The Mass Bay Organizational Development Leadership Group is a smart, generous, vibrant community that I have the honor of presenting to on February 16th. I’m a guest blogger on their website this week. Check it out!
And, of course, I’d love to see you at the program. You can read more about it and register here.
I’ve always disliked the term “business partner” in the HR field. You don’t hear about marketing business partners or finance business partners. It’s understood that these functions are PART OF the business, as in NECESSARY.
I also dislike the concept of “educating the business about the value of HR”. That’s like telling diners about the dinner you COULD serve them.
You want a seat at the table? Bring an entree.
Here are some tips for doing that:
1. Know your business. I don’t mean HR business. I mean the business you are employed in (or want to be employed in). Attend industry events, read up on market trends, know your competitors and your position in the market. Who are your customers and why do they choose you? What are the biggest opportunities and threats developing on the horizon? What’s your revenue, profit margin, and market strategy? Which revenue streams are over- or under-performing? Where in the life cycle are those products? To what extent is technology impacting your products or processes?
2. Know your organization. Understand each function, what it contributes and how it interfaces with the other functions in the organization. What is the strategy and how are you organized (or not) to support that strategy? What kind of culture is best to support the organizational goals and do you have that culture? Who are both the official and the unofficial decision makers? What kind of legacy systems, ideas and relationships exist? How strong is the leadership team? To what extent is there a shared definition of success and how do they help each other reach it? How would each department head answer the question: “What one thing if changed would make the biggest positive difference in our department’s ability to be successful?”
3. Know your talent. What are the key talent drivers given your industry and your organizational strategy and structure? Where is this talent? Can you grow it or do you buy it? How do you keep it? What’s its value in terms of total rewards (compensation, benefits, environment). Where is it going when it leaves you and why? What kind of management talent does your organization require? How do you ensure that it is in place?
4. Deliver the basics. The HR devil is in the HR details and if people’s paychecks, leaves, benefits or perquisites aren’t handled correctly, HR gets a black eye. If leaders and peers don’t see quick response and accurate execution, ditto. What are the basics in your organization? Are your processes efficient? Is your HR team clear on priorities and are you staffed to deliver?
5. Align your role with the business. It’s not just speaking the language. It’s understanding the business you are in so that you can support that businesses goals with sound HR planning and practices. It’s being able to responsibly and expertly advocate for your strategy with a clear connection to current organizational challenges.
6. Preserve integrity. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Honor confidentiality at all levels. Role model transparent and direct communication.
7. Say no. Say no to those activities that do not align solidly with clear and present business goals. Say no to anything that conflicts with the first six laws.
Would you add or change any?
You can rail against reality. You can tear your hair out in frustration. You can suffer in silence.
Or you can choose.
You can choose to change your situation. You can choose to refuse the status quo. You can choose to speak up and speak out. You can choose to leave.
Or you can choose.
You can choose to accept what is. You can choose to see the positive. You can choose to change your expectations. You can choose to stay.
Or you can choose.
You can choose to remain in pain. Which is damaging. To you. To those around you. And it’s kind of a silly choice when you think about it.
If I woke you in the middle of the night and asked you to name your team members, could you?
If I then woke those people and asked them to name their team members, would they name the same group?
Would each of those people (after waking up just a bit more) be able to clearly articulate each person’s role and contribution to the objective you are all working so hard to achieve?
The following are a few True Stories:
Story 1: CEO and newly hired VP discuss a change in corporate strategy which significantly alters another VP’s role. They consider not telling the other VP.
Story 2: Your organization is struggling with expense management. The HR Director keeps offering to help investigate the problem but is dismissed as helpful but unqualified. The management team does not know she has a background in finance and is a current CPA.
Story 3: As the leader of a senior team, you’ve hired a consultant to facilitate a team development process. Six of the seven members of the group express puzzlement and surprise that the group is being referred to as a team. They report that they don’t all work together.
