HR's In A Bad Mood

Last week, I was in a bad mood for several days.  When I say bad mood, I don’t mean that I was exhibiting bouts of Hulk-like rage or crying jags that I couldn’t control.  I mean I was simply grumpy, at home, at work, etc. So I rarely smiled or laughed, I kept to myself a bit more and I just focused on what I had to get done.

After a couple days of this, my office colleague asked me if I was still grumpy (see, I was still approachable).
When I said yes, she mildly said, “Cheer up.”
To which my automatic response was “no”.
This made us both laugh, because to me it sounded like a 5-year olds response.

Last week is over and I’ve worked out what was bugging me.  So you’ll find my curmudgeon personality a little less predominant and I’m back to being a little lighter in the loafers.

Though I have to say being grumpy at work, since becoming an HR person, causes me great concern. I think this comes from some old image I have of HR or "Personnel", that HR was always perky, smiling and hopeful.  More so I have this image that we should always be approachable, give the sense that we could lead people back on the happy path, could always fix everyone’s skinned knees.  This has even been expressed to me, “you’re in HR, you can’t be in bad mood.” I guess because if we are, who are they going to be able to rely on when they need a little pick-me-up?

It’s difficult to live up to these expectations every day.  But there is just no way I’m going to be in good mood every single work day.  Again, it doesn’t mean I’m going to throw a chair through a window or lay in a catatonic state on the office floor.  And it doesn’t mean I can’t, or won't, do my job.  It just means that I’m human.  In fact, it says so on my business card.


9VX5Y6P6E8GT

Friday's Quick Question: Body Language

No long commentary from me, just a straight simple question to kick start your brain for one more workday in the week.

What is your favorite body language signal?

Mine is, the hand over the mouth
signifies to the person speaking that the other person listening wants them
to shut up. 

The Baby and The Bathwater

written in collaboration with Stuart Ritchie at http://onefte.com

Many years ago, when I was out of work and searching for the next big opportunity, I took advantage of a great number of networking opportunities and low-cost education series. One of these was through the Nonprofit Leadership Institute at Duquesne University.  I can't say enough good things about this program.  Their mission was to promote education toward a diverse population that would eventually become board members of a non-profit.  After you attended these classes the institute had a method of pairing you up with a non-profit board that was looking for new members.  The reason for such an initiative revolved around the notion that the non-profits in the Allegheny County (Pittsburgh PA) area were dominated by straight, white males over 40 and were finding difficulty replacing their ranks with new found interests.

I was never matched up with any non-profit board (no fault of the institute) but I did learn a thing or two about the non-profit world.  First of all, the non-profit world is not about making no profit.  Having a budget where all revenue is matched dollar for dollar with expenditures is ideal.  But generally, the organization should be striving to make more revenue than what they spend.  This allows for short-term cash shortages and to continue planning for the long term.  The second thing is that the label "non-profit" should be changed to "Social Sector". This terminology falls in line with the words Private and Public sector.  This term refers to organizations whose mission is centered around a public benefit that isn't completely reliant on the community's tax base. Social sector unlike "non-profit" doesn't imply that the organization isn't interested in money or planning on a financial future.

All of this comes to mind for two reasons.  The first originated from a conversation I had with Bob Tarver several months ago where he suggested I write about how to get a job in a non-profit.  Secondly I was approached by Stuart Ritchie over at www.onefte.com to collaborate on ideas about non-profits. 

So let start with Stuart. First of all, if you aren't paying attention to this guy's stuff, you're truly missing out. I have dubbed them HR-Toons.  And they may not be your cup of tea everyday.  But I guarantee at some point, it will resonate with you.  Secondly, Stuart brings up a great point with this HR-Toon.

This was a reoccurring subject during my time at the NPLI and I still hear about this today.  There is some far-fetched notion that to work in a non-profit effectively, your only experience can be from a non-profit and that skills from the public and private sector are non transferable.

This is One...
...Hundred...
...Per-cent...
...Wrong.
And I can personally attest to this. I have work successfully for a non-profit for five years and before that had zero experience at a non-profit.

So Bob you want to break into a non-profit from the other sectors?

First, if any non-profit believes that public and private sector job skills are non-transferable, then they are not worthy of your skills.  Skills such as raising revenue should not be associated with greed, they should be associated with survival. So if that non-profit doesn't want you, find one that does.

