HR Insomniac

Really?  Do leaders who apologize for their mistakes become the Charlie Brown of the office?  Do jerkies make better leaders?  The Harvard Biz Journal reported last year that it is likely true.  They asked,

“Can you have respect and power? We (the HBJ) found that it’s hard to gain both”.

In addition they said, “Decisions about high-level promotions most often center on perceptions of power, not of fairness”.

Maybe so.  I was given some feedback from an ex-employee of mine.  In this constructive criticism he/she told me that at times when I would make a quick reactive decision it could come across as over-reactive.  I know you are shocked.

There is truth to this.  As with every human being, amidst a wealth of great qualities lurks some not-so-great ones. This is a not-so-great one I am aware of and work on.  Since this is something I am aware of, 98% of the time I’m in control of this.  2% of the time my instinct takes over and I slip.  When this 2% hits, after I think about it for the while, realize I spoke too soon and fall on my sword…

And I apologize. I typically think this is the right and fair thing to do.   

So get this.  I got the drift from the feedback that this apology made me look weaker in the eyes of the recipient than if I did not apologize.  By focusing more attention to the issue through the apology, I may have shot myself in the foot on the respect thing. The apology may have even appeared to make me look guilty of something.  At least that is how the feedback came across to me.  The scales tipped me over into the realm of Charlie Brown-ness.

So I thought about it. 

• I have decided I will continue to apologize if I do something wrong.  It is simply the right thing to do. 
• I will not over-apologize for little things.   Take the good with the bad.
• I will get out of the habit of automatically saying “I’m sorry” for every little thing.  Sometimes it is an automatic response.  This is similar to when asked “how are you doing?, and you automatically say “GREAT!”
• I’ll forgo a promotion granted me by being a jerk.  I’ll let someone else be the jerk. 
• Trust is built if leaders admit faults.  Building trust builds engagement.  Engagement leads to organizational success.  I’m happy admitting faults.

Disclaimer:  This is how I perceived the feedback.  It doesn’t mean this was their intent (which is a whole other blogpost).  I really want and need this kind of feedback.  But good food for thought anyway.

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Really?  Do leaders who apologize for their mistakes become the Charlie Brown of the office?  Do jerkies make better leaders?  The Harvard Biz Journal reported last year that it is likely true.  They asked,

“Can you have respect and power? We (the HBJ) found that it’s hard to gain both”.

In addition they said, “Decisions about high-level promotions most often center on perceptions of power, not of fairness”.

Maybe so.  I was given some feedback from an ex-employee of mine.  In this constructive criticism he/she told me that at times when I would make a quick reactive decision it could come across as over-reactive.  I know you are shocked.

There is truth to this.  As with every human being, amidst a wealth of great qualities lurks some not-so-great ones. This is a not-so-great one I am aware of and work on.  Since this is something I am aware of, 98% of the time I’m in control of this.  2% of the time my instinct takes over and I slip.  When this 2% hits, after I think about it for the while, I realize I spoke too soon and fall on my sword…

And I apologize. I typically think this is the right and fair thing to do.   

So get this.  I got the drift from the feedback that this apology made me look weaker in the eyes of the recipient than if I did not apologize.  By focusing more attention to the issue through the apology, I may have shot myself in the foot on the respect thing. The apology may have even appeared to make me look guilty of something.  At least that is how the feedback came across to me.  The scales tipped me over into the realm of Charlie Brown-ness.

So I thought about it. 

• I have decided I will continue to apologize if I do something wrong.  It is simply the right thing to do. 
• I will not over-apologize for little things.   Take the good with the bad.
• I will get out of the habit of automatically saying “I’m sorry” for every little thing.  Sometimes it is an automatic response.  This is similar to when asked “how are you doing?, and you automatically say “GREAT!”
• I’ll forgo a promotion granted me by being a jerk.  I’ll let someone else be the jerk. 
• Trust is built if leaders admit faults.  Building trust builds engagement.  Engagement leads to organizational success.  I’m happy admitting faults.

Disclaimer:  This is how I perceived the feedback.  It doesn’t mean this was their intent (which is a whole other blogpost).  I really want and need this kind of feedback.  But good food for thought anyway.

Posted in Uncategorized

Don’t we all love a viral video.  I cannot get enough of Tosh.0. Rednecks falling off rope swings gets me going every time. However…..

HR folks using crap video to learn about employment practices is just as painful as “Boom Goes The Dynamite”.  Click here if you haven’t seen this crap-tastic and wrenching vid.

Never fear, FOTers Tim Sackett and Kris Dunn are gonna teach us all how to channel our Cecil B. DeMille and use videos to enhance our HR nation. 