Tips:
1. Know your objective
2. Know your team, the people on the team and the skills and qualities they each have to offer
3. Gather your team together in person and come up with a shared definition of success (This is an excellent opportunity to introduce the concept that they ARE a team. See #3 above.)
4. Hold every team member accountable for measurable results in support of the team’s work toward the objective.
5. Respect the team and each member with open, straightforward and transparent communication.
Calm. Clear. Creative. That’s what you can be when your brain is happy.
When we are stressed and feeling overwhelmed, our brain is in threat response. When we’re in threat response, our ability to think rationally and be creative is compromised.
Here are five things you can do to make your brain happy in 2012:
1. Constructive Venting: Something bothering you? Vent it! Those of you familiar with Motivation Factor know that we use this technique as part of our Energy Drainer exercise to help calm the brain’s threat response and prepare us to generate forward-looking options and actions. In order to think rationally and creatively about a problem, you’ve got to get out of fight/flight mode. Take a few moments to list all the ways the problem is affecting you or causing you frustration. Who or what is letting you down? What are you putting up with? Write until you run out of steam. That’s a sign that your amygdala is getting calm and you’re more ready to think.
2. Password Protect Your Hot Buttons: My phone had a habit of reaching out and touching someone on its own before I password protected it. Our hot buttons do the same thing sometimes. When someone inadvertently presses one, before we know it, we’re lashing out at them for some perceived offense – without any rational intent on our part. Much like unintentionally dialing a client at 3am in their time zone, our hot-button-fueled, knee jerk reactions put our brain into threat response. To avoid hot button mayhem (and to keep relationships healthy), practice the half-sec-pause. It takes just a half second to name the offense (disrespected, embarrassed, dishonest, disorganized, etc.) – like a password – to have a positive and calming effect on the brain’s stress response mechanism. Then, you can respond just a tad more rationally.
3. Zone Out: “Meditation” can sound too heady and unattainable. Relax. Seriously, just relax. That’s all your brain wants. You know the difference between wearing a tight belt and being in sweat pants? Picture your brain taking off that tight belt and putting on a nice pair of fleece sweats. Aaaahhhhh. That’s it. Just get comfy and zone out for 5 minutes or more. Recent studies show that insights (those “aha” moments) only happen when the brain is quiet. Maybe you’ll have more of them.
4. Do What You Love: Did you know your brain lights up when you do what you’re best at? Doing what you love also triggers feel good hormones, putting us in better moods and states of mind. Are you creative? Bring more creativity into your work and life. Love winning? Compete more. Enjoy communing with nature? Get the heck outside. Doing more of what you love is restorative. It’s good for the soul – and the brain.
5. Ask (and Answer) “Why?”: Why do you do what you do? The best cocktail for the brain is made by combining equal part skill and challenge (shake, garnish with purpose and serve). The brain is most balanced and alert when we are doing something that a. we have some skill at (ie we’re not totally overwhelmed or in over our heads); b. challenges us to learn or stretch (ie we’re not totally bored) and c. has some meaning to us. Whether that meaning is in the doing itself (“I help save lives”) or an indirect result of the doing (“this awful job feeds my precious family”). Whatever you do, are you doing it purposefully? Your brain likes that best.
What do YOU do to keep YOUR brain healthy?
Technical skill, accountability, responsibility, innovation, great attitude – all qualities you want to get a sense for during your interviews with candidates. But how do you get a sense for motivation and engagement? The ability to stay the course, pick one’s self up by one’s boot straps and keep on truckin?
Here’s a great question for your next interview:
“Tell me about a time when you lost motivation for or became disengaged with a project, team or company. What prompted that loss of motivation or disengagement and what did you do about it?”
In their answer, you get a sense of:
10 Keen insight into what makes people tick
9 Effortless problem solving ability at all levels
8 Poise and calm in the face of adversity
7 Consistent application of management best practices
6 Celebration of diversity for innovation and perspective
5 The perfect words to deliver difficult news while respecting dignity
4 A network of fun, smart, generous colleagues
3 Insightful knowledge of industry trends
2 Engaged and motivated employees
1 Huge company profits attributed to excellent organizational process and talent
Wishing you the gift of purposeful engagement in meaningful work and a soaring new year!
