Category Archives: General

Subcultures, consistency, and focus

Today is kind of a random collection of ideas. Blog posts usually come from the intersection of two or more ideas, and this one certainly followed that formula. Today I read a post on corporate culture and consistency on the Sanera People Development blog. I urge you to click through and read it, because it will give you some great, solid ideas as to how culture can impact the customer experience. The story about how Alicia’s husband was treated after his brain surgery is a riveting one.

Subcultures within an organization are mentioned in the Rock Your Culture guide, and they are as unique as the people that make them up. It’s important to recruit and retain candidates who fit the culture you want to have. If you drift away from that, you run into problems like those mentioned in the post above.

And then I had a conversation with one of our supervisors. He had a great analogy to describe the lack of focus that plagues some a small subset of our organization.

Imagine there’s a fire in the building. There are two ways to handle it, and the common way is for people to run willy nilly down to the river with buckets to bring them back and throw them randomly at the blaze with little to no effect.

The rightÂ way to handle it is to coordinate a chain of people to carry the buckets from the river to the fire, leading to consistent, focused progress.

It’s an interesting way to look at the issues, and it’s certainly true for that small segment of our people. As a whole, it’s not a common issue for us, but that specific subculture is something that can’t continue to exist.

Anyone else run into inconsistency within subcultures in their organization?Â

Signs That a Person is Lying-Free Guide

What are the signs that a person is lying?

The person rubs their forehead or neck
Perspiring, trembling and blushing
Delayed nodding to support an answer they’ve given
All of the above

If you’ve been in HR for very long, you have probably run across some employee relations or management issues. Inevitably, someone will end up lying to you before too much time has passed. But how do you detect when someone’s not telling the truth? How do you know when to dig deeper on a question that someone’s trying to avoid answering? I recently ran across a free guide from i-Sight (link below), and I thought it was a resource worth sharing. Continue reading →

Helicopter Parents at Work

Helicopter parents at work-fight or submit?

I ran across this interesting NPR article the other day about helicopter parents in the workplace. Every time I run across a news story or magazine article about these outrageous behaviors, I have to shake my head. I don’t know where the bright idea comes from for parents to continuously weaken their children, but it’s not having the effect they’d hoped.

When you support a muscle or tendon for a long period of time and never let it perform its intended function, it will atrophy. The same applies with children (and yes, for this discussion I’m talking about 18-22 year old children!). When parents continue to make decisions, intercede on their behalf with college professors and employers, and fight their battles for them, the students will never learn the critical behaviors required to function without parental support.

Some employers are closing the parents off, and rightly so. If you can’t interview without a parent backing you up, there’s no way you will be able to handle a stressful Â job without calling them for help every half hour.

Others are welcoming the contact. They are using a thought process similar to mine detailed in recruiting a candidate’s family, hoping that if the family is intrigued, they will push the candidate to take the position.

The point where their thought process and mine diverge is that I think it applies only after the person has been interviewed and selected for the position. Some employers are allowing parents into interviews and salary negotiations, which seems ridiculous to me.

Anyone else having to deal with helicopter parents at work? I’d love to hear some of the crazy stories…

Retention Management-11 Ways Managers Can Influence Turnover

Retention management is a responsibility that is pushed from HR to managers to executives and back again. As the ones closest to the action, supervisors can have a positive impact on employee turnover if they take the right steps.

â€œPeople leave managers, not companies.â€
Marcus Buckingham in First, Break All the Rules

Whatever your turnover rate is, it could always be better. Especially when the estimated cost of turnover is 30-50% of the position\’s salary, and that can jump to 400% for highly specialized or senior level positions! There are many ways that you as a manager can influence this statistic. Don\’t believe me? Here are 11 ways to improve your retention rate.

