Circle the Wagons, the Indians are Coming!!!!

President Obama at a press conference in Hawaii referring to a question about the scandal at Penn State made the observation that protecting the innocent was more important than shielding institutions or organizations. I took in the premise and then looked at the daily RSS feed I receive from the EEOC and began to question the strategic moves many corporations are making in the marketplace.

I totally understand that as an organization you have a brand that you need to protect but when your managers are making stupid mistakes and are circling the wagons instead of taking the right path to resolve issues in the marketplace, you begin to wonder why organizations can complain about the lack of engagement and then provide the proof in their actions.

Since August 26, 2011 the EEOC RRS feed is reporting nearly 200 settled complaints or new actions regarding situations where an employee has a legal right to complain about working conditions and the organizational response is how difficult can we make their lives to the point of having them leave the company. Maintain the brand at all costs and the heck with supporting the individual who is being harassed or discriminated against.

Consider the case of  an acute care facility in California who will pay $530,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging the sexual harassment of its staff.  According to the federal agency, several of the female targets of the harassment were either retaliated against or compelled to quit after their complaints were ignored by hospital management.Is the brand that important that you tolerate a workplace where you demean the employee base.  That is an attitude from an era way gone from reasonable in today's workplace.

Look at your list of the best places to work or the companies founded on the principles of the Toyota Production System and they recognize the worth of employees to the organization. Look at the organizations being hit by the EEOC and you see organizations with the attitudes that we are doing the employee a favor by allowing them to work here and they need to take what ever conditions we want to expose them to.

In the 21st Century this is not how we encourage engagement. This is not how we encourage employee loyalty. This how we tell our employees that they are chattel, not valuable parts of our organization. So if you must circle the wagons, do so around the worth of all parties. Protect the organizational brand by telling the world that you value the employee and their contributions to the brand.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

we have met the enemy and they are us!!

Many of you who are old enough to remember this quote, will remember that it came out at the time of the first Earth Day. It was a call for improvement in the world we lived in at the time. I bring it up for you and a newer generation because I fear that we have met a new enemy and it is not environmental quality.

Read the newspaper or watch the evening news and you can't escape the circus centered around Herman Cain and his circumstances surrounding sexual harassment in the workplace while he was with the National Restaurant Association. Many of the local SHRM chapters hold an annual diversity and inclusion meeting and management calls for more employee engagement.

So tell me how do you preach diversity and inclusion when your walk says that we accept employees to be less then people? How do we send the message that there a certain levels of behavior that corporate policy condemns and then we let management, co-workers and suppliers openly violate the stated corporate policy.

To get an eye-opener, subscribe to the RSS feed from the EEOC and see the barage of charges that are behind the complaints. They clearly show a pattern with in our organizations for treating employees as less than the individuals they are. Some of the charges spank of a long go workplace environment where employees were treated as property rather than human capita assets.

Consider theses examples:

• well known medical company decided that a pregnant worker did not belong working for the company as an area leader because it did not fit their image.
• Sears just got fined for age, sex, and race discrimination of a 40 yr old African-American employee.
• Companies who got rid of the trouble maker who reported sexual harassment but left the employee who who took the actions in place despite the problems.

To make matters worse in many cases the person who made the complaint has shortly there after been dismissed from their jobs because of making the complaints. we conduct a seminar entitled "Who Am I- The Role of Human Capital in the Global Workplace" in which we talk about the new paradigms that come out of the work environment when employees are considered assets and not expenses.

One of those paradigms suggests that our human capital assets expect that they will work in an environment that is free from both harassment and violence. They expect that they will be treated as valuable part of the organization they represent. As a member of management you have the responsibility to ensure that the workplace is free of circumstances that could be considered harassment in nature whether they are brought about by management, supervisors, fellow employees or outside vendors and customers. It is your duty to route out these behaviors when you see them.

If you need a real picture of the aftermath consider hat could happen to Joe Paterno over the charges that someone who worked for him was guilty of harassment against children who were under his supervision. Paterno reported it but it still could come back to haunt his career.

So the next time you hear about a complaint of harassment in your workplace be sure you take the following strategic efforts:

1. Don't automatically dismiss the complaint under the believe that the person who the complaint is about would not do something like that.
2. Completely investigate the complaint, talking to all parties involved and any witnesses.
3. Document your findings without judging the outcomes.
4. If the complaint is substantiated, take concrete steps to find a solution which will make it less likely that this kind of behavior will continue.
5. Provide comprehensive training to both management and the rank and file as to what constitutes harassment in the workplace.

You have the tools in your hands to decide whether your organization is one of the best places to work or is considered a place where people go to just for the pay. You decide whether the workplace is one that is conducive to professional collaboration devoid of pressure to do a job based on what you are willing to tolerate. In this hard economic climate we are in, employees who feel that they are less than valuable assets will not be inclined to stay as part of your organization.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

CRP 2012 Boot Camp Dates Announced

Daniel Bloom & Associates, Inc. will present it's 22nd Annual Review Seminar for Certified Relocation Professional examination facilitated by the worldwide ERC.This 3 day review seminar will be presented May 6-8, 2012 in San Antonio.
More information can be found at http://www.dbaiconsulting.com/pages/crpreview.php or by emailing us at crp@dbaiconsulting.com

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

What is My Generations Impact on Business?

This past week I had been invited back to a MBA Leadership class to discuss the topic "Who Am I: The Role of Human Capital within the Global Workplace.I spent about 40 minutes discussing the new roles of human capital within our organizations and then asked if their were any comments. One student in her 20's, asked me how realistic was it to think that employees would in essence no longer be considered just a number (i.e. an expense item). She had a valid point and our response was that you need to continue to present evidence to the workplace that you bring skills beyond the number on a balance sheet. The second question that struck was a more direct one, I guess.

I had a student, probably in his mid-20's, who asked me what I thought the contribution to the business world would be of his generation. I had to stop and think about it for a moment but the response came fairly quickly. I believe that when you take their contribution down to its bare essence, their contribution is going to be one of truly defining what collaboration means.

We all play the collaboration game. Whether you are a traditionalist, a Boomer or a Gen X'er we all say we want to consider other idea and views in our organizations. But if you look at the proof in the pudding so to speak, we are fine with new ideas and views as long as they do not rock the boat. When I was looking for a full time HR position I heard more often then not that the reason I was not considered was that the likelihood that I would fall into the meld, and go with the flow was slight because I worked as a consultant. As a whole we don't like surprises.

My response to the student was that I believe that Gen Y will teach corporations what the true meaning of collaboration is. They know. They have been involved in collaboration their whole lives. Need an answer to a problem, they will ask the world. Need some supporting data for a project, they know where to find it. Hey, I admit that is not the way the other generations were brought up, but it is the new reality. The only way for our organizations to survive in the new business word is through innovation. Innovation only come about by collaborating with everyone (management, fellow employees, vendors, internal and external stakeholders) to find new solutions to existing problems. This comes from an influx of new ideas as how to do things, how to resolve conflicts within the business world.

So what is their impact? Gen Y will lead the business community into a new world. One that is based on rocking the boat where it needs to be. Saving the boat when it is fine. But with some changes within the organization, they will show us the path to greater operational results going forward. They are truly corporate assets, we just need to adjust ourselves to the new reality. The old processes such as annual performance reviews are from the era of Authority and Control not this new environment. Every employee should be able to have a clear picture of how they are contributing to the organization on a 24/7 basis not once a year. They will change us.We just have to determine whether we are going along for the ride or are going to try and say hey your ideas are nice, but that is not the way we do things here or you have not earned your dues as yet?

Your choice, Your future.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed