‘HRevolution’ Articles at Everyday People, Page 4

Let’s go camping !!

The forecast said – High temperature 37, low 21 with a 90% chance of precipitation . . . makes you want to camp, doesn’t it ??

Well, that’s exactly what I did this past weekend. You see, I’m very fortunate to be the Scoutmaster for Troop 941 in West Chester, OH. My son is in the Troop and we went on our first campout of the year to go horseback riding with 23 other boys and 6 adults.

It was amazing !! I love going on these weekend jaunts with my son and with the other kids. I learn so much with them. We laugh, tell stories, play tons on Euchre, and most importantly, I get to see people grow into adults right before my eyes.

Today, there is so much that can be daunting, tragic and even horrifying. We continue to fill our days with junk when the majority of our “news” isn’t news at all. When the lead in story is about some celebrity train wreck vs. the real human condition that all of us face, I can see how we get cynical.

But I digress . . .

From Friday to Sunday I had no cell coverage, no Twitter, no Linked In, no e-mail. However, I had EVERYTHING I needed and more. To hear my son recount the exhilaration of his first ride on a horse, Zeus, was better than any distraction I fill my life with. To sleep in the cold, to eat fresh meals cooked in a dutch oven from recipes my son found, to sing I’m a Little Teapot at a campfire to the tune of We Will Rock You by Queen, and to have kids pick you to imitate during Adult Impersonations – phenomenal.

In the midst of all that is going on around us, I have to ask . . . do you enjoy yourselves? Are you taking time to take everything in? Do you see the miracles that happen literally everyday with the people you work with?

Or, are you too busy rushing to check that next e-mail, make sure you get that next appointment entered into Outook, while ignoring the great people you work with so you make sure YOUR needs are being met?

When my son and I got home on Sunday, I collapsed from the full weekend. My body isn’t as young as it used to be. But, I collapsed full of joy and great experiences !!

Here’s my challenge to those of you kind enough to even read my blog – take time to enjoy what life brings you !! Ask the person you work with what they did this weekend and . . . stay there long enough to really take in what happened !! Quit ignoring all that is good going on all around you.

Now, I have to get recharged. We camp again in 2 weeks (and I can’t wait !!)

Quit looking for the Silver Bullet !!

Recently, I had the opportunity to be the opening speaker at the Northern Ohio HR Conference (NOHRC). It was a great time and I appreciate people slogging through the 4 inches of snow to make it out for a day full of quality professional development !!

I’m not sure what the attendees expected from my presentation, but one thing that didn’t happen (and never will) was that I didn’t give anyone a “silver bullet.” I didn’t do this because I don’t think they exist.

Conference attendees keep looking for “best practices” and ways to copy what successful HR efforts have already been done. I struggle with this because I follow the tenet I heard from Dave Ulrich (paraphrasing) – Best practices are always behind. HR should be creating NEXT practices !!

It’s a great philosophy to follow because I truly think that HR can, and should, move things forward both in the profession and in their organizations. To do that you have to do two things: (1) Create the future and (2) Act !!

The time of “let’s see what happens” and “I want my seat at the Table” are gone. In order for HR to remain relevant and sustainable, it has to create and act in order to be integrated within organizations.

Don’t say it can’t be done either !! Companies and Sr. Management are looking for HR to be integrated. They don’t need administrative death traps that only look at what is compliant or not.

So, what can we do? How can we help the profession and practitioners see that there are so many ways to help HR move forward ??

Well, Jason Lauritsen and I are going to facilitate a session at HRevolution 2011 at the end of April which will attempt to gather the thoughts of a great group of HR pros to see what they think and how WE (that means ALL HR professionals) can move HR forward.

I have a feeling that many “bullets” will be shared and I can’t wait !! I already have my Kevlar fitted. Jason and I want to see HR move ahead. How about you ??

We’re Just Playin’ !!

When it comes to training and OD, HR tends to take things to extremes. We hire the best consultants, make sure we follow the newest trend of training noveau, and the more “HRey” it is, the better we feel justfied of our existence.

Okay, that’s a little extreme in itself. But, the point is this – we try too hard when it comes to training exercises !!

