New Business Concepts (How to Implement a ROWE)

If you like keeping up with new business concepts, I have one for you: the ROWE.

I’ve talked about the idea of a Results Only Work Environment before, but the latest book by Cali Ressler and Jodi Thompson (Why Managing Sucks and How to Fix It) is the handbook for organizations and managers looking to put it into place.

why managing sucksLet me start by saying that if I could flip a switch and turn my employer into a ROWE, I would do it. In essence, a ROWE means that staff work when they want, where they want, and as long as they are getting the results, the rest doesn’t really matter.

The issue is that I work for a government contractor, and we are required to track each hour worked for every employee (exempt or non) for billing purposes. I’m not 100% sure, but I’m betting the government isn’t about to change the way they do business to align with greater efficiency and effectiveness based on their track record.

The Appeal of a ROWE

Here’s why I love a ROWE. Managers can’t just come to you and say, “Bob isn’t putting in the hours.” They have to come to you and say, “Bob is not achieving the results we agreed upon.” As an HR pro, in which of those situations would you feel most comfortable backing up the manager? Yeah, definitely the second.

It forces managers, employees, and business leaders to ensure that people actually know what they are supposed to be achieving. That’s what really matters. And that, my friends, is a very refreshing thought.

Check out the video below where I talk more about the book. I highly recommend it!

Click here to check out other book reviews.

9 Free Resources, Tools, and Ideas For Better HR

9I run across a large number of resources in my day to day work as an HR department of one. I thought it would be fun to snag the resources I accessed at least once during a week’s time and post them here for you to see. In the past week, here are the sites I’ve visited for something related to work…

  1. This is a free leadership development program template. It’s high quality. Dan puts out an amazing wealth of information on leadership, development, etc. and this is the cream of the crop. If you’re considering some sort of leadership development curriculum, this is a great place to start. Link
  2. This white paper by OC Tanner talks about employee recognition and awards. I don’t agree personally with giving awards to people based on how long they’ve hung around the business, but the ideas for how to present in a meaningful way (backed up by statistical data) were enlightening. Link
  3. I’ve used this quick and easy list of HR laws by company size for years. It’s not a massive guide, just a quick, handy resource. Link
  4. I had to look up an idea on onboarding new employees, and I checked out the free eBook that was published here a while back. Great content on engagement, retention, onboarding, and more. Link
  5. I almost wept with joy when I read the tips and advice on writing well in this presentation by iSight. Some of it is overkill, but we can all use a refresher on writing effective reports in our field. Link
  6. For a laugh, I’ve been checking out TribeHR’s funny eCards for HR pros. This one is my favorite so far. Link
  7. I’ve always been a sucker for the resources at Payscale.com. They have some phenomenal tools and the information is always top notch. Here’s their main resource center with free eBooks and more. Link
  8. I have this hanging up in my workspace and have for the past 3 years. This list should be everywhere. 65 things I believe about HR written by Frank Roche, a gentleman and a scholar. Link
  9. This is good for a laugh (or a cry, if you’re practicing any number of these actions). This pretty much defines cruel and unusual punishment for employees. Link

What’s your favorite from this list? Do you have a go-to resource that you’d like to share?

 

 

Realistic Job Previews Make Better Hires

Realistic job previews aren’t new or groundbreaking. (But people still don’t do them.)

Why?

Honestly, I don’t know.

Here’s a little snippet from a recent SHRM article.

“One way to avoid quick quits is to be real in describing what it will be like on days 5, 50 and 150 for that candidate during the interviewing process,” Erker said. “Painting a rosy picture or pulling a bait-and-switch once they're on the job will just mean you'll fill that position again in six to 12 months.”

Realistic job previews in a nutshell

Tell the candidates what the job will be like. In real terms. Every aspect of it that you can quantify.

  • customers
  • teammates
  • managers
  • senior leaders
  • daily tasks
  • big projects
  • and whatever else you can think of

Sugarcoating or hiding any negative aspects of the job is the best way to ensure that the new employee doesn’t stick around for long. Why? Because you’ve lied to them. Yep.

Remember that it is not enough to abstain from lying by word of mouth; for the worst lies are often conveyed by a false look, smile, or act. Abraham Cahan

When you try to avoid telling someone the whole story just because you want to get them started in the job, that’s about as short-sighted as you can possibly be.

Measuring your success with realistic job previews

One of the recruiting metrics that I put a lot of stock in is first year turnover. Some measure of turnover is healthy in an organization over the long haul, but turnover within the first year is a negative thing.

