Mirror, MIrror Who Am I?

I received in my daily barrage of emails one that perked my interest. I apologize upfront because it got deleted by accident and I could not find it again.

The email was from a HR related blog and it began with a scenario in which the employees of a said organization received and email at their desk computers. In essence the message stated that management was informing the employee body that they no longer had to worry about their fellow employee who was holding up the organization because they were no longer with the company. It further announced that there would be a memorial for this person at 3pm in the company cafeteria. The scenario said that when the employees showed up for the memorial there was an open casket waiting for them. As the employees went up to the casket to see who had passed away, they found themselves looking in a mirror.

So here is my question to you. If you received the identical message and you saw yourself in the mirror what is your reaction as to whether you are holding up the organization's objectives. Are you so stuck in your silo that you are not able too see how you fit into the bigger picture? Are you so set in the philosophy that we do not need to change, things are fine just the way they are?

Our global marketplace is changing each and every day and it is incumbent on each of us to play a vital role in that change. Times require new approaches and new methods of problem solving. As HR professionals we need to be at the forefront of the change process not part of the problem.

So the next time you ask the mirror who am I, be prepared to provide the answer that will expand bot the organization and your futures by changing with the times. Find the path to work effectively and efficiently with cross functions within your organization. Be prepared to recognize the value of others view of the mirror as far as HR is concerned. Work around the problems and make the workplace a better place to be.

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Reminder

OSHA Injru and Death Summary Report is due February 1, 2012

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A New Generation is Coming, Are You Ready?

We have all seen the vast number of articles regarding the interactions between the different generations in the workplace. We all have our personal views regarding the roles of the Baby Boomers, Gen X , Gen Y or the traditionalists. But we are talking about an entirely different generational mix then we are used to hearing about.

For the past 15 years, I have religiously read one business magazine cover to cover each and every month. When you book marked it on your PC or Mac it cam up as the Handbook for the Revolution. The February issues discussed a new generation called Generation Flux.

Based in Chaos Theory it suggests that you as HR professionals need to change your perspectives. The idea of creating  precise long term business model or expecting that your human capital assets are going to remain part of your organization is dwindling. So what does this mean for our organizations?

The total organization, including HR, must learn to work in small segments. The article contains references from individuals who are part of this new generation which represent all ages. They look at the business world from the view of what is going to happen in the next several hours not fie or ten years down the road. This means that HR needs to embrace change and realize that our future as an organization is directly attributable to how well we adapt the organization to this state of flux. Consider these options for your organization:

1. Employees with a constant pressure to learn new things
2. Adaptation to changing environments that can happen in hours not years
3. Short-term careers
4. No guarantee that talent will stay in your industry
5. Human Capital resumes are a collection of roads that have no clear path of direction. Revising the resume opens new paths.

What this means is that nostalgia is a thing of the past. The future means we have to be ready at the drop of a dime to change our focus. We need to shift our focus towards hiring as the moment requires and understand when the need drops, the talent is going to move. It will play havoc on our hiring plans. It will have an adverse effort on succession planning. We can not rely on our HIPE employees being there when the C-Suite retires.  We can not rely on the department staffing needs to be placed on a plateau where we know who is going to fill the needs of the future.

The generation flux is going to be the indicator of the strength of our organization short term because that is way we need to look. Command and control and management expecting to have a strong presence in the wave of the future is winding fast.

In our presentations on Six Sigma and HR, we focus on an analogy of the fork in the road as the determining factor n the health of the HR function.  With the introduction of the generation flux, this even more true then before. We have a choice of staying the path of " hey this is the way we have always done it, and it works," or taking the path of moving with the flow which will cause us to review where we are, where we are going and how we are going to get there--hourly. It means we need to be able to assist the human capital assets to better prepared for the new world. Forget this attitude that we are not going to train them because they will just leave.They are going to leave anyway. Help them solidify the next skill set that goes in their backpack. These skills may be helpful in the next person you hire.