I was made aware of this tendency at a recent retreat we had. I was excited to be involved in training our great folks. My topic was “Communication” and Operations told me I could be over the top to make sure we had fun. I was a little skeptical about this honestly. I don’t mind going over the top whenever I do presentations to HR chapters, conferences or even other businesses, but I wasn’t sure how I would be accepted.

The Ops leaders threw another curve at me when they said they were going to kick off the day with something “fun.” My abject fear of the Lifeboat Exercise was racing through my mind (when you’re given just one item and then you determine who should survive). Just what was fun going to be?

When the day of the event came up, we met at a very cool place called Blue Ocean Facilities . Spread out all over the room were board games. Everything from Clue to Apples to Apples. (my personal fave) The Ops Leaders then pulled out the classic OD training technique of numbering us off from 1 to 6. Then the radical instructions came – “Okay, now we’ll go by numbers, pick a board game as a group and go play it.”

That was it. Go play the game. One GM even started by saying “So, what’s the real meaning here that you’re looking for?” Isn’t that sad that we’re conditioned to expect some hidden agenda even before we started?

No agenda. We just played board games for the first 1 1/2 hours of the day. It was a riot !! BTW – my team picked Apples to Apples and we howled and laughed the entire time. When we finished one round, we had the option to change, but my group stayed with it to laugh even more.

Playing a game set the stage for the rest of a VERY successful day where we did take time to learn about better communication as well as improving our guest’s experience.

Here’s something I’d like all of HR to remember . . .

When we were kids the world was limitless. We could imagine anything from simple household items and change the world with our imagination. We also played constantly. Everything was a game !!

You know what happens when kids grow up ?? They become our employees.

So, keep things simple. Play a game !! It’s the best “training” you’ll ever do !!

Whole Lotta Love (for HR) !!

Too often people are tearing down HR vs. building it up. This needs to change now. If we did this, can you imagine what workplaces would be like?

When you think of Valentine’s Day, the first band that comes to mind is . . . Led Zeppelin of course !!

These rock giants defined an all-out, unabashed approach to their music and they renewed the world of rock post-Beatles. I’m a GIANT Zep fan and when I hear any song from them I just get jacked up (even their ballads.)

Don’t be mistaken, this isn’t a tribute to Led Zeppelin. Instead, it’s a call for HR to be as all-in every time they approach their jobs and the field in general. When I go to chapter meetings, roundtables, conferences or read the endless blogs that trash HR, I hear more voices joining in tearing down HR vs. building it up.

When was this ever a good approach to changing anything? Seriously. If we think, “Let’s all show why HR falls short, isn’t strategic and can’t get out of its way in the business world – then things are sure to change !!”

I was talking to Jason Lauritsen recently. He’s a fellow HR practitioner and we were sharing that we want to take 2011, and beyond, to lift HR up and not tear it down. It’s not to say that people can’t be critical, but give solutions not just gripes. Also, we agreed that the human perspective of what we do can’t be buried in the HR/Corporate speak of metrics, ROI, synergy, etc. Really, people don’t talk like that.

Jason and I have different approaches to HR with one common theme – PASSION !!

Passion is a word that isn’t supposed to be set aside for one day in February when everyone is “supposed to be” passionate because a card told you to. We can’t expect employees to be engaged if we’re not passionate about them !! It’s past time for HR to be passionate about what we do, how we influence people’s lives and how our work and perspective assist companies to move forward. Mediocrity isn’t an option. It never was.

The time is now to show a Whole Lotta Love for HR !! What do you say? Are you in?

Image courtesy of Etsy

What if . . .

What if HR took lessons from the Super Bowl and treated employees differently?

Like most of America, I was planted on my couch soaking in the spectacle that we loving call the Super Bowl on Sunday. I saw some of the ridiculously long pre-game, anticipated the commercials and critiqued them, loved the back and forth play between the Steelers and Packers, and watched in awe as the Black Eyed Peas performed the halftime extravaganza. Hours of my day spent watching an event that honestly did little but entertain me – at times.

Sitting in my office on Monday, I began to wonder some comparisons between HR and the time/effort given to the Super Bowl.

What if . . . HR was as excited and focused on cheering on their employees as fans are of their teams in the Super Bowl?

