Melissa with some good advice...

The phone interview is a popular preliminary measure for hiring managers for many different reasons. For one, it saves more time and money than a formal in-person interview, while making it easier to filter out unfit candidates and increase accessibility for distant applicants. Despite the importance of this process, too many applicants immediately hear the word "conference call interview" and think of the process as an informal, less serious version of a traditional interview.

However, I can tell you I’m now sitting in my office chair because I took the phone interview seriously. My current company first called me to set up a phone interview, which did take me by surprise. We set up an appointment for a few days later, and I carved out time on my lunch schedule to take the call. A week later, I was called in for an actual interview. Ideally, you’ll be able to take a call at your home like I was, even if you have to make a little extra time for it. If you can’t, choose somewhere quiet, like an office or your car. But don’t fall into the trap of thinking that phone interviews aren’t important just because you’re sitting in a Subaru!

Since you likely came across this article by searching for phone interview tips, congratulations: You're one of the few who does value the importance of a phone interview. To make it a success, follow these top four crucial tips.

1. Create a "Cheat Sheet"

One of the best things about a phone interview is that the interviewer can't tell if you're referencing outside resources when answering questions. Although you'll want to research and rehearse as much as possible ahead of time, it helps to have a cheat sheet handy in case you get nervous or flustered during the interview. Compile a brief description of the company and the job you're applying to for reference during the interview, and have your résumé nearby as well. Always prepare for the most common opening discussion point in the interview, which is usually "Tell me about yourself." Plus, don't let a long, awkward moment of silence at the end of the phone interview occur. ALWAYS have a list of questions prepared to keep the conversation going and indicate your personal engagement.

2. Dress to Impress

The interview will have no idea whether you're wearing a suit and tie or a clown costume, but dressing in professional attire often helps to get you in the right mindset for the interview. One phone interview I’ve never been able to forget occurred while I was running late from my son’s soccer game, which was cut short by an unexpected rain storm. Even though I knew the interviewer couldn’t actually see me, I wasn’t exactly feeling my best in wet clothes, muddy shoes and frizzy hair. The self-consciousness I felt translated through the phone, and changed the way I would normally speak and act had I been more prepared and confident about my appearance.

3. Choose a Quiet and Inspiring Area

A home office is an excellent place to conduct a phone interview, but virtually any exclusive, quiet area will do to ensure a successful session. Before the interview, customize whatever space you have selected by including pictures of your professional idols (Steve Jobs, perhaps) along with your personal idols (Mom and Dad?) to add some psychological support throughout the session. If classical music really helps to get you thinking more fluidly, listen to some of your favorite composers before the interview is scheduled to begin. Try to think of the interview as a performance where you need to research the part and prepare extensively before being put in the spotlight.

4. Practice the Art of Active Listening

Remember that the interviewer can't see you making strong eye contact and nodding profusely to express your engagement in the conversation. To make up for body language falling short, utilize active listening methods to show that you are interested in the subject and paying attention to every word spoken. Some of these methods include repeating back part of the question you're asked or referencing points made earlier in the conversation. Remember to ask for the interviewer's name and contact information before beginning the interview to start the conversation off on a personal level.

Phone interviews may feel less natural and traditional than a face-to-face interview, but taking the right approach can often work in your favor. Above all, just remember to take the phone interview as seriously as you would any other interview. Since this will most likely be your first impression with the company, applying the above tips will allow you to truly make it count.

About the Author: Melissa Crossman blogs on behalf of OnConference and lives in Indianapolis with her husband and two kids.

Carnival of HR: The Cake Edition

2012-05-09T07:37:00.000-04:00

It's Carnival of HR time again at WTTO. And in keeping with my tradition of creating a theme around the selection of HR posts, this time it's all about cake.

No one was forced to write specifically about cake. But many did have a cake specific post, something related to frosting, texture, shape, layers, decorations, special occasions, candles, fire, burning the house down, why it's better than pie, 1990's bands that were one hit wonders, why things are easy, or reality TV shows. For those who didn't, it was no problem. All the writer had to do was provide the cake (a.k.a great post) and I put of layer of icing on it.

So for your confectionery pleasure, I present the
Carnival of HR: The Cake Edition.

HR has a tendency to create a large, lush, multi-tiered extravaganza of a cake with tons of frosting and decorations, when all we need is a single layer cake ...

Anita Lettink / Visions For HR: "HR Simplicity Challenge: The 5 Worst HR Policies"

But then again, flat cakes don't always do the trick. Sometimes you need depth to your cake. With the extravagant cake, you can mix different flavors of cake and frosting together, you can even sprinkle some cookie crumbs on top or mix in cookie dough ...

Lois Melbourne / Acquire Blog: "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie"

Cake tastes so good. Some even say it's good for you. Sometimes I wish that all food tasted like chocolate cake. If it did, I would eat it all day. But sometimes too much of a good thing can be too much and you have to hold back ...

Naomi Bloom / In Full Bloom: "Making My Peace With Not Knowing/Following/Connecting/Clicking Through Etc."

Some people though don't like cake and won't serve cake. When Dan sent me his link, he specifically told me, "No cake for you Milton." Why I never, I thought. But after reading Dan's post, I see he prefers pie instead. In fact, he sees every piece of the pie ...

Dan McCarthy / Great Leadership: "The Future Of Leadership Development"

Cake is perfect in so many ways. What many people don't realize is that cake is responsible for ending most of the wars on our planet. Cake brings people together and creates harmony and friendship. Let's see pie do that ...

Ben Eubanks / UpstartHR: "I Heart Cake Time"

Ian asks the existential question, "can cake be the icing on the cake?" I say yes! But I still like the icing to be the icing on the cake ...

Ian Welsh / Toolbox.com: "If I Knew You Were Coming I'd Have Baked You A Cake"

Many things are easy as cake. But leadership is not one of them. In fact, leadership is no cakewalk ...

Jesse Lyn Stoner / My Blog: "5 Pitfalls To Avoid When Identifying Team Values"

According to the song MacArthur Park, someone left the cake out in the rain. Why in the name of all that is holy would someone do that to a perfectly good cake? It just goes to show, people do strange things for strange reasons and it'll always remain a mystery ...

Robin Schooling / HR Schoolhouse: "Gratuitous Sex or Sex for Gratuities? An HR Story"

I have no patience once a cake has the last spread of icing on it. I don't want to wait for it to settle. I want to dig right into it. But sometimes there is value in taking a step back and marveling at all of its cake glory ...

Sandrine Bardot / Compensation Insider: "The Value of Post-Mortem Analysis for Compensation Projects"

Know yourself. If you want cake and need cake, don't wait for someone to get it for you ...

Lynn Dessert / Elephants At Work: "Knowing What You Want Versus What You Need"

I love TV shows where all they do is make cakes. It fascinates me to see the work of making a life-size car out of cake. Or creating replicas of football fields and store fronts. It's a great example of blending the love for a skill with the deliberate practice of enhancing talent ...

Susan Heathfield / About.com Human Resources: "Focus On Growing Your Strengths"

Cakes are like stories. The outside is different from the inside. And if you're the baker, you know what's inside. But to everyone else, they have to guess what's on the inside. As the baker, you better hope it taste good ...

Gautam Ghosh / Talent and Social Business: "Stories and Branding: What It Means For Employers"

How many different ways are there to make cake? You have your flour, eggs, chocolate, etc. But how much better can this recipe become? So you throw in a little vanilla, or rum, or butterscotch chips and next thing you know, you have your own recipe and it tastes fabulous ...

Dwane Lay / Dovetail Connect Blog: "Cake, Covers and Best Practices"

It's sad to think about cake becoming too expensive to afford. What would you do ...?

Shana Sweeney / Benefits Babble: "Benefits: It's More Than Just Cake"

Sometimes you can never have too many candles on the cake. But you should still know how many there are. It shows you know where you've been ...

Tim Gardner / The HR Introvert: "Heritage"

Sometimes cake should be for everyone and everywhere. Even at work ...

Nancy Saperstone / HR Initiative: "Happy Birthday To You"

And that is, how they say, the icing on the cake. Thanks to everyone who contributed. I hope everyone got their fill of cake. Just in case you need some more, here's The B-52's ode to "Cake" ...

Why HR Should Be The Comptroller's Best Friend

2012-05-06T09:48:00.000-04:00

Because Bert Doerhoff and I enjoyed working together on his previous post, "Your Company Turned You Into An HR Manager...Now What?" we decided to do it again. This time I wanted to explore how important the relationship between HR and Accounting is, and Bert again has some great advice. I'm particularly fond of #'s 3 and 4. Here's Bert...

In my history in accounting, I have always tried to foster a great relationship with the HR professionals. From what I have found, human resources professionals are great communicators, are empathetic, and have a decent sense of humor as well! Hence, they make great lunch companions! All generalizations aside, HR professionals have a difficult job, and it’s important for accountants to realize that. It's also important for HR to realize the difficult job of accountants.

In a small to medium-sized businesses, the Human Resources and Accounting departments often work closely with each other or have overlapping duties, especially in preparing payroll. If you fulfill a Human Resources role in your company, then you know how difficult it can be to report to and work closely with another department. HR professionals and accountants do not always see eye to eye, but it’s important to keep this relationship strong and stable to maintain the health and efficiency of the company.

Below, I have outlined some tips for keeping the level of teamwork at its absolute prime.

1) Realize you have similar strengths!

A lot of accountants’ work is keeping organized, keeping records and keeping track of numbers. When HR professionals perform their duties, this is exactly the quality that they should have! A good HR manager has an eye for any errors or mistakes with salaries, paycheck amounts, time sheets or billing periods. Remembering this common strength between the two departments can foster an environment of teamwork rather than conflict.

2) Clearly define the division of labor.