Feedback-providing regular, honest assessments of someone\’s work lets them know you care
Regular meetings-take the time to be transparent about what you know
Explanations of work-remind people of the end purpose/goal for the work they are performing
Goals for the future-help your team members develop positive, challenging goals
Work/life balance-when work and life come into conflict, don\’t make them choose between work performance and family
Professional development-give opportunities to learn and grow; people appreciate the managers who challenge them to be better
Ask for (and seriously consider) input/opinions-when they know you are honestly asking for input, they\’ll be honest with you
Focus on strengths-give tasks based on strengths when possible; it gives people something to look forward to and ensures the work is being done well
Serve them-servant leadership beats fear-based leadership every single time; if you\’d rather be feared than respected, it\’s time to hang up your manager hat
Clear expectations-if you want something from them, make it obvious; hinting and beating around the bush just frustrates everyone involved
Internal equity-treat your high workers well and challenge your low performers to get better; treating both parties the same is a recipe for disaster

If I had to boil that down to two short and sweet actions, it would be walk and talk. Get out of your office/cube and go see your people. Take opportunities to not only talk with them about what you know, but to ask them for feedback on your performance.

One question I often receive is â€œbut what about my low performers, isn\’t that good turnover?â€ If we\’ve taken the time to put an employee through the disciplinary process and they still aren\’t turning around, then yes, there are sometimes no other options. But that is to be exercised only after you\’ve attempted activities like those listed above. It\’s a last resort, not a quick fix to a performance problem.

While we have a well-established process for performance appraisals, that annual/semi-annual conversation should be a restatement of the facts you both already know and understand. Neither party should be surprised during review time, so make sure you are regularly building in opportunities to provide two-way feedback. Your people will appreciate you for it!

4 Ways HR Can Prepare for Business Growth

When you work for a smallish company, you need to be ready for growth. And I’m not talking the 2-3% increases over the course of time. I’m talking about the decisions that lead to explosive growth, seemingly overnight. Don’t be “that HR guy/gal” who finds out after the fact that big changes are coming. Have some forethought. Plan ahead. Develop a strategy. You’ll be looked at as a stronger partner within the organization, and it will mean less stress for you and your team when the inevitable changes do come.

We’ve ridden those waves before, and we’re now poised for yet another growth spurt. Here are four ways I’m preparing for this potential growth.

1) Automation

While we’re not big enough (yet) to be able to afford a lot of software/hardware upgrades, we do have ability to use things like SharePoint to organize and automate our processes and workflows. Saving time on a single new hire or employee action adds up over time. The key is for these actions to be able to scale, even if we double or triple in size.

2) Document SOPs

When you have a lull in the storm, that’s the best time to look back at how you were able to navigate the previous circumstances. Once you’ve identified those key actions that led to success, document those. While you’re at it, make sure the day-to-day activities you complete are documented as well. What happens to your work if you get hit by a bus?

3) Build a Pipeline

I plan to write more on proactive recruiting soon, but I had two instances recently where this came in handy and helped to avoid being stuck in a tight spot. The interesting part was that it was entirely by accident. We’d interviewed a few candidates several months ago and were ready to hire, but the position was closed due to customer requirements. I kept in touch with the candidates, and when the positions came available again, it was as simple as sending an offer letter since they’d been pre-screened and pre-qualified. It’s easy to talk about and not always easy to do, but just a few interviews over time can help uncover great candidates if you hire for the same types of positions often.

4) Cut Waste

Automation saves time, but financial waste is a drain on the company as well, and with even more work to be done, it will be that much more painful to continue the status quo. Consider talking with vendors, benefits brokers, and other service providers about what sort of rate negotiations you’ll be able to secure as a larger organization. Saving 3% on health insurance premiums may seem like a small amount, but don’t forget that the cost savings grow incrementally even as the business grows.

Those are a few of the ways we’re looking to prepare for the next tidal wave of activity on the HR/recruiting side. Anyone else have ideas they’d care to share?

How to Create a New Hire Welcome Letter

Have you ever wondered how to send a new hire welcome letter to get the employment relationship started on the right foot? I started sending a letter to new hires last year, and I’ve tweaked it over time to cover more questions, beef up explanations, and pretty much share as much information as I possibly can with our new employees. I’ve included my version below, so if you’re considering adding this into your new hire process, feel free to borrow/use some of this. (If you want more help with onboarding and new hire orientation, check out the free new hire orientation eBook!)

Create a New Hire Welcome Message to Inspire Enthusiasm and Drive Engagement from Ben Eubanks

The Pinnacle new hire welcome letter

Welcome, [Name]!

We are excited about your first day with Pinnacle. Be forewarned, you’ll have a lot of information thrown at you on the first day, and it probably won’t slow down for a while. A piece of advice: take notes!