The second thing that's really important, is to know their mission and be prepared to support that you're truly a fit for their mission.  If you hate dogs and cats, you're probably going to have a difficult time convincing the Humane Society that you're a good fit.  So if you believe in their mission, say so.  If you get to the interview stage, have an "elevator speech" ready. When the interviewer asks you, "what do we do here?" be prepared with a solid answer.

Third, you need a good reason for moving into a non-profit. I remember when I was asked I said, I'm looking for something more academic and something less about production or sales. For me, this was true.  I wanted to work somewhere where intellectual achievements were considered just as worthy as production.

So the message here is two-fold.  Non-profits (the Social Sector) should not throw out the baby with the bathwater. And for those wishing to make the employment switch, after (the Private or Public Sector) bath make sure to dry off completely, outside and in. Mainly it's not your skills that come under question as transferable, it's the attitude you have.

I'm Ranked 11th in the Country

A colleague of mine relayed a story to me of how he used to own a t-shirt with this saying on it. After which, I surfed the internet to see if it was available to buy somewhere.  Much to my chagrin, it wasn't. If I could buy it though, I'd wear it all the time, especially at work.

Call me a fool. But I love this idea of being ranked eleventh. It's a pretty good place to be. First of all, it's pretty high up there as far as numbers are concerned. But it's not number one (the only place after that is down) and it just misses the coveted Top Ten by an inch, creating the need to keep trying just a little bit harder. 

Eleven says you're great.  Eleven supports the reality that no one's perfect.  Eleven keeps you humble. Eleven is still a number to follow. Eleven can be louder than ten. Eleven supports the top ten performers and doesn't boast to be better than them.

I think that even though there is a greater value placed on the number one, I think the number that signifies a great leader is number eleven.  I know it's a bit odd.  But if you think about it, there are more 1's in eleven than in one itself.

Friday's Quick Question: HR Existence

Just a straight question to kick start your brain for one more day of the work week.

Yesterday I saw this tweet from Paul Hebert (@incentintel) 
"HR as practiced today, exist solely because managers suck at their jobs." 
which got me thinking.... 

Could it be that HR exists today because of something that simple, or 
is the reason more complex? 



p.s. This is not a Paul vs. Paul contest. I'm just curious.

HR Carnival Jukebox

Welcome to the HR Carnival Jukebox, a cornucopia of HR-related blog posts, tailored in a fashion similar to a jukebox.

The art of jukeboxes is they allow anyone with a dime (more like a dollar these days) to broadcast their favorite tunes so that everyone can hear what they're thinking or feeling.  Jukeboxes let you become the DJ.

Blogs are similar in this fashion.  The internet is the jukebox. The blog is the record.  And the post is your dime (or metaphoric five cents) you drop in the jukebox.

At "the Occupation", the only thing that “occupies” me more than HR is popular music. Thus it only seemed fitting when hosting the HR Carnival that I tailor it around popular music.  I’ve sorted each post into genres/styles and gave each post a B-side, a corresponding song that reflects the content that lies therein.

Thankfully, many of the authors contributed their own genres (marked with one*) and/or B-sides (marked with two**). Next to each blog post link is a song link to grooveshark if you wish to listen to them individually. Or you can use the below widget to follow along. Either way, I recommend clicking on both at the same time to get the full effect. Hopefully the soundtrack to the posts make sense and adds to the experience of reading them.

As you will see, there is everything from standards to heavy metal, from HR royalty to HR newcomers. And even a section devoted to the local music scene (HR Philly bloggers).  So grab a couple of dollars, put them into the jukebox, and let the music play.

Pop: 

Songs with great hooks and great messages that get stuck in your head and resonate with you all day.

Mary Jo Asmus at Aspire Collaborative Services: "Wait! Don't Fire That Person (Yet)!"
b/w The Buckinghams "Don't You Care"

**Dan McCarthy at Great Leadership: "How To Discuss an Employee Performance Problem"
b/w The Beatles "We Can Work It Out"

**Shauna Moerke (HRMinion) at SHRMingham: "Culture Shock"
b/w Little Boots "New In Town"

**Mike Krupa at Infobox: "How To Steal Time for Social Media"
b/w Jim Croce "Time In A Bottle"

Gautam Ghosh at Organizations 2.0: "Innovation and HR's Quest To Be Strategic"
b/w Madonna "Jump"

Classic Rock:  