Sometimes there is gray area between the HR and accounting departments, so it’s crucial to carefully define which duties fall under which department in your company. This division of labor will truly depend on the size and nature of the business. Enlist the help of the boss to define which responsibilities lie in each department.

Typically, Accounting would handle any duties that require extensive calculations – commission input, deductions or earning codes and retirement plans, while HR managers deal with the “employee side,” handling pay complaints or retirement plan enrollment. Defining these roles early will help prevent confusion in the future and ultimately help HR managers do their job better.

3) Don’t be afraid to coach.

Sometimes accounting and finance personnel can become so involved with the numbers that they lose sight of the human factor that drives the company. Let them know how the business is running and the overall mood of the employees. It’s important for the entire team to understand the company culture, and being hunkered down over data and numbers is one easy way for accountants to lose sight of that.

4) Learn the lingo.

HR managers don’t have an accounting degree, and they’re not expected to have one. However, it can be immensely beneficial to learn the basic financial tools that are used. What are accrued revenues? When is the accounting period? How do you set up a balance sheet? Having this fundamental knowledge will help HR managers fill the gap between HR and accounting. It also lets accountants know that you’re making an effort to understand their work. It can be a great idea to set up a meeting every couple weeks to go over financial topics so that all employees are on the same page.

5) Keep your eye on the goal.

Remember why you chose your company in the first place. You probably chose it because the business showed promise, had a positive company culture and dealt in an industry you enjoy. If you are sometimes asked to take on roles that should truly be done by Accounting, go ahead and take on the project. The ultimate goal is the success and growth of the company.

These tips will help maintain a stellar relationship between HR and Accounting and help both departments perform their best work. If you're lucky, not only will this promote teamwork and passion for the work, but maybe you'll get a new best friend out of it too.

About the Author
Bert Doerhoff is the owner and founder of Accubiz, a firm providing accounting services out of Jefferson City, Missouri, which specializes in small business accounting. Prior to starting his own business, Doerhoff worked for Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co., currently known as KPMG. He has been chosen multiple times by CPA Digest for the “Digest 50 Award,” representing one of the top 50 CPA firms in the nation.

Gen Y Hiring and T2

2012-05-02T20:21:00.000-04:00

"So what brought you here?"

"Curtis sent me an email," was my response to Geoff Webb's question. We were sitting in a small room somewhere in the behemoth of the Gaylord Resort and Hotel outside of Washington D.C. We were summoned to this room because Dice.com and Clearancejobs.com were hosting a brunch for the speakers of a new unconference hosted by SHRM and Curtis Midkiff.

Curtis is known on Twitter as @SHRMsocmedguy. He's also known for bringing social media interests to SHRM. This time he brought some friends as he created an unconference experience for early arrivals of SHRM's Talent Management conference. He called it T2.

He also didn't tell me that much more about it. Curtis sent me an email asking if I wanted to be a panelist on the topic of Talent Management. Because it was Curtis, I didn't ask questions. I didn't care if the other panelists were stuffed shirts or morons. I immediately said yes.

Fortunately for me, my panel was nothing less than stellar. Matt Charney, Jessica Miller-Merrell, Joey Price and I spoke for a rapid fifty minutes. We were graciously held together by our facilitator, Aliah Wright.

What was not fortuitous for me was the subject matter: hiring millennials. This is certainly not my expertise. In fact when asked at brunch for a tip on hiring millennials, it took me a good five minutes to quietly sort through the cynical and snarky thoughts in my head before I replied, "we don't hire millennials. We hire people."

I thought that was some profound stuff. It also became the glue that held my random thoughts together during the panel discussion. Amidst my random comments were some great points by the panelists on mentorships, the importance of Klout, quality vs. quantity of social media presence and the validity of generation separation.

Aside from my panel, T2 had three other panels on the topics of talent communities, corporate culture and candidate experience, and cool tools for recruiters . To get a thorough rundown of these panels, Geoff Webb gave a great overview of the entire show on his website. He even quoted me, after I declared my age of 47. I said, "when I was 20, I felt entitled." (Picture my mother reading this and nodding her head.) Then, in turn I quoted Louie CK on how for the first 20 years of your life all you do is consume and judge. The jury's still out if that was one of my finer moments.

Nevertheless, the conference and the panel was not about me. It was about an opportunity to bring the unconference experience closer to the SHRM general membership.

I know that unconference in some circles is already passe or considered ridiculous. But I'm still a big fan of the unconference. It levels the playing field between the presenters and the audience. It allows for more interaction between the two before, during and after the presentation. It also allows for folks like myself who may not have the biggest brain in the room to have a place to speak their minds.

I'm glad SHRM put this together. It was interesting and energizing. It was a new venture for SHRM. Hopefully it's not the last.

HR: From The End Of The World To Your Town

2012-04-29T08:30:00.002-04:00

"Isn't HR more interested in their employer than their employee?"

A dear old friend of mine wrote these words to me this week. He has a workplace situation and was looking for some reasonable advice. I've given advice before to family and friends. Usually the questions are conventional which this question was too. But this time, I felt a certain amount of fear from this question.

I read a couple of HR blogs that regularly offer advice to their readers (Ask A Manager, Evil HR Lady). Their posts are laden with the disparages, disgusts, and misconceptions about the work place. For the most part, they're easy to read from an outside point of view and to shake your head in disbelief for two seconds. It's also comforting to read their thoughtful solutions and to nod your head in agreement for two seconds, and then move on. But when it's someone you care about, and their situation is life-altering, you hope you're pointing them in the right direction, and they steer their vessel correctly.

However it works out, I think my friend is lucky to have a friend in HR. When I think of all the people that don't and have to rely on advice columnists, I think it's a shame. The workplace affects us all and we should all have a friend in HR.

What if everyone did? Would it dispel the myths that HR is "more interested in their employer than their employee?" Would it change the workplace dramatically and alleviate (if not remove) the disparages and disgust? Would it put everyone in a better place?

Nathaniel Burrage vs. FedEx Freight

Having a friend in HR probably would have helped Nathaniel Burrage. In short, Burrage was denied a trial over claims of race and national origin discrimination he made against his employer, FedEx Freight. He alleged he was harassed by his supervisor because they referred to him as "Mexican" and "cheap labor." Burrage was not Mexican, but encountered this misconception because of his skin color .

After years of enduring these taunts and many others, Burrage filed a charge. The primary reason the court denied trial was because Title VII, unlike the ADA, doesn't make a provision for perceiving someone of a protected class. Thus, they held that the taunts amounted "to incomprehensible name calling."

There was a "but for" test that was applied in the court's decision. The Sixth Circuit court held that "[c]onduct that is not explicitly race-based may be illegally race-based and properly considered in a hostile-work-environment analysis when it can be shown that but for the employee's race, [he] would not have been the object of harassment." But for this to apply, Burrage was expected to demonstrate "white employees were not subjected to the same treatment" which he could not.

The court's analysis also noted Burrage failed to take advantage of any preventive or corrective opportunities provided by FedEx Freight's anti-harassment policy. Burrage "admitted knowledge of this policy and its procedures" but did not talk directly to anyone in HR. He testified at his deposition "that he had heard from others over the years that these procedures were ineffective, so he did not bother to use them."

Raised and Regimented, Hardly A Hero

It's unfortunate that Barrage did not follow the bureaucratic line to take care of his claim. After reading the case summary, I think it's clear he was harassed based on national origin. Maybe not his national origin. But national origin nevertheless. If he had not relied on presumptions and received good advice, perhaps he would never landed in court in the first place. Perhaps if he had known someone personally who knew HR, he would have been able to resolve his complaint internally and been able to have a better work life.

Perhaps it's not always possible to have someone in your life who's experienced in HR that can help one maneuver through the deluge. If one does, one should reach out. If not, start searching for one.

But back to my friend's original question, "Isn't HR more interested in their employer than their employee?". The answer is no. HR is raised and regimented for both the employer and the employees.

It reminds me of the Elton John song lyric, "from the end of the world to your town." Good HR can bring you back from the feeling it's the end of the world to the comfort of your town, your home, and yourself. We do it for both the employer and the employees. Granted we may not always be Captain Fantastics, but the good ones give it their best shot.

There Are No HR Geniuses

2012-04-22T08:22:00.000-04:00

In the late 90's, I used to listen to Howard Stern every week day morning. I worked in a warehouse where every radio was tuned to his show. So it was inescapable.

I don't remember much about the show except his reasons for divorce and his viewpoint on geniuses.

Every once in awhile, a caller into the show would call Howard a "genius" which he would in turn revile. He would say things like, "I'm a radio show host. Thomas Edison was a genius. He invented the light bulb. Hosting a radio show doesn't equate to inventing the light bulb."

I couldn't agree more.

Recently, I heard someone describe someone as an HR Genius and I had a similar feeling of revulsion. For the record, it wasn't me being called a genius. But it struck me that this language is not only inaccurate but unnecessary.

source: http://www.goldiechiari.com/books.php

The only way someone could be a genius in HR is if they could read minds and predict the future. Also, this type of aggrandizement creates images that make it difficult for others to actually understand the real meaning of HR.

In HR, we have enough problems getting our organizations and people outside of HR to truly understand what we do and who we are. When we use phrases such as HR Genius, HR Rock Star, or HR Thought Leader, what are we saying to the outside world? What are we saying about ourselves?

I know we want to be seen as important in the business world. But these types of phrases strike me as non-substantive, attention-seeking, and insecurity-revealing.

I predict that many people won't agree since these phrases are bandied about frequently. But I can't imagine my boss or anyone in the organization describing me as any of these things. Only HR people are using them. And if only HR people are using them, don't you think this is just a means of upping a profile that exists only in your head?