Stop, take a moment to smell the roses and prepare for the turbulent ride as we enter the world of Generation Flux. I highly recommend that you click on the link and read about what Generation Flux could mean to your organization. Contribute to the discussion. Get involved in laying out the future of your organizations.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

What is your Brand telling the world?

Let me set the playing field, this is NOT about marketing of an organization. This is about the message you as an organization send to two different stakeholders for your organization. The first is your customer base and the second are your current and potential employees.

Consider this scenario. I recently had to send some critical legal documents from my home in Florida to an attorney in NY. I decided the "safest" way was to send them next day early delivery by one of the largest service providers. The letter went from Florida to Philadelphia and then by some fluke it ended up in London. Before they could return it to the US it went to Germany.

When I called customer service I was told they were sorry about the delay but mistakes happen. I will give them that. But when asked how this could happen no one from executive offices to the customer service representative could explain the results.

So here is my question to you. What does your brand say, when the organization makes a mistake? Is your response that mistakes happen or do you work to try and a) find the reason for the mistake or b) make changes in your processes so that it does not happen again?

Your brand response to these matters of nature have a vital impact on your brand as an organization.Today's human capital assets seek organizations that care for their stakeholders. I am not suggesting that you need to be in love with them. What we are suggesting is that your organization as part of your culture need to strive to show the world that you at least care about their role in the success of your business.

Jim Collins in Good to Great suggests that the way for your organization to thrive is to have the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus and the right people in the right seats. If your management does not see the value in your employees and stakeholders then you do not have the right person on the bus. Management is the face of the brand you and if they are sending a message that these investors inn your organization are just a drag your brand is going to tell the world just that message.

Put yourselves for a minute in the role of the employee or stakeholder and you were confronted with a brand which tells you that we want your business but it has to be on our terms and if you don't like it go elsewhere. Would your tendency be to stay with that organization or find one that cared about your needs and issues?

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How Do You View the World?

To begin with on this first day of a brand new yea, may I wish you and yours a great new year.

I was reading the local newspaper this morning and a column by Bill Maxwell caught my attention. The column was entitled "White doubt reserved for black professional and it dealt with an effort of the local school district to enhance the number of black teachers that are hired.One of the members of the school board who is white is quoted as saying after the effort was announced who said the effort should be to hire quality over numbers.  The reason why this caught my eye was it gave me a moment to consider this from a broader perspective.

No one will deny that we have a large unemployment issue in this country. But how large would the problem be if we removed our preconceived notions from the staffing process. Over the past several years I have seen in the social media realm various posts which suggest that we are rejecting applicants because of these notions. Consider these examples:

• One recruiter posted that if she knew a candidate had grey hair she would automatically reject them from the candidate pool.
• Individuals who call themselves professional recruiters who really believe that those with disabilities do not belong in the workplace and should be relegated to a home or family residence.
• Disregard your political views for a moment and be true to yourselves and ask how many of you thought the President was not able to do the job because he was African-American? Be honest.
• How many of you believe that just because a fellow professional does not come from the same background as you they automatically are inferior in their abilities to perform the responsibilities of the position?

Maxwell in concluding his article asked what it will take for so many whites to stop automatically questioning the qualifications of black professionals who are not entertainers or jocks. I would carry this further and ask what will it take for corporate America to recognize the worth of EVERY employee regardless of their origin. In his book on the Toyota Culture, Liker states that the hiring managers at Toyota look at the skills the person has, even if they are not from the same industry. They discuss people who were managers in the grocery store industry who moved to the production floor as a lead person because of her skills. We all need to take the same attitude going into this new year. Many corporations are reporting that they are having a hard time finding the right talent for their operations. Could this view be hindering the hiring effort?

Thin about it for a moment seriously. Lets talk about how to change the hiring perspective to remove these illogical notions. We are not suggesting that you should hire anyone off the street That is equally illogical. We are suggesting that looking at the candidate pool with the eye that we will eliminate someone because they are not mirror images of the hiring manager is equally wrong.

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