We use the phrase “drinking from a fire hose” around here sometimes, and it’sÂ an apt description for the pace of the work we do. Don’t let that worry you, though. Along with that work comes an amazing manager, a supportive team, and a group of leadersÂ that really does care about you and your work.

We’re different from other companies. Other companies say that, but at Pinnacle, it’s true. We are just over four years old and fairly small (about 70 employees at this time). We are growing quickly, and that is as a direct result of our reputation for doing great work. We aren’t a 5,000 person company with dozens of locations. You aren’t a faceless number to us. We treat our people like adults, because you deserve that. We’re a small business doing big things (or “small, but mighty” as we like to put it!).

You have a lot of questions as the resident newbie. Don’t worry, we’ve all been there and it’s understandable. Here are some of the most common questions and answers to get you started. If you have something that isn’t answered below, your supervisor would be happy to assist!

A few things you need to know about your work

What do I wear?Â We have a casual atmosphere in the office. It’s business casual most days, and many of us wear jeans on Fridays. Remember, we’re more focused on the work than your clothes!
Who do I ask questions of if my manager isn’t present?Â We support each other, so you can get questions answered by anyone. The most common questions can go toÂ [insert operations team description/focus areas].
What do I do if I have a computer problem?Â Send an email toÂ [support address]Â describing your problem to open a trouble ticket.
What are the standard working hours?Â With your key, you can get into the building 24/7 if necessary. Some of the engineers work 6:00-3:00. Some of the operations staff work 8:00-5:00. Find something that is comfortable with you and communicate that with your supervisor.
Will I have to work overtime? Evenings? Weekends?Â At times we will have flurries of activity that require some overtime, but it’s not a regular/weekly occurrence.
Will I have to travel? How often? Who makes travel arrangements?Â Travel isn’t something we do often, but it’s not unheard of. If you are required to travel, speak with your manager about who is responsible for making your travel arrangements.
How flexible are my work hours?Â One thing we appreciate at Pinnacle is the person you are outside of work. We work hard to be flexible when work and life events conflict. During those times stay in close communication with your manager if possible. It’s more about fitting your workÂ into your lifeÂ than the other way around.

A few things you need to know about your department

Who will I be working with?Â First and foremost, you’ll be working closely with your manager. They will be able to answer most of your questions or point you in the right direction if they cannot. The rest of your team will be [short description of department].
Who are the “movers and shakers” in the organization and how can I become one of them?Â The neat part about Pinnacle is that we all have our unique roles and responsibilities, and we all have a time and place for to be the “mover and shaker.” Doing your work well is a surefire way to establish your credibility as a foundation for future professional and organizational growth.
If I have ideas, suggestions or concerns, what channels exist to share those concerns?Â If it’s an idea, we have a Big Ideas database on SharePoint that you can use as an outlet for sharing new, innovative ideas. If youÂ have concerns, your manager or theirsÂ will be the next likely step.
How do people prefer to communicate in this organization? (Face to face? By e-mail?Â Phone?)Â Depending on the topic, we use all of these methods. Inside the office, we use Windows Messenger chats for quick back-and-forth conversations. Because we have locations across the US, we use email to do much of our official communication. Phones are perfectly acceptable when you need a quick answer and email isn’t fast enough. And face-to-face conversations (or “huddles,” as we like to call them) are key to solving many of the issues we run into on a daily basis.

A few things you need to know about Pinnacle

Do we have a strategic plan? What does it entail?Â The strategic goals of the organization are developed and shared on an annual basis by the Leadership Team. The corporate goals/strategy for 2012:

[Goal A, B, C, Etc.]

What are employees rewarded and recognized for?Â As previously stated, doing your work well is the best way to go. It sounds simplistic, but many organizations don’t have the transparency and flatness of Pinnacle. You interact on a daily basis with everyone from the CEO to aÂ customerÂ site lead to the engineers at corporate. They can tell when you are doing your work well,Â and good news like that travels quickly.

Questions?Â

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Again, this is just one piece of a new hire process that touches on our culture in multiple ways. Anyone else use a similar tool with new hires? Care to share what sort of content you cover in this “welcome” document? Here’s an example of one of the welcome letters to new employees that has stuck in my mind for years.

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