HR is not the line of business. The business is the business. Without the business, HR is nothing. Get secure with that and you won't need these monikers.

HR Is Like A Big Cable-Knit Sweater

2012-04-15T09:01:00.000-04:00

This week, I received this message on Twitter: "I gave @pasmuz a +K about Human Resources."

Sounds cool, huh? But instead of feeling grateful, I responded sarcastically, "Why? I don't know anything about Human Resources."

Considering I work in human resources, write and speak about it, this proclamation may not make sense. It may cause some to question my credibility or even my sanity.

But in reality, I wasn't having a moment of self-doubt, or sorrow, or stress. Sometimes, I seriously wonder, what do I really know about Human Resources. Sure I can run a department. I can teach the basics and the nuance of leading practices. I can write and enforce policy. I can implement reorganizations and enhance company culture. I can do all of this standing on one leg with my hands tied behind my back.

But I don't think I will ever fully understand the human as a working resource. Humans have some set patterns but not all are transparent. Humans are full of assumptions, presumptions, and judgements which cloud their thinking. Humans protect themselves socially in the face of perceived threats. Humans will make unexpected mistakes in the guise of best intentions. Humans will consciously create chaos.

All of this human behavior (and more) is happening at every work place right now. And HR is expected to manage this resource.

Even though the best HR professionals are a combination of psychologist, lawyer, parent, and insurance agent, it doesn't make them beyond human. HR are not flies on the wall or mind readers. HR cannot be everywhere at all times, and they cannot predict the future.

It's possible to have a high degree of skill and knowledge in Human Resources. But even experts are baffled by the unpredictability of humans.

In some ways, it's maddening. It's like a mystery that can't be solved. And "when you've gone over something again and again and again and again like I have, certain questions get answered. Others spring up. The mind plays tricks on you; you play tricks back!

It's like you're unraveling a big cable-knit sweater that someone keeps knitting and knitting and knitting and knitting and knitting and knitting and knitting..."*

*Excerpt from Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Warner Bros. films, 1985.

Link to source: http://youtu.be/XjSVRsoBYNY

10 Human Questions Interviewees Should Ask

2012-04-08T10:04:00.000-04:00

Yes I know it appears that I’m hung up on lists lately. 175 Top this. 7 Habits of that. But this idea presented itself and I couldn’t resist.

The idea came from someone I know who hates the modern-day workforce. From his brain__ to his mouth__to my ears, ideas flow frequently. So when he said, “you know, the question I want to ask in an interview is ______, but I know I can’t,” I thought of four more questions immediately.

His question (which I'm opting to not share) was sad. It made me think about the anxiety of interviewees and how interviewers have most of the advantages in that environment.

I also think that interviewees don't do enough to balance out the process. They let the employer say the organization has a great culture, great benefits, great everything. But rarely do they test this with real solid questions.

It's one thing to ask questions about the job ("What's a normal day like?") or benefits ("When am I fully vested?"). Employers expect this and interviewers are prepared to answer these questions. But it's out of the ordinary to ask, "Is my boss going to be a jerk?"

One certainly could be that bold. But I think interviewees could be better served by asking less abrasive but yet pointed questions. I think an interviewee should get to the heart of an organization, its culture, and its human side. I made a list of ten questions that I think could do the trick.

Question 1: If I decide to have sexual reassignment surgery, will there be an issue with the bathroom I use?

Question 2: If I need to take FMLA, will I be told it’s in my best interest to not take all 12 weeks?

Question 3: Are you more concerned about me looking busy or my job outcomes?

Question 4: Are you going to tell me I’m doing a great job, give me a 1% raise, and post the company’s record-breaking billion dollar earnings?

Question 5: Rank in order of importance: the employees, the customers, the stakeholders.

Question 6: If I’m sexually harassed or if I suffer from discrimination, are you going to bury my complaint and tell me that I have a perception problem?

Question 7: On a scale from 1 to 5, how difficult is it to make decisions on which health insurance you offer?

Question 8: If I get up from my desk and computer to stretch my legs and walk around after sitting for hours, will I be reprimanded, ostracized, or frowned upon?

Question 9: What websites does your company block?

Question 10: If this company was a breed of dog, which one would it be?

I admit question 10 is a little abrasive. But I think it should be used if an interviewer asks something similarly nonsensical that cannot be tied back to any job that exists, or ever existed anywhere in the world.

I also admit some of these questions are hard to ask. But I also think they could be hard to answer. So I direct more of my complaint to the organization that is afraid to answer these questions.

If your organization could answer all of these questions in an honest mature manner, I applaud you.

If you can't, then I hope you can't acquire good talent and your lack of humanity comes back to bite ...

Like a big dog.

7 Habits for Directing An HR Dept.

2012-04-01T08:10:00.000-04:00

"Any time you hit a nerve, there’s real learning somewhere in the neighborhood." - John Sumser
____________________________________________________________
Even though seven months have past since my promotion, people still ask, "how's the new job going?" I think it's kind that people ask. It's still recent in their memories.

For me, it seems a lot longer than seven months. I had been prepping myself for this role for years. I also served as the Interim HR Director for six months before the promotion. Thus the transition seemed effortless.

Working with my new boss during the interim six months helped with the transition. When people ask me what my boss is like, I say, "it's like I'm directing a movie, and he's the executive producer. I have creative control and he shows up once in awhile to make sure the money's being spent right." Continuing with that metaphor, I realize I had been training for this role for a long time by directing music videos for indie bands, writing scripts, and working in the editing room on other movies.

Still that experience doesn't teach you everything. Nor does Director's School. For example, how do you use your talents to create an effective movie? Or how do you develop your own style? These things you learn on your own, as you go, and on the job.

Developing your style depends on your own talent and how much room you're given to develop your talent. It also depends on how much self-awareness you have about your values and how much room you give yourself to grow. Hence, there are billions of individual ways to go.

There are also tons of resources to assist you with developing a style. Everyone has thoughts about "best" practices and hence they are a dime a dozen. So you have to develop your own style. I think I've developed my own style and simply boiled it down to seven habits. These are not my "best" practices. These are my leading practices that are extensions of my talent and shape my style. To be an effective Director this is what is working for me.

1. If you need clarity, get up from your desk.
Do you hear that voice inside your head? The voice that says, "what you're about to say on the phone, or via email won't solve the problem." Listen to that voice. That voice is talking because you know you're headed for misunderstanding. Get up from your chair, walk down the hall, and make the connection face-to-face.

2. Find someone who will tell you what you DON'T want to hear.
This does not mean find someone who will tear down your self-esteem. It means find someone at work who you have a good relationship who doesn't sugarcoat or B.S. you. You need to hear ugly truths. Some of it's uncomfortable to hear. This doesn't mean you have to change everything that everyone dislikes. But you'll have a more realistic picture of yourself.

3. Get over yourself.
Not everyone at all times will think like you. Remember, you're directing, not controlling. Unless you are the only employee, there are actors, designers, and writers working for you and with you, to create a great movie. You're also paying them to do a job. Let them do their jobs. And you do yours.

4. Tell stories based on psychological studies.
If you want to be a source of knowledge for your organization that goes beyond what you know about HR, then read about psychology. There are some great books by David Rock, the Heath Brothers and Robert Calliani, to name a few, that are full of examples to share with management and staff. Help them with change management and conflict resolution with stories related to their issues.

5. Ask employees, "what are your expectations of me?"
Sometimes it is unclear what employees need, especially when it seems they need something from you. But don't ask them what they need; that's a tall order. It's also the wrong framework because it can create a dependency. You're there to help them, and then to get out of their way so they can get back to work on their own.

6. Tell your boss the source of your advice.
No one knows you better than yourself. Your boss did not live your life, or can read your mind. Convey to them who influences you. Your boss needs to know you're a credible source. If he or she is smart, he or she knows you didn't think of everything without influence. But they need to know who is influencing you.

7. Bring your network into your job.
If you're like me, you know a lot of smart and helpful people. Find a method to invite those outside people in. This plays to #6. But it also gives your network a better view of who you are and what you're doing. If you want your network to be a source of help, they need the best view they can get.

There are probably more than seven that I can share with you. But seven is a manageable number for lists and hence is easier for you to take with you on your journey. Seven is also a favorite Prince song. Seven is the number of Magnificent. And it's the number of deadly sins.

So think of these 7 habits, or 7 habits you create, as a means to avoid the 7 sins. But don't mistake sin for the pangs of discomfort you feel, and the pangs you notice in others. That discomfort means someone is learning, and hence growing. And there's no sin in that.

"You lot! What?! Don't stop! Give it all you got!"

Your Company Turned You into HR Manager… Now What?

2012-03-25T09:32:00.000-04:00

When Bert Doerhoff, founder of Accubiz, an accounting firm specializing in small business accounting approached me about doing a guest post, I suggested this topic. I think he's done a good job of writing on an all-to-common practice. Below is his good advice...

There’s a certain beauty to a small business. It all runs like a well-oiled machine. A team of employees manages the front-end of the businesses, handling clients or customers. Simultaneously, a separate group of employees handles billing or answers phone calls. Still others handle social media or keep the bookkeeping records. Perhaps a different employee does all data filing, while the head of the company oversees all the actions, ensuring that each process is running smoothly and efficiently.

However, at some point in the growth of a company, a Human Resources Department must be developed. This team is needed to oversee hiring of new employees, ensure company compliance with state and federal laws, handle employee paperwork, reward employees and maintain the desired company culture.

Oftentimes, when businesses grow to a size that warrants an HR Department, the employees delegated into a Human Resources management role are those who handle accounting and bookkeeping. Why is this?