What if . . . HR loosened their grip on rules and let people freely express themselves like they do when they go to a football game? Face paint and all !!

What if . . . HR had a strategy that had employees playing like a team and understood that ALL of the members of the team were expected to contribute?

What if . . . HR coached the company’s employees based on their strengths and put them in roles that allowed them to excel and even win?

What if . . . HR itself expected the best in people and sought to make sure that they had all of the equipment, training and facilities in order to be their best everyday they came to work??

What if . . . HR took that approach that it’s a “championship” field to be in instead of looking for ways to tear itself down?

What if . . . HR knew that even if it comes into an organization as an underdog, that it can rally the staff to grow, compete and add value to the company?

Last Friday, one of our Team Members had a birthday. Big deal, huh? You see, at my company when it’s your birthday, you bring in snacks to share with the office. People usually bring in sweets, but Friday was different. As I walked upstairs I smelled grills. The “snack” for this person’s birthday was that he made everyone in the office a fresh omelet to order !! Seriously !! It was phenomenal.

Here was someone who did something unpredictable, unconventional and unparalleled. He is a great Team Member from Finance that you’d never expect to do this.

He was a great example of “what if . . .” So, HR, look at things in a new way. See the greatness that works around you everyday.

Do you know what would happen if you did this ?? What if . . .

No apologies

It’s time for HR people to quit complaining about knowing each other. Instead, we should be doing all we can to get to know our connections as real people.

Disclaimer – (all good HR people know how to do these . . .)

The following post may seem like name dropping, but it’s not. It’s about the value of getting to know the people we choose to follow and be connected to. If that makes me a “clique” former – so be it !!

Now for the post:

Last week the coolest thing happened !! I received a DM on Twitter from Bryan Wempen asking me what my day looked like. I was a little confused by this since Bryan is normally in Tulsa, OK and I’m in Cincinnati, OH, but I responded. Turns out he was in town and wanted to see if we could get together. To say I was GEEKED would not give this enough credence !!

Bryan is someone I met through Twitter and also through his incredible blog radio show, Drive Thru HR, which he co-hosts daily with another friend – William Tincup. We went to our Boudinot location for LaRosa’s and had some great conversations over great pizza !! I learned more about him, his family and great stories about career, college, etc.

You see, Bryan was inadvertently helping me reach a goal I set for myself for 2011. I want to meet as many of the people I’m connected to as possible in real life !! I think this really matters.

I think HR people in the Social Media space are struggling with “what’s next?” when it comes to where things are going. The piece that’s missing is that we long to really know each other.

Coming up in the next few months, I get to go to the Northern Ohio HR Conference to present and catch up with Joe Gerstandt as well as 100’s of other attendees who may/may not be involved with Social Media. Also, in April I’m going to HRevolution 2011 and couldn’t be excited enough to meet others that I read about, learn from and communicate with.

There’s more to come in 2011 including the Ohio HR Conference in September where I’m fortunate enough to be this year’s chair !!

I feel that too many HR people keep their heads down when they go to great events like these and worry too much about HRCI credits, where to sit in the room and if the person sitting next to you is going to “bother” you by tweeting instead of listening to the speaker.

Time for this to stop !!

The GREATEST resource at these events are the people sitting next to you, the people in the exhibitor halls and the people milling through the halls !!

So, no apologies. I plan to meet ALL of you – and I can’t wait !!

What Do You Expect ??

This post asks HR what their focus is when it comes to their employees. Do they dread seeing them, or do they think they’re amazing?

When you think of your employees, what comes to mind?

Do you have positive thoughts? Are you fondly reminded of how amazing the folks are at your company ??

What do you expect? Seriously. Have you taken the time to reflect on how your focus is as an HR practitioner when you go into work each day? Are you looking forward to working with the people around you, or do you dread it?

If I asked you this in person, I’m sure I’d hear a positive response because you’d feel a little awkward because we’re only supposed to talk about surface level things to keep things within a social norm. It may be the way you truly feel, and I hope it is.

However, when I keep my ear to the ground and listen to other HR pros, I hear more negative things than positive things. I hear people grousing about the difficult person who did this, or the person who takes ALL of my time, etc.