Ben Eubanks at UpstartHR: "How To Find/Make Meaningful Work"
b/w Joe Cocker "With A Little Help From My Friends"

Tanmay Vora at QAspire Blog: "Engagement, Leadership and Power of Storytelling"  
b/w Steely Dan "Any Major Dude Will Tell You" 

Kevin Eikenberry at Leadership & Learning: "Steven Slater, Leadership Coach?"
b/w The Doobie Brothers "Listen To The Music"

Mervyn Dinnen at T Recs: "Work Rate, Vision, Reinvention...Lessons Learned from David Bowie": Any Bowie song will do but my first choice is "Sound and Vision", my second is "Moonage Daydream"

**Mike VanDervort at Human Race Horses: "Jimmy Buffet on Strategic Human Resources Issues"
b/w Jimmy Buffet "Fruitcakes" (I want my Junior Mints too!)

Jazz:

*Lance Haun at Rehaul: "Confusion About The War For Talent"
b/w Getz/Gilberto: The Girl From Ipanema

Standards:

Gunjan Bhatia at Talent Junction Managing: "Performance of Workers":
b/w Peggy Lee w/ The Mills Brothers "It Must Be So"

80's: 

A style that I always head to first on the jukebox

Steve Boese at Steve's HR Technology: "Designing Experiences"
b/w Tears For Fears "Change"

**Kevin Grossman (HR Marketer) at The Glowan Consulting Group: "L3-TV: A-Players Are Jumping From Their Ship of Fools"
b/w World Party "Ship Of Fools"

John Hunter at Curious Cat Management Improvement", a dedication to Peter Scholtes:
b/w R.E.M. "Voice Of Harold" (I hope this song does this post justice.)

Mark Stelzner at Inflexion Advisors: "The Future Of HR"
b/w ‘til Tuesday "Voices Carry"

Mike Kohn at The HR Intern: "Unconscious Competency"
b/w Joe Jackson "Fit"

*Laura Schroeder at Working Girl: "Reflections on Self-Selection Part II"
b/w The Psychedelic Furs "Love My Way"

*Trish McFarlane at HR Ringleader: "Becoming A Social Media Pitchman"
b/w Joe Jackson "I’m The Man"

April Dowling at PseudoHR: "Customer Service Is Like, Hard and Stuff"
b/w The Cars "All Mixed Up"

90’s:

**Laurie Ruettimann at PunkRockHR: "I'm Pfree"
b/w Soup Dragons "I’m Free" + I had to throw in my own: The Sundays "Here’s Where The Story Ends"
(GL in your new venture, Laurie!)

Lois Melbourne at Acquire Blog: "My Jukebox Soapbox"
b/w Jane's Addiction "Been Caught Stealing"

Heavy Metal:

*Evil HR Lady (Suzanne Lucas) at BNET: "My HR Department Bullies Employees"
b/w Cinderella "Nobody's Fool"

*Cathy Missildine-Martin at Profitability Through Human Capital: "HR, Get Your Bass Guitar and Leather Pants"
b/w Twisted Sister "I Wanna Rock"

Stuart Ritchie at 1.00 FTE:  "A Good Time Was Had By Some"
b/w Spinal Tap "Heavy Duty"

 Indie:

*Benjamin McCall at ReThinkHR: "Candidate Response, Company Brand and ATS"
b/w Sonic Youth "Bull In The Heather"

*Meg Bear at TalentedApps: "Hidden Option D"
b/w Radiohead "Just"

Electronica:

*David Wentworth at i4cp: "Social Media Goes To Work"
b/w Kraftwerk "Computer World"

R&B

Naomi Bloom at In Full Bloom: "Where Are The Snowdens of Yesterday"
b/w Aretha Franklin "Think" (The Queen of HR Soul has spoken)

*Aaron Queen at EffortlessHRBlog: "Do We Need Succession Planning?"
b/w Four Tops "Reach Out I’ll Be There"

**Susan Burns at Talent Synchronicity: "Crossing the Chasm of Workplace Irony"
b/w Gloria Gaynor "I Will Survive"

Rap & Hip-Hop:

*Drew Tarvin at Humor That Works: "12 Inspirational Lyrics from Hip-Hop"
b/w Fugees "Fu-Gee-La"

Opera:

**Wally Bock at Three Star Leadership Blog: "The HP Way":"This is an aria from the last act of any Puccini opera. Someone is dying, but as with most Puccini operas, they will sing a while before their final breath."