Those who handle bookkeeping and accounting in a business are oftentimes the ones who manage the payroll. In that aspect, they are already familiar with the employee team because they’re collecting time sheets or monitoring salaries. Therefore, it seems natural to put them in roles of hiring employees. This is an extremely important aspect of Human Resources, but if an accounting employee is familiar with the logistics and culture of the company, they can do a satisfactory job at hiring new team members.

However, HR duties rarely end there. As a business grows larger and larger, this “accounting-turned-HR employee” will become responsible for more and more HR duties, including the firing of inept employees, enforcing labor laws within the organization, monitoring employee relations, handling employee disputes, managing commission systems or acting as a liaison between the company and a labor union.

At the beginning of the transition, this “accounting-turned-HR” employee was maybe splitting their work 90/10, meaning that 90% of their duties were accounting-related, while merely 10% were HR-related, representing their duty of hiring new employees. However, by the time a full HR Department is intact, this employee may be splitting their time 10/90, meaning that their duties have flipped from being almost all accounting to almost all human resources. This could be a problem.

The question becomes, “How long can someone with no HR training effectively perform an HR role along with their original position?”

Well, the answer is: not very long.

Many human resource managers have Bachelor’s or Master’s degrees in human resources administration or management. They have interned at a variety of companies in the HR Departments. They are familiar with labor laws and understand the logistics and structure of companies. Also, they are trained in reading resumes, interviewing candidates and communicating with all company departments.

An accounting employee, while talented in his or her own area, is simply not trained to do this. Depending on the size of your business, it’s important to predetermine a safe ratio responsibility from your original role to an HR role. The smaller the company, the more HR responsibility you will probably be able to handle.

For example, a small 5-person business working out of a small office does not warrant a typical HR Department. For them it’s efficient to handle those HR roles themselves. Conversely, for a 200+ person company, having accountants reading cover letters or mediating employee disputes simply makes no sense.

Here are some important guidelines for individuals who have begun to take on Human Resources roles within their companies:

Determine your “safe ratio.” A good rule of thumb is that one should never be spending more than 25% of their time performing duties other than for the reason for which they were hired. This means that if one is spending 50% of their time handling company-to-employee issues, then it’s time to hire on a Human Resources manager, at least on a part-time basis.

Be open about what you can handle. If your boss assigns HR roles to you, then that is a good sign. It means that they trust you and see strong communication skills. However, these new responsibilities will undoubtedly cut into time allotted for accounting or bookkeeping work, so be sure to communicate with your boss your capacity level.

Avoid a conflict of interest. Typically, HR managers act as unbiased mediators between the company and its employees. If an accountant finds his or herself fielding complaints from coworkers, it becomes a tricky situation because they are not as removed from the issue as they should be. If you find yourself in this gray area, be vocal about that toward your boss. Ultimately, they will respect you for trying to stay neutral in conflict resolutions.

Educate yourself. If you’re taking on new duties in an HR role, then it will be worth your while to do a little self-educating. While we recommend trained-HR persons to primarily perform HR roles that does not mean you cannot teach yourself certain skills. Read human resources blogs and find articles about topics that interest you.

Make sure you’re on the same page as the owner. In an HR role, you are expected to have a very firm grasp of your company’s culture, the type of employees desired and the level of work ethic required when making hiring decisions. Because of this, it is extremely important to be in sync with your boss’ expectations here. Before you begin to fulfill HR duties, have a meeting with them to discuss these topics. What type of candidates is ideal? What characteristics are necessary in new employees? Do they need to hold a degree? Have prior work experience? What are possible deal breakers in a job applicant? Knowing these outlines will help you make decisions that your boss would make, and will ultimately help you perform your role most effectively.

In conclusion, we do believe that in small company environments, employees not specifically trained in HR can fulfill human resources roles. However, it is important to proceed with caution to ensure that these HR roles are handled professionally and efficiently as possible since there is a lack of professionally trained HR personnel. Following these guidelines will help you excel in your new duties.

About the Author: Bert Doerhoff is a CPA and the founder of Accubiz, an accounting firm based out of Jefferson City, Missouri that specializes in small business accounting and payroll services. Doerhoff has been elected as Director for National Association of Small Business Accountants and he is a speaker at national and state-level conferences on various business management topics.

Where's The Employee Choice In The Engagement Equation?

2012-03-18T08:27:00.000-04:00

Fortunately for me babies are very resilient. Many years ago when we babysat my six-month old nephew, I accidentally bumped his head (lightly I add). As his face began to scrunch preparing to wail, I saw his parents pull into our driveway. Knowing they would be concerned, I immediately said to my nephew in the nicest tone, "Noooo. Don't cry." Then I waved my hands in his face, saying "Haaappeey," (mimicking Will Farrell's Mugatu character in the Zoolander movie) repeatedly. Thank providence, he didn't cry and looked like a happy baby for his parents.

How Do You Feel?

It's interesting what makes babies tick. A small bump on the head causes confusion and then the need to communicate. For babies, crying is communicating. Depending on what he or she wants to say, the crying could be short or it can be long and loud.

As adults, we're not too different from this model. We too look to communicate and for someone to say, "haaappeey." Also as adults, we're quick to prevent people from crying. But even after a person stops crying, how do we know if he or she is really happy? or still sad? They might say so. We might ask them to tell us. But, it may be what they think you want to hear.

Truth is, we have no idea. We've spent the past hundred years studying psychology. For the past sixty, we've been studying employee psychology. But we're still learning.

Engage Me

From Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to McGregor's X and Y Theories, from Vroom's Expectancy Theory to Gallup's Q12, we spend a great deal of time trying to get into our employees' head. The goal may be stated that it's to make employees happier. But what we really want is for them to be productive and for them to keep that productivity in our organizations.

At the TLNT Transform conference two weeks ago, Gerry Ledford spent over an hour speaking about engagement and how organizations need to create environments that allow for high performance. It's not enough to act like Santa Clause giving them gifts and expecting them to be happy. Ledford points out there is nothing to support the notion that job happiness equates with job productivity. It's quite possible to hate your job and continue to be a high performer. Thus he questioned, is engagement more of a by-product of performance, instead of the cause of good performance?

In his February 20, 2012 TLNT article, Ledford expounds,"PDE [Performance Driven Engagement] requires a careful analysis of the needs of the organization as reflected in its business strategy, organization design, technology, and desired culture. PDE also requires an understanding of the many levers that can drive performance and engagement, including compensation, benefits, work design, development opportunities, selection, performance management, and a sense of affiliation with the organization (leaders, supervisors, and peers).

A good strategy involves selecting a few things to do very well, not trying to make changes using all of the levers at once. Blindly copying the practices of competitors is lazy and likely to fail as a competitive strategy. A good strategy also seeks competitive advantage by doing a few things superbly that competitors are not doing or are not doing well."

This is a start in the right direction. But I still think something is missing from this equation. It's the employee.

Employees Are Adults

Too many conversations about engagement make it the employer's responsibility to create and maintain employee engagement. There's nothing wrong with external triggers from the employer. But no matter what employers do and say in lieu of these triggers, employees choose to acknowledge these triggers and choose to act upon them. Thereby, making all efforts questionable.

This is not to say as employers we shouldn't try to engage, or create environments that induce high productivity. I'm saying as adults, employees make their own decisions. They make their own decisions about their engagement. They make decisions about when they want to be engaged, how much they want to be engaged, and how long they want to be engaged. During the course of a day, levels of engagement increase and decrease, hour by hour, sometimes minute by minute.

Think about your own engagement. Are you engaged 100% of the time, all day long? I know I'm not. I like my job and feel engaged. But I'm not as engaged on Monday at 9 am as I am on Thursday at 3 pm. Furthermore, that low engagement on Monday might last hours. It might last minutes. On Thursday, it could be the same pattern. Or it could be the complete opposite.

But all of my engagement has nothing to do with my employer. It has to do with me. On Mondays, I chose to create a situation where I didn't sleep enough the night before. Hence, on Monday I need more time to readjust to my job environment. On Thursdays, perhaps I'm realizing that if I don't kick myself into high gear, I'm going to have to work on the weekend.

Furthermore, it's unrealistic to believe my employer knows about all of my engagement levels that I have all day long. This is why I focus on the work outcomes. This is why I tell managers to let employees make their own choices and focus on the overall production. This is why I call my method Choice Management.

Choice Management: A Snapshot

Choice Management simply focuses on treating employees as adults, instead of parents or children. Considering this simple triptych archtype, adults make choices for themselves. Whereas parents decide choices for others, and children have choices made for them.

Treating employees like adults means to create a work environment where they're assured of status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness, and fairness*. From there, employees as adults choose their levels of engagement. Management gets out of employees' heads and doesn't focuses on their internal engagement. They only focus on creating an adult work environment and work outcomes.

When I think back to my nephew and the unfortunate bump, I had to treat him like a baby. That's because he was one. But I don't want to treat my employees like this. And where they fit into the equation is they don't want to either. They are adults. They want to be treated as adults. They want to make choices.

It's time to start treating them as such.

*David Rock, author of "Your Brain At Work", SCARF model

HR Examiner's List of Top 175 Influencers

2012-03-16T18:19:00.000-04:00

Lists are fun. They are fun to read and can be fun to create. Lists can also be fun to be on if it's a good thing. (Who wants to be on the 10 Most Renowned Dog Abusers List?)

Lists can also demonstrate popularity. But they can also demonstrate that you're doing something right.

John Sumser and the folks at HRExaminer.com recently created a list of top online influencers within the HR world. HR Examiner is a "magazine focused on the people, technology, ideas and careers of senior leaders in Human Resources and Human Capital." They take the approach that, "There is no one-size-fits-all HR approach. Each company is different. We show you the people, systems and products that are changing the places we work and how we think about work."

To create the list, they recently searched for the most popular topics in online discussions within the HR industry. Of 125 subjects, here are the Top 10 that had the highest level of activity in the past six months.

