Author Archives: Ben

Handling Disrespect at Work-The Respect Effect (Book Review)

How to teach managers and teams about disrespect at work

Recently I received a copy of The Respect Effect to review. This post is less of a book review and more of a discussion about one specific idea I found in the book, but it’s been a good read and I definitely have some good notes for my next manager’s meeting. 

How does Zappos handle issues with disrespect in the workplace?

“If it [the issue of disrespect] cannot be successfully handled within the workgroup, we fire them.”
Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com

I’ve been thinking about this ever since I read it a few weeks ago. It’s not only about not tolerating disrespect within the workplace setting. It also presents an idea that warrants some thought. Continue reading →

Free HRCI Credits-Webcasts, Webinars, and Podcasts

One of the common questions I’ve heard from people who get their HR certification is how to get free HRCI credits for recertification. I’ve been working on a new guide lately (soon to be released!)(update: the new HR recertification guide is here!), and one of the pieces of information I’m covering is continuing education credits.

In the short time that I’ve been researching, I ran across three solid resources that you can use for getting your PHR and SPHR recertification credits.

Get your hands on free credits

About the guide

The working title is “Rock Your Recertification” (yeah, not too snappy). I’m going to discuss some different topics, but the main purpose will be to provide 50+ ideas for getting recertification credits. I’m hoping to release in early August, so keep your eyes peeled for that one if you are certified and want some solid ideas to get your 60 credits.

Anyone else have ideas for getting free HRCI credits? I’d love to hear what sources you prefer!

HR Recertification-How Do You Do It?

I’m working on a new HR recertification guide to provide some unique ideas for how to get HRCI recert credits to renew your PHR, SPHR, or GPHR certification. One thing I wanted to do was ask you guys for some help.

HRCI allows professionals to use a range of activities to count toward recertification credits, including continuing education, webinars, on the job work experience, training sessions, and more. I’m looking for ideas that fit into these categories that you have used to get credits on a previous recertification application. The more unique/interesting, the better!

While you can use things like webcasts and local SHRM chapter meetings to get the bulk of your HRCI credits, most of us would like to break out of that repetitive cycle and do something new and fresh. Let’s make the recertification process more fun and valuable! The growth and continuous development aspect of certification is what makes it more valuable than even a college degree in some cases, so let’s make the most of it.

If you have taken the exam and have had to recertify previously, I would love to use some of your ideas in the new guide. Please click here and respond to this one-question survey on HR recertification (update: the survey is now closed, and the HR recertification guide is now available!). Thanks!

If you have not had to recertify yet, I think you will find this tool valuable!

Change Management-Communication Stealth Tip

stealth kitty

Stealth Kitty

One of my favorite classes as a senior in college was Change Management. Communication was always billed as a key tool for managing widespread organizational changes, but it was always mentioned in concurrence with the actual activities. Basically-be a reporter and share everything that’s happening.

I have since learned that while that is a good plan, there’s an even better way to make things happen. It makes sense, but many people don’t think of it until it’s too late:

If you have a problem to solve, build demand for the solution before sharing it.

This allows you to develop your influence and make an impact far beyond simply communicating the effects of the change after the fact (and that’s not to mention the fun experience of communicating with difficult team members). It requires foresight and planning to pull it off, but the common problems associated with the change management process can be mitigated or eliminated if handled properly.

My own experience

I used a version of this last year when we implemented our first Applicant Tracking System. Up until that point we were using an email address and a folder system on a shared network drive to collect and store all resumes. It worked, but it was cumbersome and time-consuming to manage.

I spent some time talking with our hiring managers about their needs and dislikes with the current tracking system, and then offered to test out a low-cost tool that would allow us to bypass many of the issues we’d been experiencing. The pain points for the hiring managers were still fresh in their minds, and it was an easy sell to get them to let me set it up for us to test. After our first job opening and interview process using the new tool, everyone was sold on it being superior to the previous system.

I followed the steps, and it worked well. Find the problem, build a desire for a solution, and provide the solution that people want. Again-it’s better than waiting until after the fact and hoping for the best solution to emerge!

Anyone ever had the opportunity to use this “stealth” communication technique? What were your results? 

Employee Performance: Manage and Prosper

A performance discussion for those who manage others

I have been thinking a lot about performance management lately-namely, how can managers get it done faster, better, and more effectively? I run into complaints about all areas of performance feedback: how to do it, what to say, how to have time for it, etc.

I get them so often that I’ve put together a quick discussion you can have with your managers to help them do it well. The best part? There is no “I don’t have time for this” excuse, because the lesson takes less than a minute to deliver. Here we go:

30 Second Public Service Message for Managers

Performance feedback is critically important for your people to do their jobs well. It needs to be all these:

  • On time
  • Honest
  • Accurate

Keep The Golden Rule in mind. Address their performance (good or bad) like you would want your own to be addressed.

Bonus tip: if you think there may be a surprise for the employee, call me.

And that, my friends, is the 30 second lesson on performance!

Want more? Check out the free employee performance management guide!

No Thanks, Mr. Brokaw (A Rant)

I’ve had something in the back of my mind since I got home from the SHRM conference, and I am going to have to get it off my chest. If you’re not in the mood for a little rant, feel free to check out The Oatmeal for something funny.

One of the general session speakers at the conference was Tom Brokaw. I was not sure what to expect from the man when he got up to speak to an audience full of HR professionals, but I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. He’s Tom Brokaw, people!

