Gossip is degrading and will destroy an organization. It is important to develop and maintain a culture in which negatives are handed up and positives are handed down. –Dave Ramsey
What would happen if your employer banned office gossip? How would people react? Well, a company led by Dave Ramsey did just that, and they\’ve had some interesting results.
Below is the link to the audio file so you can listen to the explanation for yourself (and you should!). I\’d love to hear your opinion of the policy. Is it feasible? Would you like to work for a company with a “no gossip†policy? Why?
If you\’ve read much in recent months, it\’s probably had some flavor of social media running through it. It seems like there\’s no way to get away from the topic, no matter where you turn. But every once in a while a great question comes up that can\’t be ignored, and that\’s what happened this week. Check it out:
We want to let our employees know that we have set up a Facebook page, but we don\’t want to give them the impression that it\’s okay to use Facebook at work. What should we do? As the HR rep at my company, my boss is waiting for a response. Help!
-J
My take on Facebook
I think it\’s a great tool for your business to interact with people on a more personal level (assuming you\’re maintaining it once it\’s set up).
If you\’re worried about employees spending all day surfing the web, that\’s a problem with your own culture and leadership, and it\’s not affected by this decision.
How many of your employees have personal cell phones? They can access Facebook at any time, even if you block it with your company firewall/filter.
If the point of your Facebook page is to get the word out about your company, then make use of your employees. They know a lot of people, and they are your marketing team to the world. Turn your employees into champions for your brand.
If you want to encourage the use of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media sites at work, but you don\’t want it to be completely out of control, why not create a social media policy? Here\’s a site with 40 examples of social media policies.
Anyone else have an opinion they\’d like to share with J?
If you have a question you\’d like to get an answer for (whether publicly or privately), just shoot me an email.
By now I’m pretty sure you’ve heard about HRevolution. It’s going to be huge. But there are some people out there who have been willing to support this thing financially despite the fact that it still has that “new conference smell.” :-)Â Today, I’m going to talk about two of those sponsors.
Leap of Faith
If you’ve learned anything from me, you know that I am a huge supporter of small businesses. My family owns one, I have a microbusiness, and I applaud those who go for that kind of lifestyle. They live on the tight budgets and truly understand the value of an investment. That’s why I’m thrilled by the faith that Jessica and Alicia have in this event. Alicia at Sanera and Jessica at Blogging4Jobs are the type of people who make things like HRevolution happen. Despite the planning that has been put into this, our wonderful sponsors helped us to make the leap from “cool idea” to “cool event.”Â
Sanera
If you have a small business or an idea for one, talk with Alicia. As a business owner, I can honestly say that she knows her stuff. She has given me amazing advice time and time again, and her coaching will hit the spot if you’re struggling. Plus, you can also get free marketing and business advice through her blog, with gems like The Fight Club Guide to Selling. I’ve also had the chance to check out some of her offerings that are on the horizon, and they are going to be very helpful to the people who choose to take advantage of it.Â
Fun fact about Alicia: The name is pronounced “a-lee-cee-ah;” that totally threw me off the first time I spoke with her.
Blogging4Jobs
If you are looking for social media or HR consulting services, then you need to get with Jessica. It’s refreshing to see how Jessica tailors her help toward job seekers. As someone who has had a career in HR and recruiting, it’s great to have someone who can see both sides of the issue. She also has a book coming out in just a few short months called Tweet This! Twitter for Business. Her blog has helpful career advice and even some for HR professionals thinking about social media, and she also hosts a live show for job seekers on Sunday nights.
Fun fact about Jessica: She has a goal to visit a Starbucks in every country. She got seven down and a few to go.
I’ve been reading a lot about culture at work recently, and I have to say that I’m intrigued. Before my current job, I would never have thought that it made much of a difference, but now that I have seen the benefits of a solid, positive corporate culture, I am convinced of the value it brings to the organization.
If someone tells you that culture doesn’t matter, they probably don’t have a good one.
Instead of being treated like a child or a criminal where each movement is tracked and must be given a specific reason, I now have the freedom to come and go pretty much whenever I please (as long as I get the job done).
I have never laughed so much in my entire working life as I did in an HR department meeting a while back. Do you ever laugh in meetings? I hope so, because it’s a heck of a lot of fun.
At any time I can walk into my supervisor’s office, sit down, and tell her anything at all. While we have fun together most of the time, we also share some serious moments that impact my career and the business. I love the wild changes in tone. I’m definitely someone who needs to laugh at work, and she is happy to oblige!
I can talk about zombies whenever I want.
These are just a few examples (and looking back, most of them are about humor–interesting) of what my work life is like and how it is different from my previous jobs. But I absolutely love it, and there’s so much room for growth and improvement on my part. I can’t wait to see what the future holds.
Can you say "instant relief?" I can.
VHRG and Leadership
I don\’t know if you\’re a regular reader or not, but Venting HR Guy is a funny human resources blog that showcases some of the daily events we all face. The difference is that VHRG can be a little more forthcoming in detailing his workday, because his identity is a secret. It makes for an interesting blog, that\’s for sure.
Anyway, VHRG often has issues that he tries to deal with at work. However, the response from his boss, known by the clever name “The Boss,†is often to side with the employee for some reason. Have an employee getting payroll advances several times a month for more than a year? Instead of cutting the guy off, VHRG will probably be forced by The Boss to give into the demands of the financially moronic employee. And that’s just one example.
While you might not have that specific problem, I\’m pretty sure that plenty of you have seen this in your own workplace (and if not, count yourself lucky!). You want to handle a situation that is within your realm of influence, but someone upstream gets word of the issue and wants to handle it a different way. How in the world can HR be taken seriously if they\’re constantly hamstrung and second-guessed by senior leadership?