Alternative Dispute Resolution
Wage Garnishment
Service Level Agreement
Unemployment Compensation
Career Podcast
Workplace Bullying
Voluntary Benefits
Americans With Disabilities
Exit Interview
HR Certification

Additionally, they searched to see who was paying the most attention to the top ten topics. Essentially, who is in the middle of things representing the pulse of the industry. Of the thousands of blogs and tweeters involved in HR online conversations, they created a list of 175.

This is not the first time I've been on a list. But as I thought about what they were attempting to do and how they created the list, I thought landing #71 on this list was something to be proud of. Like any statistical approach, their method behind the list is arguable. (One can read about the creation and criteria of the list here and here.) Nevertheless, I created a list as to why I'm proud to be on their list.

Online, I attempt to be informative and helpful with current HR issues.
I devote a good amount of time contributing to the online "conversation."
I wasn't chosen because I'm so lovable.
I was chosen because of the online work I've been doing.
It feels like I'm doing something right.

No one should think if they're not on this list that they're doing something wrong. But for the people who are, no matter where you landed, it says that your time spent is valuable and you're also doing something right.

Congratulations to all for doing the work and keeping the conversation going.

This Is The Way It Won't Stay

2012-03-11T07:57:00.001-04:00

Frequently, I make the comment at work, "what if I walk outside and get hit by a bus and die?" I don't say this to be morbid or funny (if you're so inclined). I say this because I want my office to be able to operate without me. I want there to be systems in place that ensure I'm easy to replace. Strange as it may sound, our goal is to prepare for my death.

In my personal life, it's not too different. My partner and I are as legally bound and protected as we can be in the result of one of our deaths. Our money and our property are set to transfer to the other. We also have power of attorney in the event that it's needed.

I would also be able to take time off to care for him if he was sick. But knowing his company's benefit package, it's unlikely he would be able to do the same for me. Moreover, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania offers no protection for either of us if a hospital decides to deny visitation rights.

Even though there are work-arounds for many of these situations, it still is disconcerting that we lack certain legal protections that opposite-sex couples enjoy.

The Darker Side Of Town*

Occasionally, I read about a legal case that offers some hope. Even in cases where the plaintiff loses, such as Kimberly Copeland v. Mid-Michigan Regional Medical Center, I love the fact that she challenged the federal laws of Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) bringing the issues of inequity to the forefront.

In short, Copeland's same-sex partner, Annie Schuell was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in October 2007. Schuell worked for the same employer as Copeland. Their employer was aware of their relationship and of Schuell's illness. Despite this, Copeland was denied intermittent leave under the FMLA.

Copeland subsequently applied for FMLA leave for her own depression due to the situation. This was denied due to the lack of a completed doctor's certification form. Additionally, after a series of minor disciplinary actions between February and May of 2009, and a more serious one in July, 2009 which Copeland claimed to be a misunderstanding of the rules, Copeland's employment was terminated. All five decision-makers involved in the termination were aware of Copeland's relationship with Buell and of Buell's illness.

Copeland filed a complaint in February, 2011 claiming her employer violated her FMLA rights by failing to provide leave, and for discriminating against her because of her association with a disabled person.

Copeland's argument under FMLA was due to the employer's handbook offering FMLA for sick family members. Of course to Copeland, Buell was a family member because they were partnered since February, 1990. Plus, in May, 2000 Buell was demoted because Buell was Copeland's supervisor which was a violation of the employer's "Employment of Family Members" policy. But despite the employer handbook and policies, the federal law defines family members as a spouse, child, or parent. Hence she lost this argument quickly.

Under the ADA though, her argument was based on the distraction theory of associational discrimination. Essentially, the discrimination is an assumption by the employer that an employee is inattentive at work because of the disability of a person with whom they are associated. In Copeland's case, she claimed that the employer deliberately created a paper trail of her poor performance after Buell's diagnosis in order to cover up the real reason for termination. Copeland was unable to show the inference and this was also dismissed.

Another Game To Play*

After reading the summary which can be found here, I recognize there is a valid paper trail leading to termination for workplace violations. But I wonder though, if Copeland had been in a opposite-sex relationship, would the outcome have been different?

Under the FMLA, the employer has a responsibility to create an interactive process that guarantees an employee's rights aren't violated. This involves constant communication and conversation about the employee's situation and the courts have ruled in an employee's favor for violating this. In Copeland's case there is no mention or clue of an interactive process that involved her depression or stress due to her partner's illness.

But her ADA case would probably have had the same outcome if she was in an opposite-sex relationship. What is different is her supposition took a different view of unfair treatment. She claimed her discrimination was due to her homosexual relationship with a disabled person. This may seem outrageous. But considering the inequities in federal law for the LGBT community, I think it's an interesting twist to the increasing complexity of the discrimination definition under the ADA.

Now's The Time To Look*

I know this case probably had a snowball's chance. But it interests me because it draws attention to the lack of protection for LGBT partners under the FMLA. It also draws attention to what I see as a lacking of an employer's compassion for its LGBT employees. Since I don't work there, it's impossible for me to say they lack compassion. I do know in my world, only I have a compassionate employer. I can't say for sure about my partner's employer.

I know there are a lot of people who say that's the way it should be and that's the way it should stay. But I don't think it's going to be this way forever. There are more ears and eyes opening up to the reality of our world. Someday there will be equal rights for the LGBT community. The more challenges from the likes of Kimberly Copeland will ensure that.

Then that's the way it will be.

*All titles and subtitles inspired by this little Led Zepplin ditty:

Elements Of Rock and Work

2012-03-04T12:08:00.000-05:00

This week I was faced with listening to someone use the word "rock star" to describe high performers in their organization. I understand the connotation behind this: the multi-platinum albums, the sold-out stadium shows, the cover of music magazines. These are signs of success. But I unfortunately have seen other sides of "rock stars" in my life: the egos that can't be stroked enough, the over indulgence of alcohol & drugs, and the unwavering narcissism. As a result, the positive connotation evades me and I cringe when I hear it.

But the "rock star" moniker is popular with a lot of people. For me, I prefer to say that someone "rocked", or for someone to tell me that "I rock". That connotation relates to a moment in time as opposed to a lifestyle. Because let's face it, I don't rock all the time.

I also don't do anything alone. I am not a singular entity ("rock star") that creates, performs, manufactures, promotes, and distributes everything on my own. I'm part of a team of people. I am one element in a massive interrelated compound of the world in which I live.

And so are you. Even if you live and work on your own, you are also part of a compound. Your home that was constructed with running water and electricity, the road paved outside your street, and the computer you use, are just a few examples that would not exist or continue to exist without other elements outside of you.

This is true where I work too. Even though I work for a small agency, our HR office is a busy consortium of projects. Our office knows its role in the agency and works as an example of leading practices. But I don't do this alone. I can't do this alone. I have an HR colleague in my office that excels in all matters of HR but never stops questioning, "Is there more? Can it be done better? Is this still a 'leading' practice?" That element creates progress and fosters growth in me, our office and in our organization.

I also know that I contribute as an element. But like any element, I am made of particles too. In science, chemical elements consist of one type of atom. An atom is neutrons and protons surrounded by electrons. For me, my atom is made up of books, movies, and music. These three inspire me to create, progress, and contribute.

For example, I just re-read William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White's "Elements Of Style" and I felt recharged as a writer. In the span of 85 pages, everything one needs to know about writing is here. Aside from the grammar rules and stylistic guidelines, there is great advice. My favorite is, "[the writer] must sympathize with the reader's plight (most readers are in trouble about half the time) but never seek to know his wants. The whole duty of a writer is to please and satisfy himself, and the true writer always plays to an audience of one."

It is truly a balancing act. As a writer, you write for yourself. But writing is to be read. Reading is decoding. If the writer doesn't adhere to principles of composition, even the writer may not be able to decode what he or she wrote.

Occasionally I have seen that in my own writing. I've re-read posts, or miscellaneous correspondence, and wondered what was I trying to say. Hence, I wondered did the reader understand?

This is why I only "rock" and am not a "rock star". I am not shining brightly all the time. But like an atom or an element, I am spinning constantly. I am facing other elements and forming compounds. Sometimes it forms awesome things like oxygen or water. Sometimes it forms basic but useful things like propane or ethanol.

Elements also form different types of rocks. Igneous rock is formed from the cooling of lava. Sedimentary rock is formed from the accumulation of minerals or organic particles. Metamorphic rock was another type of rock before being subject to heat or pressure.

So if you truly want to rock, think about your elemental state. Are you an element of composition like carbon? Are you an element of change like oxygen? Or are you element of value like gold?

Either way, no rock forms on its own. All are composed of elements. All are an accumulation of time, resources and energy. All are formed by work.

And for those who are about to work and rock_I salute you...

The Spirit Of Transforming (TLNT Transform HR Conference)

2012-02-29T16:01:00.000-05:00

During Ron Thomas's opening statements at TLNT Transform, he remarked that by virtue of attending this conference (in person or via online), we had become transformers. Because it was an HR conference, there was a further call for all of HR to transform. Though, this is easier than done.

The good people at TLNT, over the course of a two-day conference in Austin, Texas this week, attempted to transform the world of HR into a better industry. Despite the immediate moniker of transformer, I think transformation takes time. But one has to start somewhere. TLNT Transform with the best intent started off on the right foot in that direction.

Over the course of two days, Transform delivered a diverse cast of presenters and topics. On paper, this seemed quite ordinary. But presented in the quick pace of back-to-back sessions, created an environment of urgency, a call to immediate action, a compendium of several moving parts that needed to forge together to form the mythical Transformer of toy and movie fame. From there, it needed to save our world from the cross hairs we had stumbled into.