My work is about inspiring purposeful engagement in meaningful work. I do it because I know I can make a huge positive difference in people’s lives. That makes me happy. But why should YOU care? Here’s some “Engagement Nerd” data for you:
Gallup research has shown that”engaged employees are more productive, profitable, safer, create stronger customer relationships, and stay longer with their company than less engaged employees.”
The consulting firm, Blessing White says that “Engaged employees are not just committed. They are not just passionate and proud. They have a line-of-sight on their own future and on the organization’s mission and goals. They are enthused and in gear, using their talents and discretionary effort to make a difference in their employer’s quest for sustainable business success.”
Hewitt Associates has reported that high engagement firms had a total shareholder return that was 19% higher than average in 2009. In low engagement organizations, total shareholder return was 44% below average.
Similarly, Gallup found that organizations with comparatively high proportions of engaged employees were much less likely than the rest to see a decline in EPS in 2008 and Wharton’s analysis of the Best Companies to Work for in America indicated that “high levels of employee satisfaction generate superior long-horizon returns”.
A recent national poll by the Conference Board found that job satisfaction is the lowest since the poll began in 1987 with only 45 percent of employees satisfied with their jobs.
Disengaged managers are three times more likely to have disengaged employees. This data from the 2009 Sirota Survey Intelligence Study.
Studies over the past few years have consistently shown that 60 percent of workers plan to look for new jobs as soon as the economy provides opportunities. This data becomes more relevant to the average manager when paired with the fact that replacing a departing employee can cost as much as 1.5 to 3.5 times their annual salary, posing a threat to the success of any organization in a fragile recovery. (Salaries Looking Up, John Dooney, HR Magazine, October, 2009).
My husband and I celebrated our 21st anniversary last month and, as a gift, my parents thought it would be nice for us to replace the bare wires hanging from our home office ceiling with an actual light fixture. (Do you know how hard it is to find a decent light fixture with a pull chain?)
We were delighted. My parents suggested that we may want to exchange the fixture for something more to our liking so we unpacked the fixture and held it up to the ceiling to see how it looked and
…the exposed wires hanging from the ceiling touched, causing a startling spark and some equally startling foul language. Thankfully no one was hurt and within minutes my husband had capped the wires with those neat little twisty wire cappers. All was well.
Many of us walk around with our own exposed wires just ready and waiting for some poor, unsuspecting soul to touch them off. We call them “triggers” or “hot buttons” and when someone presses them…GZZZZTTTT! Whether it’s the guy on the highway cutting you off, someone interrupting you, chronic tardiness or a disrespectful comment, we’ve all experienced that shot of adrenaline that tells us that our buttons have – yet again – been pressed.
Interestingly, while we accept the fact that electricity is conducted through wires and that they must be capped to avoid unnecessary or uncontrolled current, we seldom apply the same mechanics to ourselves. It’s the other guy’s fault for doing the stupid thing. She MADE us feel angry/sad/hurt/embarrassed. They deserved our wrath in response to their lateness.
In fact, our personal wires – or hotbuttons – are unique to us. Not everyone is wired to be aggravated by the same things. Not everyone is annoyed by tardiness, not everyone is enraged by stupid driving habits. So the currents flowing through these wires are our own. And it’s our responsibility to know what those currents are and how to effectively manage them. Because if we let our wires flail around uncapped, we find our hotbuttons get pressed more and more often. And if our hotbuttons are constantly pressed we get worn down and either lash out or check out; or we decide that things are hopeless; or we decide that everyone else is at fault and we become isolated.
These wires – if figurative – are real and they originally existed in our brain to protect us from danger. Today, with information overload, the fast pace of technology and the ever-more-demanding social and economic landscape, we need to become better managers of our brain’s threat response system. To avoid hotbutton overload, here are a few ideas:
1. Give yourself a break. Do something fun or relaxing – even for a short time (though the longer you can responsibly have fun or relax, the better). The overloaded brain needs some quiet time.