Local Music Scene: 

Every city's got one and Philly has an outstanding group of writers that approach HR from all sides.  Sorry, Cincinnati.  I know you think you folks are broadcasting as the best HR city.  But WKRP was in AM.  WTTO is broadcasting in FM ("no static at all") and we've got it all from hip-hop to dance, from 80's pop to the best alternative!

**Rich DeMatteo at Corn On The Job: "Don't Tell Me About Your Butt"
b/w Sir Mix A Lot "Baby’s Got Back"

Fran Melmed at Free Range Communications: "What Song Is Your Company?"
b/w Lady Gaga "Just Dance" or Heatwave "The Groove Line" (because dancing breaks should occur in the workplace as part of a wellness program)

Frank Roche at KnowHR: "Labels Are For Packages, Not Employees"
b/w King Crimson "Model Man"

Bill Strahan at Human Markets: "Count The HR Mistakes"
b/w Men At Work "It's A Mistake"

Well folks that's all, as they say. I hope you have the opportunity to explore each of these posts and I hope you had some fun listening to some tunes.  I know I did.

Thanks to everyone who contributed. 

Friday's Quick Question (Aug. 13)

No long commentary from me...just a straight, simple question to 
kick start your brain for one more day of the work week.

This saying was printed on the t-shirts handed out at HREvolution2010. 

Can you wear this t-shirt at work, 
and mean it?

Coming Attraction: The HR Carnival Jukebox

At "The Occupation" there is only one thing that "occupies" my attention more than HR, and that is popular music.  Aside from the insanely popular Songs About Work series, music references weave there way in and out of almost every post.

So since Summer's here and the time is right for dancing in the streets, the upcoming version of the HR Carnival is going to have a different spin. And if you wish, I'm going to let you be the one to spin it.

The HR Carnival hosted here on August 18 will be an HR Carnival Jukebox.

So here's the dealy-o, submitted posts to the HR Carnival will be divided into music genres. So maybe your post will be punk rock, maybe jazz, maybe disco. Perhaps I'll throw in a B-Side to match your post; B-Sides will be real songs that remind me of your post.  Or perhaps I'll come up with some witty commentary, like what bar I'd be listening to this in, or what band would be your opening act.

But if you want to provide your own spin to your post, you're more than welcome to join into the mix.  Give me your genre, your B-Side or your commentary and I'll let you rock the mike.  Whatever you wish.

Please make note: your post does NOT have to be ABOUT music.

Plus as an extra bonus, the mighty HR Minion is letting me waive the 2-week age limit on your posts. I don't care how old it is.  If you consider it classic rock, an oldie but goodie, or a standard, hit me with it.

So folks, don't be a bunch of squares, spin me right round, right round like a record and have a good time compiling your best tune (post) for the HR Carnival Jukebox.  Send your requests (submissions) to DJ Pas here by August 16.

Sometimes It Just Depends

Last week I had the honor of participating in Drexel University's MBA Recruiter Round-table.  Which I have to say, and I feel like an HR-nerd for saying this, but it was fun. Six HR pros sitting around a table on the lower floor of a small amphitheater-style classroom talking, pontificating and debating recruiting issues in front of an audience of future MBA graduates.

Before the event we were all supplied with two pages of questions ranging from one end of the recruiting spectrum to the other, essentially seeking advice from writing resumes up to accepting offers.

The Solution

After the event the organizers expressed they were glad the conversation went in the direction that it did.  The organizers frequently receive requests from their students to supply them with The Solution...the one sure way to land a job.  The round-table conversation supported the notion that there isn't one.  "It depends" was the answer uttered frequently during the discussion. 
For example:
"How long should my resume be?" "It depends."
"Should I put my website on my resume?" "It depends."
"How do you select who gets interviewed?" "It depends."
"What is the best way to get a job: networking, answering ads, etc.?" "It depends."
"Who makes the offer?" "It depends."

"It depends" made the rounds frequently because each of us had different backgrounds and work in different types of organizations.  There were also several moments of consensus as well.  But all-in-all, the round-table presented the world of recruiting from many different sides and presented it as it is: designed, developed and implemented by humans ... therefore not simple, not conveniently packaged and in some ways, not perfect.     