Despite the urgency, we still need to return to our organizations where the real transformation needs to occur. Here the efforts will be challenged. Here is where the transformation will require more diligence on our part to see it through. Here we are not machines. Here we are humans.

As I reflect on the highlights of the show for me, I think of several things I want to change. Some of the desired changes are of myself, my organization, the industry, and for future Transform conferences.

First The Highlights

Libby Sartain – “The New Consumer of Work”
Much like the tagline of this blog, Libby’s theme was it’s about the work; it’s no longer about the job. More people in the workforce are thinking less about who their next employer is, and more about what kind of work will they be doing. It’s because jobs are not as interesting as work.
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With that in mind, HR must transform into a different function. When searching for talent in this new work model, HR needs to focus on creating work experience instead of promoting jobs, differentiate between core work functions and jobs that can be done by non-employees instead of hiring all employees, focus on shorter time span of completing work instead of lifetime careers, focus on immediate engagement and productivity instead of engendering loyalty.

Tim Sackett – “What Your CEO Wished HR Would Do”
As a reader of Tim’s blog and writing with Fistful Of Talent, I first decided to not attend his session. I thought I had heard it all from Tim. But, because of other circumstances, I caught Tim’s session half-way into it. I’m pleased that I did.

I caught Tim presenting his “twelve step program in five steps”. I won’t explain each step. You can find more on that here. But all of the steps are easy to implement and essential. As an HR Director or CPO, your role is to direct your own department. Your organization and CEO’s role is to achieve business results. These steps will create the link between the two.

Billy Beane – “The Moneyball Approach to Talent Management”
Much has been written about the need for analytics and on how to communicate this effectively. Much as been written about Billy Beane and his enormous success in trusting numbers to win baseball games. There’s also a movie where he’s played by Brad Pitt. Even though, Mr. Beane doesn’t resemble a movie star, his story is nonetheless compelling.

The book and movie are called Moneyball. Even though it’s set around the work environment of professional baseball, the story could easily translate to any line of business. Creating hope that regression analysis is worthy and that it works requires patience and great communication skills.

I wondered though what the HR industry would be like if faced with the same type of scrutiny facing professional sports employees. Imagine every day the press reporting on your previous work day, and proclaim your genius when you succeed and your idiocy when you fail. Yuk.

Margaret Morford – “HR Fiddles While Organizations Burn”
Despite I heard this was not a new presentation, I was not familiar with Ms. Morford. After her presentation, I proclaimed on Twitter she was my new HR hero. Fast talking, blunt and unwavering her message was a strong proclamation for HR to carve out a role for themselves.

By being different in your thinking, ignoring fads (at least fully evaluate before fully adopting), get brave, develop talent & skills of creativity and inquisitiveness, get out of HR for awhile, and separate yourself from the pack, HR professionals increase their vitality and necessity.

My favorite takeaway was the question of how can we consider ourselves change agents, if only 31% of organizational leaders consider HR agile. It’s a clear sign our profession must change.

Joe Gerstandt and Jason Lauritsen (Talent Anarchy) – “On New Terrain: Social Gravity and the Future of HR”
I have had the pleasure of seeing Joe and Jason present in the past. Like great stage performers and stand-up comics, I never see Jason and Joe do the same performance twice. Plus, they never disappoint.

This time they were promoting their new book (Social Gravity) and their concept of the six laws of social gravity. Drawing on a great deal of sources for a comprehensive view on making connections and leveraging them for your social benefits, they present a compelling case for placing more value on “who you know.”

Gerry Ledford – “How Employee Engagement Can Pay Off, and Why It Often Doesn’t”
Following the energetic presentations of Margaret Morford and Talent Anarchy are hard acts to follow. But with the right amount of vim and vinegar, Mr. Ledford kept the transformative ball rolling as he set to dismantle what we think we know about employee engagement.

Being a big student of this topic, I found the presentation captivating from minute one. Thorough, comprehensive and convincing, I have more to say about this presentation in a future post.

Fran Melmed – “The Second-Generation Workplace Wellness Program”
and
Jennifer Benz – “3 Steps to Success: How Benefits Can Help Drive Your Strategic HR Transformation”
No. They did not present together. But presented consecutively their sessions closed out the conference. I am fortunate to have Fran as a friend. As much as I refuse to drink the wellness kool-aid, I look to Fran as the expert on how to make this work in organizations. I never do what she says. But after seeing her present for the first time, I have some distinct takeaways for my office. And Jennifer Benz drove all of Fran’s points home and pushed me into action mode.

My List Of Action Items, Final Thoughts and Suggestions.

I hate using the word "rock star" to describe high performers. If you think about what rock stars actually do and how poorly some of them behave, it is not flattery.
I don’t understand the notion of employees associating with a company brand. It makes employees sound like livestock. Personal branding on the other hand makes sense.
I’m planning on doing more traveling this year for various conferences. I have to start taking better care of myself in terms of eating and exercise. I need personal wellness.
I’ve reached the point where I’m learning less at conferences. I’m validating more about what I think are leading HR practices.
Moderators should make it clear to panelists that it’s OK to disagree. The lack of dissent and different opinions is a let-down to the audience.
If you’re an HR Director or CPO, tell your CEO you think he or she is doing a good job. If you think the staff think that also, tell the CEO that as well.
At work, I have a couple of plans that I’m not asking permission to do. It’s my movie and I want it to win an Oscar.

Conclusion

That’s it for TLNT Transform. Next year, it will be in Fort Worth, Texas on April 3-4, 2013. If you have the means and the time, I highly recommend it. If it’s anything like this year, you’re guaranteed a high quality HR conference.

Personal thanks to John Hollon, Lance Haun and the TLNT crew for their work and hospitality. Special thanks to all the vendors for the food and the great conversations.

Drugs At Work

2012-02-26T12:46:00.000-05:00

After weeks of dismissing the non-healing sores on my toes, I met with my doctor last week. Upon examination and evaluation, we are guessing the sores are ulcers caused by Raynaud's Disease. Raynaud's is a vasospastic disorder in which the capillaries in my hands and feet shut off blood flow. (Click the Wikipedia link here for pictures and more description.)

I've had the disease since the late 90's and it flares up generally when I'm cold. Oddly, it occurs more frequently in spring and autumn than it does in the winter. By winter, my body has adjusted and I have fewer attacks. Unfortunately the Northwest United States winter temperatures never went low enough for me. Thus, I had more attacks this year. Because of shoes I can't see the effect on my feet, and because lack of blood and oxygen cause skin damage, I developed sores and had to see my doctor.

This is not a sad story about my condition though. What is sad is that to lessen the frequency of attacks, I agreed to take a prescription drug. I prefer not to take medicine for anything because I always suffer from the side effects. The drug is Nifedipine and it's used to treat high blood pressure. It also has a huge number of side effects. In the first three days of taking it, I experienced achiness, light-headedness, tiredness, flushing of my skin on my face, hands, and toes, and as a result, difficulty in concentrating.

The worst part is I had to experience this while I was at work. Meetings, counseling, and directing require a clear head. It was not impossible to work. But I had to work hard to ignore the physical issues of the side effects. The good part though is that the body adjusts to these side effects, and I am starting to adjust.

I wonder though how it would be if the drug had lasting side effects. What if my concentration levels dropped too low to work? I’d have to choose between continuing the drug or possible skin damage. Not much of a choice.

And what about the millions of other workers around the country? Writing scripts for medication increases every year which means more and more people are presented with a choice. Take the drug— suffer the side effects—take another drug to counter-act the side effects—suffer the side effects from that drug and the interaction between these two drugs or—suffer from the original condition.

On the first day of using the drug, I announced my condition before a meeting with a colleague. After the meeting, my colleague told me, she would have never known the difference. I am feeling the same way after writing this post. Was there a difference in the quality of the writing? If you’re a regular reader, you may or may not have noticed any difference. But writing it was different. It took longer to write because my head is still cloudy at times. Writing requires the writer to capture words as they float through the brain. The clouds make it harder to capture them as they go by.

The one thought I captured is, considering what this drug is doing to me, and what drugs do to thousands of people every day, how effective can the workforce be?. Moreover, is our increasing use of drugs a major cause behind poor performance, poor behavior, poor management, and overall lack of quality and questionable work ethics?

Depending on the source of the statistic, the answer is speculative. If you ask I/O experts, they may say yes. If you ask the drug companies, they may say no. Based on my experience, it’s difficult to believe there is no effect.

Some of the most unusual side effects from prescription drugs that can affect work performance are amnesia, hallucinations, depression, and anxiety. I wouldn’t recommend enhancing any of these if you were seeking my advice on improving the workforce. But what do I know? My head is in the cloud and I can’t concentrate very well. All I know is after last week, I wish I could just say no.

Here’s to tomorrow …

My Office Is Full Of Squirrels

2012-02-19T08:06:00.000-05:00

Last week, I spoke with a young woman about her transitioning to a career in HR. She told me about her background in finance and I.T. She told me she was unhappy in both fields because of bureaucracy and the lack of altruism. She said she doesn't like people, but claims to not be a misanthrope. Also, she is part of the LGBT community and is searching for a compatible profession.

In kind, this is the wisdom I imparted onto her:

Your background in finance and I.T. are valuable skills for success in HR. When applying for entry level HR jobs, accentuate these skills.

There can be bureaucracy and lack of altruism in HR. Ironically, working in HR can provide opportunities to recognize, understand and rectify both.

The first rule of working in HR is you don't have to like people. The second rule of working in HR is you don't have to like people.* During our conversation, she said she wants to help people in the organization to do their work better. That is the third rule. I also told her that the first two rules are difficult for some non-HR people to understand. They expect us to like people.

