Saturday, February 19, 2011

When is it my fault?

So, while Marti manages more reflexive retail actions, the Ghost Writer contemplates, "When is it my fault?"
Insurance companies, states, and all the lawyers that fuel them use the language "at fault" and "no fault", but yet, behind the scenes, and if you've ever been in a car wreck you know this, fault is assessed and assigned a percentage basis.  I turned left in front of an oncoming vehicle.  As far as I'm concerned, I was 100% at fault.  I turned, right (no left)?  But no, my turn signal was on, so I'm only 90% at fault.  Really?
At this point you're thinking, "What does this have to do with your usual rant, GW, on HR Leadership?"  Well, here's where it comes together.  A colleague emails the other day and asks me to check into something at a site.  In the investigation, I find a huge error.  Huge, multi-year, error.  Now I wasn't in charge in all the years involved in this mess, but I have been for a couple of them.  So I take responsibility.  This is my fault.  I didn't know this issue existed, but I do now.  Further, I have learned a new lesson on asking questions about the nitty gritty details of items in my control.
However, there is one person who has been on the watch the entire time.  Why isn't it his fault?
As an HR Leader, I think it's important when something in my area fails to say, "This is my fault, and I will take care of it."  I think it shows integrity.  But as I inherit more problems than I can solve in most of my jobs, I think I may learn to just say the last part.  Accept accountability, but take no blame. 
When do you think it's your fault?


Tuesday, February 15, 2011

How much is too much?

The Ghost Writer sits in quandary seeking the answer to the question, "How much follow-up is too much?"
 
I went looking for a fix to a problem -- that's what I do.  Fix things.  I found a fix.  Reported the availability of the fix to the appropriate people and was told, "We'll get you an answer on if we want to go forward with the fix."  Fine.
 
However, there are a couple of issues working here.
 
One, I went out and bugged a supplier for this fix.  He's hoping to get some business out of it, or at least get some meaningful feedback from us on the fix.  Without a response from the people to whom I supplied the information, I can't help him.  Further, this will make my fix resource less likely to help me find these solutions in the future.
 
Two, I just don't throw things over the wall.  Just because I sent an email and documented the option for a fix doesn't let me off the hook.  I want a closed response, and well, because of the nature of my job, a closed response is really the only correct option.
 
So with these two issues in play, I follow-up.  Every week.  Now every week since November of last year.  Yes, that's three months ago. 
 
How much is too much?

Friday, February 11, 2011

Knee Jerk Reaction

Have you ever experienced those violent corporate reactions that send a ripple of fire drills through the company. First, let's define the fire drill. This is any task that comes down with a completion date of now, requiring you to stop, drop and roll. This often comes from an executive meeting where a desire for control coupled with a lack of understanding prevails. For example, "How can an employee be a temp and be regular for schedules? Get the facilities to clean this up!". The directive comes down that no one can be both at the same time, so fix it! The locations say, "Well, we have to start everyone temp, but our security team works three 12s on and three 12s off rotations, so they have to be regular to satisfy the attendance system." Some struggle to get this fixed, some silently find a work around, and the culture at that level fractures. Managers have greater fear of the complaint process than facility staff, having seen the inner workings of company politics. They won't all speak up, especially if they have been sapped by a boss or two in the past. HR executives want that seat at the table and want to be seen a strategic to other executives. They do things to make the processes make sense to them and show value. Unfotunately, they don't always stand for the idea that we must let cooler heads prevail. Instead of Knee jerk reactions, there are Grand Maul Seizures sending Tsunami warnings through the business and drowning the weak and talented alike. This is exhausting for management teams, so they find a way to make it go away or they eventually go away. I have worked with my share of managers that become adamant about things that offend their business sensibilities. As their HR partner, I have spent the time learning how to get the line managers attention, give them the whole story and then proceed. Each of these managers were good or even great at what they do and each required a unique approach to prevent the issue from becoming a knee jerk, or even a seizure. This is a call to the bosses of the world, please get a little info from the field to help determine an action that isn't stop, drop and roll disruptive to your business.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Monday, February 7, 2011

The Snake Eating It's Tail

Today things weren't going my way. I'm not the most political creature. I sometimes fail to play the bigger game in lieu of working with the team in front of me. It could make me the best executive for the right company, but thus far it makes me over qualified middle management. How often does someone have to check in before they get the latitude to make a decision and go straight to the resources? The answer might be forever. It isn't relevant. It is like the snake eating it's tail. No matter how long you wish for something different or rail against your lack of control, there is a point where you run out of tail and can't finish the meal. Welcome to the impasse where your wishes run into your limitations. I guess it is time to try to figure out how to see the small box as a vast expanse of potential or at least a means to an end.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Dingleberry Special

Well, it was time to report the jobless numbers for January. There was an increase of 36,000 jobs, but the unemployment rate went from 9.4% to 9%. I don't know about you, but 36,000 does not sound like .4% of the working population. This lovely dingleberry of wisdom raised a lot of eyebrows. Anyone that remembered enough of sixth grade math ran that calculation through their head and said, "huh?". The explanation was an even bigger example of statistical dinglberryism. According to expert sources the numbers for last year were adjusted, so now 36,000 is really 250,000, which should translate into .4%. If you are scratching your head or reading the previous sentence over to make sure you saw it correctly, it still doesn't make sense. If 36,000 equals 250,000, please sign me up for that conversion on payday. Should you find a real answer to this question, please help us scrub away the dinglberries and get to the butt of this one. Realistically, there is no scenario that allows us to have that number go down and there has never been a time that the number is representative of true unemployment in the US. There are people that have exhausted their benefits and others that are drawing pay under the table. Did any of you really think that stats could be trusted? Well maybe, doesn't truth mark the point where investigation ceases, which means maybe this time truth is nothing more than lazy research.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

The Illusion of Power

It is becoming increasingly evident that the death of civility lies somewhere in the illusion of power. It is a mirage. The beautiful oasis where everything goes my way and people have to do what I want, easy street. The spectre that whispers win-lose plans into our ears. We have fallen for the concept that someone must win and so it should be me. There is no "and" left in the equation and we will use anyone that will follow to help us. The courtesy of talking to the adults you work with when you have problems has been replaced with activities designed to muscle coworkers and managers into compliance. Maybe it is the fault of managers that grab power, the media that makes employers out to be villains, or generations of employees blaming the boss for everything they could not do. Maybe it is naive to believe that there were times when people were polite and played nice in the sand box. There are just days when those that want to stir up drama and force the hand of people around them is too much. This is when I long for a time when people take their problems to the correct person and that person is mature enough to fix it. The people that say or do anything to win and hurt good people in the process are the least civil people in our word. Unhappiness does not give anyone the write to grab power through the pain of others. It does not matter how well someone is paid they don't deserve to have to sort out the lies and damage caused by the illusion of power. The goal can be achieved using "and" instead of "or". Invite the people around you to help solve the problem and everyone is elevated. What will it take to get most people to see the power of cooperation and return to a place of trust and pleasantry in the work place. I don't know about you, but I get tired of watching my back while my bosses expect me to keep looking forward.
 
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People Platform HR by Marti Nelson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.