2. Put words to your hotbuttons. Instead of going straight for the jugular of the other guy (“idiot driver”, “lazy colleague”, “disrespectful oaf”…), PAUSE for just a second to name the impact of whatever just happened. For instance: “Being cut off on the highway was scary and dangerous”; “When kept waiting, I worry. “; “Hearing disrespectful comments is embarrassing”. This lets your brain’s threat response system know that the rational part of you is aware of the threat and can handle it from here.
3. Ask yourself what you want instead. “To get to work safely”, “to be in control of my schedule”, or “to be unaffected by others’ comments” are examples. These “insteads” engage your the rational part of your brain and sets you on a path of positive solution rather than letting your threat response system go off half cocked. Left to it’s own devices, your threat response would likely be hopping around shaking its fist saying: “run that idiot off the road”, “make the late person pay for their laziness” or “punch that person in the nose – that’ll teach ‘em!”. As gratifying as it may feel to flip someone the bird, it has no positive effect on you, your brain, or the other person’s driving habits.
4. Have fun and relax. Life is extremely short. Dr. Phil’s guests should not be our role models. No one is waking up in the morning plotting how to ruin our day (and if there IS someone doing this to you – maybe you should find different folks to hang out with). You have more control over your own well-being than you may be aware of.
These four steps are your own neat little twisty wire cappers.
Our last house was located on a very busy street. The first ten minutes of my commute to work was spent tensely poised at the end of my driveway waiting to catapult my car into the smallest break of creeping traffic. This was tricky, because apparently this particular street had been reserved for people who had Very Important Places to be and therefore could not let anyone get into line in front of them.
300 feet down the road was the next hurdle: THE ROTARY. A fun game for me to play each morning was deciding which rotary approach to take. Option one was “Operation Passive”. If I had the time, I would enter the rotary and then patiently count how many cars it took before one would acknowledge my right of way and let me through. If I was in a feisty mood, it was “Operation Aggressive” where I would brazenly course through, foot on the gas, actively asserting my “right of way” to the joyous cacophony of blaring (though misinformed) horns. (Public service announcement: If you or someone you know slept through driving school and missed the part about how to drive in a rotary. Click here. Seriously. CLICK IT!!!! And pay close attention to Step 5, I beg you.)
Anyhoo, another 500 feet or so was the high school. Now back in my day, while I didn’t have to walk 10 miles, barefoot, in the snow, uphill (both ways) to school, I DID walk. And so did most everyone else. Either that or we took the bus. At this same high school today, I think both parents drive separate cars to drop off each kid. And it must be the only quality family time they get as evidenced by the ETERNITY it took them to exit the car and move on.
Finally, I was free to make my way to the highway. Okay, deep breath, relax the shoulders. GODAMIT WHY IS THAT GUY ON MY TAIL????? I’M ALREADY GOING 80!!!! (Rinse, repeat)
And this is how I would arrive to work. Every day. Sometimes I was in a good mood despite it all. Sometimes I was enraged. Sometimes I was so rattled I couldn’t think straight.
As managers and as professionals, we need to be aware of our surroundings and how they impact us. We need to be purposeful about what we subject ourselves to and how we can smooth the edges in our lives so that the important stuff gets the attention it deserves. We need to be smart, alert, open and thoughtful in order to successfully navigate our way through the rapid fire environments we live and work in.
And we can’t do that if we’re constantly piqued.
I made some changes to my own commute. Now, I pull out onto a quiet country road, pass the reservoir as the sun drizzles over the sparkling water’s edge and inhale the deep damp pine of the forest as I make my way to the highway. I drive a VW convertible that makes me happy and makes others smile in spite of themselves. My biggest worry (at least until I get to the highway) is whether I might hit a deer.
What changes can YOU make? Get up earlier? Slow down? Say no? Play more? Whatever change you choose. You will not believe the difference.
And one final word: Do not underestimate the role of proper rotary management in achieving world peace.