Overall I was impressed by my colleagues around the table and I think we gave some great advice.  My three favorite ones were:
1. Study body language because HR / Recruiters have.  Be careful to know what they know so as not to give the wrong impression, even if you're dressed to the nines and speak well.
2. Never place your cell phone on the table in front of you during an interview.  Even if it is off, you're telling the recruiter my phone is more important than this job.
3. Always stay abreast of job searching trends.  If you're in a job for ten years and that job ends, chances are trends have changed: maybe recruiters want resumes on pink paper, maybe wearing sandwich boards is the best and most respectful way to get attention, or maybe having your parents call the recruiter surpasses networking.  I don't know what the future holds.  But neither does anyone else. The point is if you want to stay relevant, you have to keep paying attention.

The Attention

Paying attention to job searching trends is not always easy.  And it's usually not fun.  But it doesn't have to be time consuming (trends aren't changing that quickly).  I wished we had had time to explore this during the round-table.  If we had I would have added there are two easy ways to stay abreast: (1) Get online and subscribe to recruiter blogs. If you want just one: try RecruiterBlogs.com. and (2) go to SHRM.org. to get a peek into the world of HR.

And for HR folks: The most important aspect of the round-table for me was this sense of outsiders looking in. Even though I believe non-HR folks have a responsibility to themselves to stay relevant, HR folks have a responsibility to keep providing information about who we are and what we do.  To the outside world, sometimes what we do is not obvious, or can be explained in a nutshell.  It's our responsibility to discourage belief in silver bullets and/or secret handshakes and to continue the dialogue about the human dynamic.  Sometimes that means not providing the answer that is desired.  Sometimes it just depends.

Can You Read Minds?

Think about everyone you know or have ever known. Think about your parents, your siblings, your significant others, your friends and your co-workers. Heck even think about your pets.

Now ask yourself, can any of these creatures read your mind? And, can you read theirs?

The answer is unequivocally, no.

Why? Because no one can. It's scientifically impossible to have the thoughts of one person's brain inside the brain of another person.

Still, this does not hamper the belief among many people that it's true.  Putting aside surveys that support this, the evidence is in our vernacular.
"I know what you're thinking..."
"He thinks I'm an idiot. I could tell by the way he was looking at me."
"My cat thinks I'm funny."

"If you could read my mind love, what a tale my thoughts would tell."

Some of this vernacular is even specific to the workplace:
"I don't need to meet with my employees. They know what I think of their performance."
"I want that person fired. They have an attitude problem."
"I think my boss hates me."

All of which make me cringe.

I cringe because I know these are all mind reads with no basis in fact. A more common word for them is assumptions. And in each case assumptions that have a greater chance of causing more harm than good.

One of the most important things that I learned in my early HR career was the difference between attitude and behavior.  And the only thing that you KNOW to be true of an employee is from their behavior. No one has any idea what another person is thinking or what their attitude is. The most productive employee in the history of your organization could hate you. Could you tell from their productivity? Probably not. Does it matter? Absolutely not. They're getting paid to behave in a certain manner that accomplishes a work goal. Beyond that, are you expecting to control their thoughts too?

I think about this frequently due to our society's willingness to be more transparent through social media outlets. In turn, there's a greater desire by employers to take a peak to see what their employees are really like. The first mistake is that it provides employers with information about employees that has nothing to do with the employee's role at work. The second is it leads to bigger assumptions, particularly through photographs: the cigarette in their hand, is it pot? The cocktail glass, is it filled with vodka or water?  The person in the hospital bed is sick, is it something communicable? Frank Roche's KnowHR Blog put it bluntly "Facebook Is None Of HR's Business." And it is simply not.

What it is is simply communication. If you don't communicate verbally or in writing, employees have no idea how well they are performing. No one has an attitude problem, only behavioral; and if you can't communicate that before wanting to fire someone, then the behavior problem is you. And lastly your boss probably does hate you. But what is your boss doing that makes you think that? If you can't communicate evidence than it's just an assumption.  They're all assumptions. And they do nothing toward furthering the organization's goals or bettering someone's acumen.

A wise man a long time ago on a classic sitcom said, "when you assume, you make an ASS out of yoU and ME."  Great advice that has stuck with me through my career. The wise man was Tony Randall and the show was "The Odd Couple."  The below clip is a little long.  But be patient and don't make any assumptions until it's finished.  I think it's comic genius. Maybe you will too.