One of the best jobs for the LGBT community are jobs in HR. At birth, I believe there is an assumption by most parents that their child is straight. Growing up under those circumstances in a straight-couple home can be strange and uncomfortable. If sexual orientation is genetic, and the environment is not reflective or understanding, by the time one is their teens, they've experienced something unusual. Experiencing, and subsequently understanding and accepting unusual is to experience, understand and accept people. Everyone's life is unusual. Great HR professionals always remember this. Because the LGBT community has a propensity to have unusual experiences, it's always easier for us to remember this.

Later in the day, I thought of something else I should have said. After my HR colleague was quasi-scolding me for forgetting something, and looking at the messy pile of work spread across my desk, I made the excuse that I was distracted by another bright shiny object. Then I quickly said, "Squirrel!"**

Even though I'm on an HR Mission, I realize by my messy pile of work, my unanswered emails and phone calls, I'm easily distracted. I'm easily distracted by squirrels. Sometimes I pull my attention back to the matter at hand. Sometimes I chase after them. Sometimes, there are too many to chase so I ignore them. Sometimes, there are so many in my office at one time, they look like one giant squirrel.

So my last piece of advice for the upcoming HR professional is despite the advances of your mission and the certainty of your map, you can always count on squirrels. Get used to them now. Because on some days, your office is going to be full of them.

*sly allusion to the book and movie, "Fight Club." **alluding to the movie scene in "Up"

It's A Public Affair

2012-02-12T09:18:00.001-05:00

This is a difficult story to tell. It's difficult because it's about a mistake that I made and I'm too embarrassed to reveal all of the details. Therefore, I'm going to be intentionally vague.

The mistake occurred at work. It was not scandalous or bad enough to warrant a reprimand. But it angered several employees, who in turn expressed their anger verbally and in writing.

While discussing the circumstances with another employee who had a similar incident recently, it was supposed that I was viewed as cold and heartless, and perhaps focusing only on the organization and not the individual.

OK. Wait a minute. What? One of my actions garnered disapproval which begat judgement that I was callous? Seriously? I'm one of the most empathetic people I have ever met.

But actions speak louder than words. As I looked back over the past couple of weeks, I replayed in my head several damning conversations I'd had. Similar to a movie scene when the protagonist has a series of quick flashbacks, and he or she realizes they're the werewolf killing the town folk, I too had my moment of clarity.

This clarity led me down the hall to our Public Affairs Director. Fortunately she understood my dilemma. Unfortunately, she had thought my action was a problem and did not intercede. Frankly she explained that because I was new in the position she was unsure if I would be respondent.

Never one to invite bad publicity or wish to have my department seen in a bad light, I instantly made a pact. If she believes I'm headed down the path of creating a bad image, she will take a proactive stance. If I recognize my circumstances require better communication skills, I will seek her counsel.

I apologize if this post has been too vague for your liking. But just as some things require more explanation, some things are better left unsaid. Deciding which choice to make is not always clear. That's when you call in the professionals. That's when you call in Public Affairs.

If you haven't already, create a pact with Public Affairs. As Plato said, "the price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." Even if you're not evil, without Public Affairs, people will think you are.

TLNT Transforms This Land Of Confusion

2012-02-09T06:58:00.001-05:00

How many of you folks have never heard of TLNT?

If you haven't, TLNT is, in their own words, "an HR blog about the business of HR, with news, insight, and topical information from experts and thought leaders in HR, talent management, and all areas related to HR and managing a workforce."

If you have heard of them, you know they produce five to six articles a day of timely, thought-provoking HR-related content.

Also, if you have heard of them, you know they are taking their blistering efforts to change the HR landscape on the road, and putting together a full-fledged conference. Their conference is called Transform and will be in Austin, Texas February 26-28.

There are many great things to be said about Transform. The first four have already been mentioned by my blogging brother-in-arms, Matt Stollack, on his blog, TrueFaithHR:

"1. Billy Beane is the keynote speaker. As any pop culture HR aficionado knows, Billy Beane was the inspiration for Michael Lewis' book, "Moneyball." Not only did it inspire a thousand HR blog posts (see here and here, for example) about how to value talent, but the book was turned into a mutli-Oscar-nominated movie. You will be able to hear about talent directly from the source. Billy Beane will be must-see viewing.
2. The agenda is fantastic. Not a hole in the schedule that will draw you away to visit the sites in Austin. The speaker list is strong and varied, including such talent luminaries as Tim Sackett, Libby Sartain, Dawn Hrdlica-Burke, Kimberly Roden, Laurie Ruettimann, and the men behind Talent Anarchy (Joe Gerstandt and Jason Lauritsen).
3. Did I mention it was in Austin? Living in the Midwest, Austin will provide a welcome respite from the cold February weather and bring some good BBQ and HR conversation.
4. You can earn recertification credits with the HRCI."

But not one to completely co-op, I have a few points of my own:

5. One of the most respected names in the health wellness field, Fran Melmed, is presenting. Make no mistake, even if you're a die-hard wellness cynic like me, Fran will leave you with new ideas to your approach to wellness.

6. Laurie Bassi, co-author of Good Company: Business Success in the Worthiness Era. I saw Laurie co-present with the father of HR Metrics, Jac Fritz-enz at last year's HR Technology Conference. Laurie makes a compelling case for how doing the right thing in business supports the bottom line.

7. Eric Meyer. Don't get me wrong, I love my attorneys from Saul Ewing. But if I was ever without them, my first phone call would be to Eric. Eric does the impossible. He writes a blog, The Employer Handbook, on employment law that is fun to read, and is dead-on informative, and that is the type of HR attorney I want in my corner. Eric is leading the panel on Social Media in the WorkPlace.

8. There is no half-stepping with this conference. TLNT has been gaining more and more attention as a blog with integrity and the gumption they can change the world. That is why when they asked me to blog for their conference, I said yes immediately. If you're a regular reader here, you know I lack patience for bad HR practices, unchecked management, and destructive workplaces.

You also know it doesn't have to be this way. We can choose a better workplace. We can create businesses that are steadfast and true. We can sort through this land of confusion. We can come together, listen, talk, and go back to our respective businesses and take action. Transform is the first conference of the season. So take advantage and make the first steps toward this in Austin.

"This is the world we live in. These are the hands we're given. Use them and let's start trying to make it a place worth living in." Register here.

You Give HR A Bad Name

2012-02-05T08:30:00.000-05:00

It starts with a minor liberty. On the surface, it seems innocent enough. Perhaps no one will notice the indiscretion. There is no guarantee though. What if you're wrong? What if someone does notice?

There is no accounting for what people will think or feel regarding your action. But why take the chance? Is the indiscretion worth the possible damage to your reputation? Is it worth the possible damage to the HR field?

And this is what it all boils down to ...

I've been writing this blog for over two years. I have covered many HR/business-related topics and occasionally I wonder why I still do it. But then I read an article about another HR screw-up that could have been prevented. Or I talk to someone who tells me another story about a friend or relative that's getting screwed over by their HR department. Then I remember why.

The latest story I heard was from an acquaintance whose wife was discouraged from taking FMLA leave. Her company fills all the requirements for offering FMLA and the policy is in the Employee Manual. However, the Human Resource department—behind closed doors— discourages all employees from taking more than two weeks for any reason. Apparently, employees are told taking more than two weeks will be "bad for their career."

When I hear bullshit like this, I want to don some tights and a cape, paint an S and an H and R on my chest, fly into that business, and bring these evil doers to justice. But the only super-power I have is the metaphorical paper and pen. It is my only means to demonstrate my HR activism.

It also appears that my work will never be done. There have been enough bad HR practices and enough people who have experienced it. Add the fact that people don't stay in the same job forever and therefore experience bad HR practices in several work places. This equals an overall distrust in HR and creates the inability for employees to recognize good HR.

I know in HR there are many balls in the air to juggle at any one point in time. You have that hard-to-fill job vacancy—those ever-increasing health insurance costs—the manager who needs an edit button when speaking—the employee who's mad about not getting a raise, telling everyone on Facebook that you eat poop—the notion that every employee needs training for everything—the possibility that you have to release a new hire because they cannot provide documents for their I-9—and the employee that keeps giving you a new phone number every couple of weeks because someone keeps stealing their cell phone.

Couple this with understanding the nuances of operations, budget and IT, and you have a full plate. Add the desert of your responsibility to maintain confidentiality, and you have full course meal that you have to eat alone and clean up afterwards.

I understand these difficulties and their value. I also understand HR cannot take these responsibilities for granted. Even though it may be more enjoyable to only look at big picture issues and pontificate in strategy meetings, it truly is the small stuff you should sweat. If HR wants to maintain credibility and maintain a good image, HR must act with the utmost integrity. HR has to give itself a good name.

Because sometimes we learn more when we focus on what should not be done, here is a short list of how one gives HR a bad name...

Spreading gossip or protected health information about employees.
When the only reason you can give is, "Because I said so."
Create inequity by giving your work friends preferable treatment.
Break policies that you've enforced on others.
Having limited knowledge of employment law.
Lie to save your ass.

It's all of our responsibilities to push for integrity in our field, to act as activists, and to create better workplaces. Add to the list on how one gives HR a bad name and let's put an end to bad HR.

While you're thinking and writing, kick it with some Bon Jovi.
And good luck out there.

McInternet: Billion Mistakes Served

2012-01-31T07:16:00.000-05:00

I wish I was more of a creative person. If I was, I would take a picture of McDonald's golden arch sign, and change the words to read, "McInternet: Billion Mistakes Served". Then I'd post the picture on this blog post.

Perhaps then I'd feel like I made something good out of my recent internet blunder. Even though the mistake was minor (to me), it may have caused some confusion and may require explanation.

For those who subscribe to this blog's RSS feed, you may have noticed the announcement of a new blog post entitled, "Am I An A**hole?" available for your reading pleasure. For those who were inquisitive enough to click on the link, you received the following message,

Page not found
Sorry, the page you were looking for in the blog Welcome To The Occupation does not exist.