I think there’s a high correlation in first year turnover and a solid realistic job preview during the interview process. Offering full insight into the job with time for both pros and cons lets the person make an informed decision about whether the job and company are truly a fit for them.

Omitting the negative aspects from the interview might get the person to accept a job offer, but you can bet that they won’t be sticking around a year later.

Take the time to give your candidates realistic job previews and you’ll have better hires.

Or you can lie. Fake it. I’m sure that will work out fine, too. </sarcasm font>

HILG (Huntsville Industrial Liaison Group)-Why You Should Care

Last week I went to a meeting at HILG, AKA the Huntsville Industrial Liaison Group. Why should you care? Well, I think small affinity groups like these can help us to be better at what we do on a daily basis. Today I’ll talk a little about the group and then in general about how you can get value from a similar organization.

HILG=The Huntsville Industrial Liaison Group

hilg huntsville industrial liaison groupThis group was designed to help government contractors in our local area. The group focuses mainly on the laws and executive orders that impact employers in our area, so the niche is fairly specific. However, since Huntsville contains a high concentration of government contractors relative to other industries, it’s actually a fairly well-attended group.

The meeting I attended was focused on developing affirmative action plans. As a defense contractor we have to have an AAP in place, and I plan to leverage the resources and contacts available through the Huntsville Industrial Liaison Group for making that happen.

Small group

Small groups do one thing well, and that’s creating engagement. The smaller the group, the harder it is for any one member to tune out and disengage. The larger the group, the less pressure there is to pay attention, digest content, and participate in the discussion.

Targeted focus

When I walk in the door, I know that these meetings will matter on some level. I’m not learning about how nonprofits handle recruiting or how retail stores handle discipline. I’m learning about specific legal requirements that will enable our business to succeed.

Opportunity for similar groups

I talked with my local SHRM chapter several times over the past few years to get them to start an informal meetup to allow members to connect, share ideas, and learn from each other. Last year the Best Practices lunch series was born, and it’s still going strong today.

Anyone can start one of these groups with 4-5 people. Just sit down, talk about some of the things that are keeping you up at night, and ask for input or advice. When others bring up problems, offer your own solutions. It’s not difficult, and it can open you up to greater success.

What do you think? Are you engaged in a small group? What do you think about the experience? 

Winners, Results, and Other Updates

Just a quick post today with various updates. I just got home from my Thursday night men’s meeting and it’s 11:54pm. Whew. Tiring, but totally worth the effort.

Survey and winners

I notified the survey drawing winners on Thursday 2/28 via email. If you didn’t get an email from me, sorry about that. Better luck next time! I still appreciate all the effort, even if you didn’t happen to be in the pool of winners.

Speaking of the survey results, I had 99 responses to the survey. Holy cow. That was an amazing response, and I’ve only been able to read through half the answer so far.

What have I learned?

Well, the responses are all over the map. I need to aggregate and quantify the results, but it was interesting to see that some things (video, for instance) were both loved and hated. Some people really like book reviews, others are not so interested. And some people left the most amazing, kind comments. I am so blessed!

Book club progress

This week I led the second meeting for the NASHRM book club. Our local chapter is running this initiative this year and it was a blast as we moved through the book. We’re swapping to a new book next month, and I expect the group to continue growing and developing over time. If you’re interested in something like this for your chapter, reach out to me and I’d be happy to share some details.

You need this

Smile file. Do you have one? If not, you need one. I’ve been doing it for years, and I recommend it to everybody. Here’s how it works.

So you get an email from someone with a kind word or comment. Create a folder in your email client called “Happy Thoughts” or “Smile File” or “Let’s Do a Happy Dance.” Then when you get another email that makes you smile, drop it in that folder.

On the days that you are having a tough time or feel like things just aren’t going your way (why am I even doing this job, anyway?!?), just open up that smile file and read a few of those kind words. It will remind you of why you do what you do every day. And as HR pros, that is sometimes your only avenue for stress relief!

And that’s all I can think of at this point. Heading in to kiss the girls and then to bed for the rest of the morning. Hope you have a phenomenal Friday!

Rock it,

Ben

How to Know When Someone is Lying in an Interview

Lying in an interview? Say it ain’t so!

I wanted to share a short back-and-forth I had with a friend about how to know when someone is lying in an interview. I’ve shortened where I could to get to the point, but the lying discussion doesn’t happen until the end. I think the discussion is worth reading through nonetheless. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the process as well!

lying in an interview—

Does recruiting for culture fit really work?

I’ve been working to recruit for culture fit, and I’ve been thinking… Where is the culture that the bad attitudes belong?

I think there's a place for everyone, and the “bad attitude” is a misalignment in many cases. Your attitude is awesome when it comes to picking up the phone, serving clients/customers/candidates, etc. If someone tried to turn you into a benefits analyst you'd have a terrible disposition.

Not sure if that's culture-specific or industry/job specific. We hire for people who fit our core values. Some of them are a little more “open and honest” than others, and what they say is often construed as rude or condescending. But that's who they are and why we hired them in the first place.

Shoving me into a job that requires filing and organization will turn me into a monster. Letting me play all day with different areas of HR makes me just about the happiest person in the building.

Your turn.

Beyond culture to personal job fit

good spin. but don’t some people have JUST a bad attitude? How can we as HR rockstars help people identify what they excel at that makes them happy and grow in that area so they can work in that area??

A permanent case of attitude issues? Yeah, they are the perpetually underemployed/unemployed, if I had to guess.

Part of the problem is bringing people on to do a job when it is not really their passion. At some point the pain of doing something like that will overwhelm them and they leave to find another job. I think that's why many people are perpetually changing jobs every 1-2 years. They are looking for a J-O-B to solve their problems, when they really haven't taken the time to determine what they truly love and want to do. Just because it pays the bills doesn't make it a good career choice long term. This describes the majority of people in a nutshell:

Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure… than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.
Theodore Roosevelt

Do what's expected. Do what's comfortable. Do what you know. Do what your parents did.

All are recipes for failure.

When people take charge, look inward at what they love, and then pursue jobs and companies that align with those values and interests, the world of HR becomes much simpler.

What if the people are lying in an interview?

I feel like the answers could still be faked- if you’re interviewing me and I know what your culture is and how important it is in making a hiring decision I pretty much know what kind of answer you’re digging for.

So if someone does that much research and fakes it well enough to get in, it will eventually show somewhere that they were being false in the interview. We can't screen for 100% fit but it still weeds out the 90% I would say.

You're in a tough spot, but it's also an amazing opportunity if you can get your current organization to truly focus on their culture.

Be sure they understand that leveraging culture isn't confined to recruiting. The vendor management guidelines video I did was a very real example of how we use culture externally to help us achieve our goals. Training. Development. Promotion. Termination. Every area is another opportunity to reinforce the core values and culture they want to enforce. Bringing them in on the front end is the beginning of a long and tough, yet very rewarding, process.

How do you determine if someone is lying in an interview? 

New Job Orientation for Remote Employees

While we have plenty of resources for how to onboard new hires, there isn’t much info with regard to new job orientation for remote employees. How do you handle off site employee orientation? What do you say? How do you communicate?

Today we’ll look at all that, plus I’ll share a few ideas on how to make it especially valuable for the employee. New job orientation isn’t easy, and it’s even harder when you’re off site! Here’s the message from a reader that got my brain fixed on the topic:

Just read your article about Onboarding. Some really useful stuff there but I was wondering if you have ever written about trying to onboard a new employee in a remote location where there is no team in place yet. I am currently doing this and came across your article in my desperate search for some help. — I'm located in our office and the new employee is located in the remote office which has the awesome advantage of being in a different time zone. We do have employees in the office there but nobody who will be doing anything like his specific job. This is also my first employee ever so I'm having a minor meltdown as you can imagine. There are so many things like taking them to lunch etc that I can't do so I'm trying to figure out ways to substitute these kind of team bonding activities. We are going to be hiring a few more people in the next few weeks but I want to try and get it at least partially right with this first one so that he doesn't run screaming from the building. Any advice would be most gratefully received.

Here’s what I had to say.

Very neat! I definitely agree that you have a challenge on your hands. I would make it a point to use video chat if you have that capability. That’s the most personal, and personable, interaction you can have with someone who’s thousands of miles away. Another neat idea might be to do a quick video tour of your local office, show them who else works for the organization, and let each person wish them a quick “welcome” message. That would take ten minutes to walk around, record, and upload/send, but it would be very valuable for creating a connection among the staff.

If you have the capability, you might also put together a short writeup on your culture, what it’s like working there, and the things your leaders believe in. I’ve attached the one I recently put together as a sample. If there are no standing meetings in place, this is a great opportunity to create one and allow each location to kick in a few ideas about what they are working on, any issues they are facing, etc. over a group conference call.

Let me know how it goes!

How to approach new job orientation for remote employees

Here’s a short video where I discuss this topic.

Additional resources

What about you? How do you handle new job orientation for remote employees?