‘Engagement’ Articles at Everyday People

All I Want Is You !!

Desire.

It’s an innate human element. Every person has desires about something. You can determine what those desires are typically by where a person spends their time and money. People can say they desire a variety of things or be more focused. Desires are unique. Even if people are wildly passionate about the same types of things, it’s never really the same.

Desire.

It’s something we want employees to have every day when they come to work. There are countless articles, blogs and efforts about employee engagement. When I see these I think more and more of the effort is on getting “buy-in” as to what a Company offers instead of allowing people to bring their desires to the workplace. We aren’t very comfortable with really allowing people to be who they are.

HR spends an incredible amount of its time and focus on limiting behavior and adding stipulations to systems to make sure people comply and fit in. In fact, most managers talk with the majority of their employees only when needed. That includes sitting down for performance reviews, weekly meetings, etc. More and more of our structures force interactions, but they don’t develop communication or bring out the best in our people.

What if we changed ?? What if HR took the opportunity to be less restrictive and chose to work on ways to bring out the best in people? It’s not the norm in our field by a long shot. It calls for more variety and people assume that more variety will bring instability and chaos. I think that’s not true. There is more variability, but that should allow for genuine diversity and not some trumped up program that makes us “feel better.”

Desire.

Think about it. A workplace that is filled with people who can discuss and share their lives. I don’t think this should be a forced effort in the least. However, HR struggles with this too. I’m not sure why we all have relationships, friendships and interactions rather naturally as a social norm, but we don’t try to foster that in the workplace. I think that if we took the time to not just “talk” with people, but just treat them like the desirous, passionate humans they are, we’d enjoy each other so much more !!

I want to encourage you to take a “U2” approach to this. You have to know that I’m a fierce U2 fan and love all of their work. You could say that following them is one of my desires. One of their fab songs is “All I Want is You.” The song lists many things that someone wants, but the signer responds that all they want is that person. It really is a consuming approach to have the feeling that someone wants you that completely.

I know this is a big step. I also know that it works !! I try to take more and more of my time with my co-workers and find out what drives them. I may not share their same interests, but knowing what they are passionate about is fabulous. It allows me to have more of a connection with them as well as something to check in on when we see each other. It’s very enriching and it makes HR wonderful.

You see in the end – I hope our desire is people.

A Daily Mantra !!

This past week we celebrated a Team Member’s 30th anniversary !! This is a rarity in any organization these days. She truly is beloved. When we sent out the notice that we were going to recognize her, many people, including several Executives and Senior Leaders, cleared their schedules to make sure they were present.

Our recognition program is very personalized. We meet our Team Members during their shift and at their location. We finally learned that recognition needs to be focused on the employee and not the HR program or benevolence of the company !! This simple shift has made recognition meaningful for all involved.

What made this occasion so great was the impact that this Team Member has had. EVERY person who came to say congratulations had worked with her including the CEO and the President of the company !! She has literally touched the lives of an incredible number of people who passed her to take on loftier roles in the organization.

When everyone gathered, there were loads of hugs, laughs and stories shared. She had at least one story about everyone who came. Here’s mine . . .

She is truly unique and salty !! When I started in my role, my first interaction with her was because she had hung signs in the kitchen that said, “Make sure to put away your mother*$#*%ing glasses !!” She heard that HR wanted to talk to her and she was ready for me. I told her that I’d like to take the signs down, and asked her why she felt the need to say these things. She didn’t miss a beat. “Do you see all the glasses sitting around ??” There was never any ill will or intent in her approach.

No one has ever felt threatened or hurt by her coarse language. When I talked to her I got to know her better and she got to know me as well. I make sure to drop by and see her every once in awhile and she says, “Hey, Steve, I haven’t put up any f*#$ng signs lately.” And, we howl !! We’ve both learned from each other over the years.

The whole time we were recognizing Louise, it was very emotional. We shed tears, laughed until it hurt and reveled in the stories from her 30 years with us. It was fantastic !!

As we were wrapping up, the President of the company shared this . . . “Recently, I read that to have a full life people should laugh out loud, cry out loud and touch someone else’s life every day – and Louise that describes you perfectly !!” You can guess that tears flowed freely.

I think it’s something that all of us as humans can take on as our mantra. This isn’t just an “HR” thing. You see I believe that our workplaces are full of people like Louise. It’s just that so many people continue to think that HR’s focus is on the negative. I hate when I hear people trying to learn from HR horror stories because that’s when idiotic policies, procedures and programs come to life.