So he gets up there and starts discussing politics, world events, history, and makes it all tie into the economic situation that we’re facing today. It was an excellent confluence of topics, and I really was enjoying it.

Until he got all wacky on me. 

At one point he started talking about requiring everyone to work in a public service position after school in order to “give back.”

That, my friends, is a load of crap. 

Would you like to give back? Here’s how you do it.

Become a productive citizen. 

If you want to take it a step farther (and this isn’t for everyone), then start a small business. Small businesses make up the majority of this country’s employer base.

Think about it. What better way is there to “give back” than to create something that employs other people and provides food for their families?

Many people at the conference cheered when Mr. Brokaw made his suggestion, but I cringed. People have forgotten what the government’s role was originally intended to be.

Contrary to what you might have heard, it’s not the government’s job to force people to “give back.” It’s the government’s job to provide roads, defend our country, make sure the laws are enforced, and get the heck out of the way for the individuals in this country to be successful.

Nobody seems to understand the concept of personal responsibility anymore. You make choices, and you deal with any consequences (positive or otherwise).

Like I said, I’ve been pondering this since the conference last month, and when I read this week about the college students marching to protest high student loan balances, I couldn’t contain myself any longer.

Seriously. Students are protesting the loans they signed up for. Really?!? It’s like they forgot the entire decision-making process where they said, “I want to go to college x. It will cost me y. I have z. Now I will borrow money to pay for my own college.”

Here’s a little tip for those students who must have missed out on the Government, Economics, and Civics courses in high school: it isn’t the government’s job to give you a free degree. How about getting a job and paying for it? A lot of us have, and you don’t see us marching and griping because we have $100k in student loans around our necks.

Here’s a solution for you. It’s hard to comprehend, but I’ll help you out.

  1. Find a school that has the degree program you are looking for
  2. Decide if you have the money to pay for it
  3. If you do not have the money, you have two options
    1. find a cheaper school-a degree is a degree; nobody really cares where you went to school
    2. wait until you do  have the money before you start taking classes

Seriously, it’s that easy.

I got a degree for relatively little money and no debt. There was no magic formula involved. I attended local schools with reasonable tuition rates. I found a company that would reimburse me for my tuition (I wish I had started there when I was a freshman, not a junior!), applied for scholarships, and worked full time while I finished school. And you know what? My employer doesn’t care where I went to school as long as I know what I’m doing.

Too many people think that a college degree is a silver bullet for a great job and they will borrow up to their eyeballs to make that degree happen. It’s not. While a degree can help you to find a job, it is not going to automatically entice the employer to pay you more or give you additional responsibilities. Until you give them reason to believe that you’re halfway intelligent, the degree serves little purpose.

Be accountable for your own decisions. If you’re looking for a job, you’re going to need a measure of personal responsibility to be successful. 

Sorry for the rant today, but I get all fired up about a few things, and this is one of them. We’ll be back with our regular HR topics on Monday!

HR-Proposals Make You Better

human resources proposalI’ve been working with our business development team on a big project. The HR proposal portion is an amazing exercise, because it’s all about us forcing ourselves to quantify the impact that we have on the organization. Sitting there and discussing what differentiates our organization from others in terms of recruiting, retention, etc. opens your eyes to the opportunities that we have to drive change on a high level. It’s helping me to see that our part of the business can be as powerful (or not) as we want it to be.

Results-oriented HR

I’ve touched on the Results Oriented Work Environment (ROWE) in this post on working naked, but that applies to work in general. The basic idea behind ROWE is work when/how/where you want, as long as the objectives are met. There are two main pieces in my mind when it comes to ROWE:

  • The “fun” part of doing whatever the heck you want to do
  • The “hard” part of really, truly, seriously being responsible for some actual results

When people discuss ROWE, they often look at the first piece, but the second one is discussed less often because it actually demands some level of accountability. It requires that you ask better questions, for one. What are real results when it comes to HR? How do you measure that? Are those measurements comparable to other companies in your industry or geographic region?

Take a look if you dare

When I sat down with the team to discuss the HR/recruiting portions of the proposal, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I quickly saw opportunities to bolster our proposal by calling out comments on previous employee surveys, analyzing our Best Places to Work employee responses, and plugging in metrics for recruiting and retention. By the end of the meeting, I was excited not only about our prospects (we’ve clearly differentiated ourselves from the average HR team with some of our practices), but also about having a clearer picture of what our contributions mean on a larger scale.

The little things matter. It’s not just working with a manager to coach an employee through tough times. It’s not just going the extra mile to ensure that when employees do have to leave, they are treated with all the courtesy and respect I would afford any other star employee. It’s not even having an amazing retention rate for our industry that really makes a dent in the company’s performance. It’s a little bit of everything. All of those pieces flow together to paint a picture of success for our organization. It certainly isn’t true solely due to our people practices, but a strong focus on those since the day the company was established means that they play a key role in our continued upward movement.

Your turn

As an HR professional, you are in a unique position to make your organization better. Maybe it’s taking a little extra time with job candidates to help them understand why they weren’t chosen. Maybe it’s picking up the phone to call a remote employee to talk them through a tough time in their life. While those “small” actions might not seem valuable on the surface, they touch more people and build more goodwill toward your HR  team than all the doughnuts and party planning you could ever accomplish.

Take some time today to think on it. What results can you point to that measure your value as a piece of your organization? Are you contributing to, or detracting from, your company’s success? Are your inputs clearly visible? Why or why not?