Don’t you think your employees see that in you? Don’t you think that they’ve come to expect HR to be the department who brings the bad news? Not very encouraging is it?

I think that we’ve made the rock prophet Don Henley’s words come true from his vintage song “Dirty Laundry” on his debut album I Can’t Stand Still.

“Dirty little secrets
Dirty little lies
We got our dirty little fingers in everybody’s pie
We love to cut you down to size
We love dirty laundry”

I know that sounds harsh, but when I listen to HR people they tend to talk about the 10% of people who cause them the most problems instead of focusing on the 90% of people who are GREAT !!

I love HR Horror Stories as much as the next person, and I could add my share of them – believe me. However, it’s time to change the tide.

People will see HR as a positive force in organizations when, and only when, HR is positive itself !!

So, what do you expect ?? Let me know.

Image courtesy of Amazon.com

Take a Stand !!

This post encourages HR to take aspects of Martin Luther King, Jr. and apply his efforts to their work today in organizations.

This past weekend I traveled to the heart of Amish country in Ohio to beautiful Berlin, Ohio for the Classic in the Country basketball tournament. It was a full weekend of great high school varsity girls basketball !!

The “unique” aspect of this tournament vs. others is that when the girls come out to the court before the game begins something other than the National Anthem occurred. (Fear not, they play the Anthem at the beginning of each day.) The announcer asked everyone to stand and then they played a quote from a Martin Luther King, Jr. speech. It was incredibly moving – and relevant !!

You see, my daughter only knows of Dr. King from History class or a textbook. Now that we are recognizing the 25th anniversary of the celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, it made me reflective as well because Dr. King did things that we in HR should be doing as well . . .

Recognize Injustice !!

Too often HR sees things that happen in companies and seeks the middle ground vs. addressing things directly. You see, if you ask Management, HR represents them. If you ask employees, they’d say HR represents . . . Management. The fact is that we represent all employees and we are obligated to look at all people practices that aren’t in the best interest of employees and get rid of them. I’m not talking about obvious egregious or illegal behavior. That’s a no-brainer. I’m talking about policies (that we often generate) that do no good to the company. Honestly, most of our polices are created to address a few people’s poor behavior that we should be addressing directly any way !!

Take a stand !!

Do you like being ambiguous and wishy-washy? I don’t and I hope that as HR practitioners, you don’t either. It’s tough to take stands on things but companies expect us to make decisions and not practice conflict avoidance. People are tough. There’s no doubt about that. However, if you learn how to frame your approach and deal intentionally with people, you’ll be amazed at how effective an HR professional you’ll be !!

Be the one person !!

Too often people are waiting for someone to act. When HR is passive bad things happen more often than not and you become the person who’s always “putting out fires.” We desparately want someone to take action.

That needs to be YOU !!

Dr. King took action when it wasn’t popular, when it involved incredible risk, and it represented those who weren’t in power. I want to be that kind of HR person all the time.

How about you ???

Image courtesy of WriteSpirit.net

Guess what I got for Christmas ??

Announcing the blog launch from a person who is in HR on purpose !! A different forum which promotes HR strategically and as an integral function in today’s business world.

My family is different from most in today’s society (in a good way). You see we actually like each other, enjoy getting together and look forward to time catching up and sharing what’s happening in our lives.

Ten years ago, our family started a Christmas “tradition” where the adults and kids were supposed to make something for someone, give something to a charity in their name, or regift something you liked from the other family (like an heirloom or something that had deep meaning to someone).

My amazing sister-in-law, Kathi Browne, had my name this year, yet there wasn’t a gift for me under the tree. I was curious because the tree was inordinately full even though each year we say we’re going to “cut back.” When my turn came to open my gift, Kathi opened her laptop and showed me my Twitter handle as a URL . You see, my sis-in-law gave me a blog !! How cool is that?

I’ve had people mention that I should do this someday, and many of you have been kind enough to let me be a guest on your great blogs. I appreciate you letting me get my feet wet.

Now, I guess I’ll be out here with you. I’m just getting started and I’m sure that I’ll be reaching out to others to have them guest here as well.

It’s a great way to start 2011 !! Let’s see what happens . . .