I could have jumped her when I saw her signs. I could have written up a tenured employee because she was using harsh language. I could have overreacted and jumped to conclusions, created a massive anti-cursing policy with 5 levels of progressive discipline. Or, I could talk to her and hear her side of things.

I’m so glad I took the last approach.

I made sure I was Louise’s last hug. It was warm, caring and I told her how much she meant to me and to the lives of so many. She pulled back and said, “Thank You. Now get out of here you . . . “

Talkin’ ‘Bout My Generation(s) !!

Something has been bothering me for some time now. When did we realize that we have generations in the workplace? Haven’t we ALWAYS had people from various generations in the workplace?

It truly is disappointing that we have taken to labeling people due to when they happen to have been born. For instance, technically by my birth year, I am at the tail end of the Baby Boomers. I more strongly identify with Generation X personally. But, I would have to say that, I have a touch of Millennial and whatever the newest generation is being called in me as well.

Any time I hear someone in HR bemoan the perceived weaknesses and challenges of a generation in HR presentations or on blogs, I hear The Who and their epic song, My Generation.

Roger Daltrey belts out ” People try to put us down . . . Just because we get around . . . Things they do look awful c-c-cold . . . Hope I die before I get old.”

The lyrics are indicative of how I think EVERY generation feels when they are shoved into a stereotype so that others can “deal” with them. Tell me how this enhances a workplace?

I give a presentation where I bring out a vinyl album, a cassette tape, a CD and my iPod – all of the Beatles White album. (Didn’t ignore the immortal 8-Track, just didn’t have one anymore) I ask a younger person to tell me what the LP is and the answers range from frisbee, to plate, to tray. It’s fun to see how things have changed. What hasn’t changed though is the message !! You see each form of music is just what each generation used to capture it, but the songs are still magnificent in each medium. The same is true about people. It’s just that WE need to look at it differently !!

It saddens me that HR even considers labeling people when we fiercely fight to not do this in every other aspect of our job. I know Boomers who are more hip than Millennials and Gen X’ers that should have grown up at the turn of the 20th century.

Let’s do this instead . . .

We should value the diverse experience, culture, background and age of everyone we work with. Learn who they are as people first versus categorizing them into some box that we think makes it convenient. Quit assuming the worst of people and accentuate their strengths instead !! People who know that you value who they are will automatically be engaged because the focus is on THEM and not their generation.

We work with a tapestry of extremely diverse people who bring an incredible breadth and depth of humanity to work everyday. Any time that HR narrows this, we only lose out. Refuse to be narrow !! Go against the norm and dive into the myriad of generations around you.

Have You Played Lately ??

I have !! Man, the past few weeks have been full of FUN !! And, I work in HR !! How cool is that?

We had our Christmas Party for our store Managers at Star Lanes at Newport on the Levee. There was bowling, eating and billiards surrounded by tons of laughter and stories. It was very casual and loads of fun !!

I also had the privilege of speaking at the chapter meeting of the Greater Cincinnati HR Association (GCHRA) and the event sold out !! Yikes !! The presentation was on Leadership through HR, and I had a blast. Lots of laughter, stories and food !!

Then, this weekend I went to the National Museum of the US Air Force on the Wright Patterson Air Force Base with my Boy Scout Troop. We went through the miles of planes and years of history on a scavenger hunt, took in an IMAX movie and even got to tour through past Air Force One planes. The boys (and certain adults) let their imaginations run wild and pretend we were fighter pilots. We all picked our favorite planes that we just HAD to have !! Again, more laughing, fun and memories.

The ironic thing during all of these activities . . . no one got hurt. No one was upset. No one was negative.

It made me start to reflect about what we do in HR. Is it fun? Do we allow people to play? Or, are our processes more important than people?

How about our Associations, Conferences and gatherings? Fun ?? Parts of them are, but there are also a myriad of rules and structures with good intentions, but limit people from enjoying themselves.

Why is this? Is someone playing at work, or having fun that threatening? I’ve said this before. Do you know what happens to kids when they grow up? They become our employees !!

This week start a new practice before people make silly New Year’s Resolutions that they will strive to break vs. keep.

Have fun at work !! Quit looking for others to engage you. Be engaged first yourself !! Fun is different for all of us, but look around at your company’s culture and see if it fosters creativity or compliance – innovation or conformity.

I plan to play more and more and pull others along with me. Let’s see who’s more productive in the end !!