This is true. It does not exist. At least not yet. Perhaps it will see the light of day as a real blog post. It's a great story about how a waiter, at the restaurant where we frequently eat brunch, posted on Facebook a picture of a t-shirt saying, "brunch is for assholes" with the caption that these were their new uniforms. It's a great story about his regret and how he removed the picture even though it still could be retrieved. It's also a great story in terms of how the NRLB is twisting in the wind over these shenanigans.

Nevertheless, last night as I made some notes about the story, I created a draft for a new blog post in Blogger, entered the title, and pressed save. Oh no, wait a minute, I didn't press save. I pressed publish. Feedburner meet new published blog post, and wham bam, instant panic and headache. So without anyway of stopping it, I indiscriminately asked the entire cyberworld a question I wasn't ready to ask.

Is it regretful? To a certain degree, but I can't change it now.
Is it offensive? I guess it could be. I did lose some subscribers afterwards.
Is it the worst thing I've ever done online? Highly unlikely. I probably disturbed more folks with the last real post, some of whom will probably never speak to me again.

But none of that is really the point. The point is I can't change it now. It's like I took a permanent magic marker and wrote on my forehead some words that will never wash off. It's like I said something hurtful to a friend or family member. It's like stealing, lying, or cheating. You may be forgiven, but it will never be forgotten.

So that's my story and I'm sticking with it. The internet is a fun place to hang out and share ideas. But it's got a sharp set of teeth too. Sometimes the jaws come down hard and that's when it's time to lay low for a bit, rethink your judgement, and choose your future words and actions with care.

Me? I'm just going to shut up for now. Here's my reminder...

Sorry, But I'm Not Really Sorry

2012-01-29T08:28:00.000-05:00

Sorry is one of my least favorite words. It’s abused, misused, and it’s underused. Thus, it is highly misunderstood. Frankly, I hear it too often and don’t hear it enough. I blame my HR training for this_but in a good way.

Follow me as I complain about the word, "sorry".

Abused

Two weekends ago, my partner and I were sitting at the bar of a nice restaurant eating dinner. I was approached by another patron who asked, “would it be rude if I asked to take the bar stool next to you, move it over to the other side of you, and for you, and your friend to move your bar stools down, so my friend and me can sit together?”

Bamboozled by the lengthy request, I thought three things: why are you asking us, when we have multiple plates to move, and other patrons can just move their drinks? Why does she want to move the bar stool, when what she wants is for us to shift over? And why in God’s name is she saying, “Sorry, thank you” over and over in that sing-songing innocent-whining tone?

The one thing I didn’t think at the time was, yes, it would be rude. In fact, it was rude. And no matter how many times or how innocent the sorry was stated, there was still the impression that there was no remorse. In this case, saying sorry was a ruse to act like there was no other course of action, when in truth it was to manipulate.

Misused

A couple of months ago, I took personally some heavy handed comments written to me about my use of Google+. The commenter was a respected colleague and made an apology online with the excuse that the written word doesn’t have the nuances of conversation. Ironically, that didn’t prevent the apology from being written. Obviously there was no concern over any possible failings that time.

This is where a telephone comes in handy, or any version of voice contact. Would I have appreciated a phone call from this person who I assume still has my phone number? Yes. Even if was misplaced, my number is publicly easy to find. One quick sound of that person’s voice would have salved over ever lasting bad impressions.

Putting a sorry in writing is permanent. But sometimes making it permanent makes it worse.

Underused

Early on in my training as a young HR newt, I was taught to be careful when saying sorry. It was instilled in me to never say “sorry” when terminating or disciplining an employee. If for any reason those actions land you in court, and you admit to having said sorry, a lawyer is going to ask, "why are you sorry? If it was a reasonable action on your part Mr HR Guy, why did you say you’re sorry?" Hence, I was taught to say sorry only if you're responsible.

Consequently, I am careful to say, “I’m sorry” unless I truly feel it. Sometimes it’s an automatic response when I interrupt someone, or physically bump into someone, or when I realized I stopped listening to someone talking to me. But those are automatic responses to unintentional rudeness. Plus, I am sorry.

Other than that, I don’t believe in saying “sorry” unless it is truly meant. Otherwise, it is as incidental as saying “bless you” when someone sneezes. I know it’s considered polite by today’s standards to say, "bless you". But saying “bless you” doesn’t prevent the evil spirit you sprayed out of your nose from returning. Chances are your body needs no additional help after a sneeze.

Much like “bless you”, saying “sorry” by today’s standards is a polite incidental. It's so incidental and common in speech that it has as much weight and significance as "and" or "the". If you don't believe me, listen for "sorry" from others and yourselves. Then question, was it truly meant, or just superfluous language?

Sorry To Say

It's not that every word we utter has to be profound or pinpoint precise in meaning. Sometimes, we shift language patterns depending on the audience. What I'm striving for is overall genuineness, especially for those in HR (considering this is an HR blog). It keeps our communications clear, our intents away from misunderstandings, and it doesn't clog our ears with useless words.

I'm sorry to say that sorry doesn't always create genuineness. Sorry, but I'm not really sorry. Sorry is a sorry word. See what I mean?

HR Takes The Bitterest Pill

2012-01-22T08:55:00.000-05:00

Occasionally something at work will cause distress. Sometimes it's an avoidable mistake that catches the attention of your boss. Sometimes it's an unintentional visceral reaction that breeds regret. Sometimes it's an erroneous accusation that puts one in a defensive position.

Even though all three are annoying situations, only the third one is beyond one's control. Sometimes this can be difficult to swallow. Depending on the gravity and circumstances behind the accusation, one could feel distrust for colleagues, a need for revenge, or an overall lack of faith in human beings. This can happen to every level of employees, even HR.

However, it is with great dexterity that excellent HR folks endure in a constant professional manner. We must overlook the trespass of others. We must keep an even-keeled emotional level. We must understand the human dynamic and realize that one person's perception at a given point in time will not always be in alignment with ours. If we don't, how much damage does it create?

I wonder sometimes when I read about common law cases involving employers and employees, how involved was HR in the decisions that were made that put the organization in this situation? Employees seek litigation because they have the resources of time and money (and legal assistance). But I think most are willing to part with the time and money because they maintain a level of anger or sadness that they can't release.

Given that HR folks are human too and susceptible to the same heightened levels of anger and sadness, is this where the mistakes start? If HR was involved in the decisions, was it because he or she was bitter and derisive? Was he or she maladjusted and acting out of spite?

Unfortunately humans are naturally wired to look for the bad in situations and react accordingly. We have to work through the fight-or-flight response to find the good. Yet it is this ability that sets us apart from other animal species. We can rationalize and subsequently forgive and progress. We can create civilizations.

Without the resource of humans, civilizations can't be created. Hence, HR has to be at it's best and has to take the bitter pill. Otherwise, we're just a bunch of animals.

Captainess Of Your Own Ship

2012-01-15T09:28:00.001-05:00

As a gay man, I am often confused by the notion of striving for equal rights. It's not the equal part that is confusing. It's the striving.

On one hand, there is a need to identify with a cultural brand, e.g. gay. On the other hand, there is a quest for rights that everyone else has. With that, is also a quest for opportunities, and the subsequent success and power that others possess.

These two forces contradict each other. For example, I noticed when reading about a Mr. Gay America pageant, one of the organizers alluded that if straight females can do it, so can we.

My response, is why do you want to take your unique culture and mirror it against another? Does this create equality or does it create following? If it’s following, is this disguised abdication?

Giving the benefit of the doubt, perhaps there are no original ideas to create or original identities to own. Hence, outside of discriminating factors, such as sexual orientation, race, religion, color, or genetic indicators, we are all human with the same needs. Therefore, all notions of equality are universally the same. If this is the case, then there is no box to break out of outside of the one we create for ourselves. If this is true, then it does not matter what discriminating trait you carry. Each of us individually has to strive for equal rights and opportunities on our own terms. Each of us decides our own definition of success and power.

This comes to mind because a few weeks ago I was asked to read the manifesto, The 6 Rules Women Must Break In Order To Succeed, (Flynn, Heath, Holt, 2011) and to write my thoughts on it for the website, Women Of HR. After reading it, I felt a little confused. I couldn’t escape the notion that their definitions of power were built upon structures of power already in existence, and success was based on having more power. Also, it seemed the very structure they claim is holding them back, is the same one they want to embrace. Thus, I found instead of creating truly new rules, they were suggesting to follow rules already in place.

I don’t disagree with the six rules for someone seeking their definition of power. However, I had difficulty not applying their rules to anyone who was seeking this power regardless of whether they were women or men. I agree, for example, one should not “focus on everyone else”, or “expect hard work to be enough”, or “fall into extreme thinking.”

However, I do think the rules are limiting. I am not one to tell someone else what success or power is. Both of these are individual choices. Hence, my negative criticism of the manifesto is of the narrow band of which success is defined. I read nothing that illuminated the internal beauty of feeling free to choose your own level of success. For me, that is when true power comes into play.

Frankly though, I was hoping to discover some true insights into some different rules for women. I was hoping it would resemble this quote from Alison Maitland, co-author of "Why Women Mean Business" when she said, "We shouldn't be fixing the women but the system." Thus, before reading the manifesto, I was anticipating something iconoclastic like rock music singer, Patti Smith. Instead, I was left with Pat Benatar. Neither bad. Simply, one was the captainess of their own ship and broke the rules; the other one was a captive of the ship, and followed the rules.

To me, if you wish to truly create new rules: take charge of yourself, create your own definitions of success and power, and be the captain of your own ship.

Pat...

or Patti...

You choose.