They can\’t.
That\’s why I think VHRG needs some leadership. He needs a change. He is already looking for a new job, and I know that many of us would love to help, but with the whole “cloak of anonymity†he has going on, it\’s a bit tough to do. If you have suggestions for how he can deal with his spineless leaders, please drop them in the comments below. I\’m going to collect and pass them along to him.
In contrast to VHRG’s leadership problems, I spoke to a friend recently who was looking for a new job. She was ready to move on from her current position, and she had her eye on several positions. Then a new leader was brought into the organization, and it’s been amazing to see the change. She’s more positive, excited about her work, and the “leaving” part has completely been pushed out of her mind. It’s amazing to see what positive leadership does, but it’s also sad to see what happens when that leadership is absent, which is what’s going on in VHRG’s situation.
I\’m not picking on my pal here; I just know that there are lots of other HR professionals who have the same issue, and they know that their “leaders†won\’t back them up when a tough issue comes along. And if you have any tips on how he can move into another job, please post them in the comments, too. Every little bit helps, and the HR community is well-known for its helpfulness!
Culture
I’ve been reading a lot about culture at work recently, and I have to say that I’m intrigued. Before my current job, I would never have thought that it made much of a difference, but now that I have seen the benefits of a solid, positive corporate culture, I am convinced of the value it brings to the organization.
If someone tells you that culture doesn’t matter, they probably don’t have a good one.
Instead of being treated like a child or a criminal where each movement is tracked and must be given a specific reason, I now have the freedom to come and go pretty much whenever I please (as long as I get the job done).
I have never laughed so much in my entire working life as I did in an HR department meeting a while back. Do you ever laugh in meetings? I hope so, because it’s a heck of a lot of fun.
At any time I can walk into my supervisor’s office, sit down, and tell her anything at all. While we have fun together most of the time, we also share some serious moments that impact my career and the business. I love the wild changes in tone. I’m definitely someone who needs to laugh at work, and she is happy to oblige!
These are just a few examples (and looking back, most of them are about humor–interesting) of what my work life is like and how it is different from my previous jobs. But I absolutely love it, and there’s so much room for growth and improvement on my part. I can’t wait to see what the future holds.
If you’re looking for another witty or helpful post, you’ll have to wait until Wednesday. My computer was attacked by a lovely little virus this past weekend, and I have spent an inordinate amount of time working to resolve the issue. As a result, I won’t be able to supply my normal banter for everyone.
Because I had scheduled it early, you can see the RocketHR post for today. In fact, you should already be subscribed to the RocketHR blog, so why not take the time to do that today? It’s not like you have anything more important to do! :-)
Check back later, because I should be back on track soon enough. And if you tend to be forgetful, you can always get free email updates delivered right to your inbox.
See you guys later,
Ben
P.S. This is the second time I had to type this. My computer randomly restarted in the middle of my first attempt.
P.P.S. I also saw that Trish had updated the Speaker page on the HRevolution wiki. Want to know who’s presenting? Check it out!
I’ve been chatting behind the scenes with HR professionals both locally and nationwide. Many of them are out of work and looking for the next gig to open up. I can give them advice until my face turns blue, but I’ve had a grand total of one HR position. Much of what I know is how to market yourself via social media and how to take advantage of the multiple tools out there to help yourself be found if someone wants to learn more about you as a candidate. But I know that I still have a lot to learn, and I was wondering if anyone out there would like to give some encouragement or advice to those who are currently out of work and looking for their next position.
How did you get your job? Did you use a personal connection, or was it just a random resume copy that fell into the right hands?
If you happen to be one of those looking for a job, there are some great sites out there that can give you a leg up on your job search. And finding local HR jobs isn’t as hard as it once was. Plus, it’s easier than ever to find helpful career advice, because most of us don’t spend the majority of our time preparing to look for a new job. Whatever your employment status, keep those who are out of work in your thoughts. It’s a tough path to walk.
Do we seek out those with star potential because they’ll benefit the most from our help — or is it possible that it’s actually less about that and more because we like to see ourselves in them, or that it’s so gratifying to watch them blossom and feel we played a role in their success? Maybe we’d actually have a more significant impact if we made that kind of time investment with someone who doesn’t have obvious star potential, someone who doesn’t appear to be a natural candidate for grooming.
Basically, should you spend your limited time mentoring someone who is a high performer or someone who is a low performer?
I can make an argument for each side, and I have talked with half a dozen HR pros while seeking an answer. There have been mixed results, to say the least, and I’m stumped. Therefore, I shall turn the question over to my incredibly intelligent audience. What do you think? Should you spend your limited time mentoring someone who is a high performer or someone who is a low performer? The best responses will be published in an upcoming post that will feature comments by some HR bloggers you know and love.
What would happen if your employer banned office gossip? How would people react? Well, a company led by Dave Ramsey did just that, and they\’ve had some interesting results.
If you\’ve read much in recent months, it\’s probably had some flavor of 
I’ve been chatting behind the scenes with HR professionals both locally and nationwide. Many of them are out of work and looking for the next gig to open up. I can give them advice until my face turns blue, but I’ve had a grand total of one HR position. Much of what I know is how to market yourself via social media and how to take advantage of the multiple tools out there to help yourself be found if someone wants to learn more about you as a candidate. But I know that I still have a lot to learn, and I was wondering if anyone out there would like to give some encouragement or advice to those who are currently out of work and looking for their next position.
Okay, people, I have a short post today. Why? Because I’m stumped. Recently I read this