It's What You Do To It

Thanks to the Anonymous comment from Monday for today's topic. It's not what you call the pile of poo, it's what you do to it. What motivates our decisions for handling a hot mess. This could be a nature versus nurture discussion, but tonight it is a question of engagement and loyalty. You can tell a lot about your employees by how they address problems. Do they ignore it? Do they refer it to someone else and walk away? Do they grab a towel and pick it up? Do they look into how the pile got there and set up a plan to prevent future piles? The extent to which the majority of your people address or don't address the pile makes a big difference in how the business runs. Loyal employees that believe they can make a difference drive your success. They do more than just their assignments and would never tolerate poo in their work area or any where else in the business. I know a manager that found her employees leaving their problems on her desk to solve. Instead, she created the poo-poo box where they could neatly place the piles that needed addressed. The installation of the poo-poo box was quite an event. She worked with the interdependent departments that were creating the messes due to outdated processes or their own engagement problems. She solved some of the issues to show that she was committed to making things work, then she involved her team. She started directing her staff to resources to resolve the problems that were coming up for themselves. It doesn't take a satisfaction survey to guage how connected the staff is. Look around at what the team is contributing and start assessing where the gaps are. The poo-poo box may not be your solution, but it is time for you to get creative and capture the attention of your team in a positive way. Show them some intiative to give them tools and clear the path, then show them how to clear their own way. That's what you do to it.

Opportunity, a.k.a. the "O - word"

Welcome to the first in a series of Monday attacks on politically correct verbiage. We have done everything we can to verbally transform the steaming pile of poo called a problem into something else. We called it an issue and someone decided this was too much like a problem. Then we called it a concern, but this caused foreheads to wrinkle in concern. Now what? Well, it's an "opportunity". Great we painted the terd and put a hat on it, so it can come to the meeting with everyone else. Why don't we just put it in a bucket, set it in the middle of the table and call it what it is? And no, I don't mean that we tell everyone that it is fragrant and promotes growth. Let's try having problems and solving them, just like math and science class. Plants grow better with fertilizer and we can't grow an open culture by avoiding the plain truth. Let's be fair issues and concerns, they are welcome to the party, as long as they come dressed in their own suits. In the end, the opportunity gets to go back to being something good that we look forward to gettiing.

Willfulness

Have you ever had a hard time getting to work on time? Even when it has a negative impact on your job, you can't get the motivation to get things organized. There comes a time when we purposely cancel appointments, show up late, or change our travel plans just to be in control. The further we get up the corporate ladder the more time we sacrifice to the demands of others. There is a breaking point where everything gets to be too much. We aren't allowed to make a big mistake or blow up at someone in response to the pressure. The process of exerting power over our schedule or getting lax on our start and end times helps make it a little more bearable. Willfulness is the expression of our inner independence. We are rewarded for our creative thinking and unique behavior, but the further up we get, the more we have to act like everyone else or be punished. The more precise and methodical and in control. Let's face it, willfulness is the small rebellion that allows most of us to continue to be something we really aren't to achieve things we think we want.

The Friday Rant Early

At what point did it become okay for managers making upwards of 6 figures to wimp out and let other people fight their battles? Grow up and confront the issue yourself. Whining about not liking how other people talk to you and getting your boss to fix it demonstrates a lack of leadership beyond understanding. When did a little HR Manager grow some and that many "real" managers lose theirs? Guess what folks, just because there is an open door, it doesn't mean that you won't be judged for how you use it and how often. Try giving your coworkers a chance to talk with you like a grown-up about the concern and resolve it like "gentlemen". If they can stand up and publicly admit the mistake, what point is there in also driving a knife into their back. We get nothing from subverting our team members. Best case they ignore you and worst case, they return the favor. Cut it out people and for a few minutes try to pull up your big girl panties and look someone in the eye to get things done.

Someone Please Legislate in a Little Mercy

Today on the block Punk Rock HR, I read about security policies at R&D driven companies. I definitely see why they have a zero tolerance policy for breaches that destry their ability to make a profit and protect their employees. It is sometimes tough when someone makes an honest mistake and is sincerely contrite about it, but there is no more room left in business for friendly exemptions. Too many openings for litigation happy, disgruntled former employees. I have worked as a facility and field manager in HR in large companies, between 35,000 and over a million and the consistency is brutal. No exception will go unpunished whether from a legal exposure or business opportunity perspective. The general public's call to "fairness" has made mercy darn near impossible. The cry of the general populous to be treated fairly had gone the way of consistency to establish a baseline. This consistency stifles risk taking, because the stakes are too high to give up a good thing. It brings us closer every day to Orwell's 1984. Yeah, it's 2010, but the guy never claimed to be Nostradamus. Well meaning bureaucrats have created rule after rule to protect everyone from bad things that could happen to the point that we hop around with our feet and hands tied writing with a pencil in our mouth that we can't sharpen. All I ask is that someone please legislate in a little mercy, pleeeease!

Happy Birthday

Today is my birthday. I have achieved another decade. I can't wait to see what comes next, but sometimes I do close my eyes on this ride. I had a very large beer to mourn the passing of my thirties, but I don't really miss them that much. It isn't what was, but what will be that makes the ride fun. Whenever your birthday is, have a happy one and enjoy the ride!

Spinning Your Wheels

Today, I started with the usual Monday reports and follow up. Managers were not where they were scheduled and getting things done was a mess. Reporting from the 1/2 dozen or so HRIS systems are a nightmare. I am only getting half of the stores that are under my responsibility in one of them. When I did get the reports, I tried to send emails to get started on development plans. The first send was wrong, so I sent a new one. Two managers called and the second one was wrong, I called corp and they system that manages the data does not generate the report properly. We have to access a web based application where we can access a spreadsheet generated by corp that isn't updated yet. My third email was a major apology and request to ignore everything including instructions on how the managers can access the data that I can't. I emailed the boss to try to pin down when the data would be available. I'll find out when they want us to populate the sheet with the results of the projects that I can't communicate clearly or track because I don't have a report. After attempting to operate in HR in 6 different companies, I have determined that most HRIS "systems" are the equivalent of a patched sock. There is an old database that originally helped manager benefits and/or general employee data, then another system was added to manage applicants and job openings, then another to manage performance processes and data, and then a new system to bolster the old database that attempts to connect the applicant system to the benefits and new hire database. In the meantime, the ability to get a usuable HRIS report in the field erodes to nil. Worse yet, we get to learn 4 more systems that go back to the filling in boxes competency for managers. We begin regularly using the phone a friend option to hope to get anything done. Here's to the tattered sock approach to HRIS, supposedly it is the thought that counts.