Register now for The Future of Talent: 5 Ways to Use Video to Raise Your HR and Recruiting Game. Join us for this webinar, and we’ll give you the 411 for how to think about video within your HR or recruiting practice and a road map to get started in the following areas:

• Employment Branding
• Recruiting
• Role Play for Mangers
• Training Shorts Delivered via Mobile
• A “How To” Guide to Get Started with Video in Your HR/Recruiting Organization

This webinar comes with the Fistful of Talent guarantee:  60% of the time, it works every time.  Join the FOT crew as they break down the video scene and brainstorm about the best way to build video chops in your HR or recruiting practice.

Direct Register: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/453672134

Extended trailer: http://fistfuloftalent.com/2012/04/fot-may-webinar-5-ways-to-use-video-to-raise-your-hr-and-recruiting-game.html

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CYA Report #13 coming at you…

Wanna learn why Kris Dunn’s butt hurts?  Wanna know why Garden Gnomes and NyQuill are a bad mix for me?  You wanna hear my say “warsh” instead of “wash”? Oh… and you wanna learn some HR jazz?  You’ve gotta plug into Fistful of Talent’s/ Workforce online’s “The CYA Report”. (Lucky episode 13 by the way).

I am a co-host of this super fab podcast and I have done a TERRIBLE job promoting it.  I’ve got to shout the praises of “The CYA Report”. Shout it…shout it…shout it out loud.  Yes.

Workforce Online has given the green light to Kris Dunn, Tim Sackett, Holland Dombeck, and Moi to ramble, pontificate, fight, pout, and give some good luvin’ to the HR profession. 

Plug in to hear:

• Kris and I ramble!
• Current HR news snippets where me and Tim Sackett disagree!
• Elocution lessons from Holland Dombeck (CYA’s news anchorman)
• Great interviews with HR knowledge leaders, Tech gurus, and HR product specialists. 

What I learned this week:

• Wow…I sound like I was born in a place where people where seer-sucker suits, little ribbon ties, and drink mint juleps.  I was born in Cleveland, OH and have been under the delusion that I sound like a Yankee in Birmingham.  Wrong.  I’ve been in the south 20+ years and am now married to a guy named Bo.  Not Beau.  BO- like Bo and Luke Duke.  So now I know why I say “warsh” instead of “wash”. I must say though he is not a redneck…lovely attorney actually.
• I can leave work at 5:30!
• Ultimate Software has a succession planning program.  Who knew?
• Oh, and Kris Dunn’s butt is sore.  

Mash here to hear the latest fistful podcast!

http://fistfuloftalent.com/2012/05/the-cya-report-episode-13-succession-planning-podcast.html

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A few weeks ago my father, Ken Hrdlica, suddenly died.  It was awful.

He was 69 and very cool.  He was well-known in the community, so much so that the local news ran on three separate broadcasts that he passed.  He was a businessman, actor, singer, church contributor, sports lover; an all around renaissance guy.  And funny.  And he never met a stranger.  Several people told me that he always made you feel you were the only person in the room—the type of guy who made you believe you could achieve anything. How rare and wonderful.

He also saddled me with the name “Hrdlica’.  That says it all.

So what is the point? Tragedy does put many things in perspective and although I am probably still in the shock phase (you know, the 5 stages of grief…) I have thought about how this affects my HR point-of-view.

1)       Everyone has their S***.  EVERYONE in your organization has something going on in their lives.  Many of you may argue that has nothing to do with you, your company, or their productivity. But you know, of course, it does in a big way.  HR, quit ignoring this human reality.

2)      If you, HR leader, are going to move your organization in the right direction, before you make a knee-jerk reaction about why someone may suddenly start behaving badly, under-produce or why they have quit smiling at you in the hall… remember everyone has their S***.  Everyone. Take a deep breath and just like you would in a good interview, dig a few layers deeper to determine a bigger employee picture.

3)      Knowing that bigger employee picture will help you guide your employee to productivity.  Openly discussing (if they want) their situation intuitively frees the employee; clears a lot of headspace taken up by hiding emotion, fear or personal frustration from YOU.  I will bet my next paycheck that employees will be more productive in the long run if you reach out to them in attempts to understand how they are doing.

4)      Quit thinking that “knowing” your employees will result in a lawsuit.  If you think getting to know your employees more personally makes you an at-risk HR pro, or that you are putting the company in enough jeopardy to make a big legal difference then you are mis-informed and a little daft.   Compassionate HR always trumps the minute risk of knowing too much about an employee. It is a risk worth taking 100% of the time.  Truly the excuse “What if I have to fire them later and I know too much?” is cowardly.  It is your problem to overcome.  Buck up.

Naturally if an employee doesn’t want to open up to you don’t force them.  Perhaps it is time for and EAP. I am not suggesting you become a therapist either.    I am simply suggesting you do two things:  a) give employees the benefit of the doubt that work is not the only thing on their mind 100% of the time and b) quit making excuses as an HR pro for not connecting.

None of this is easy—but HR isn’t supposed to be.

Here is to you, Dad–

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Short, sweet and to the point.  That describes Fantasy Island’s character Tattoo (what gets to the point better than “de plane, de plane”).  And so is this social media policy I’m about to lay on you.

I must share with you a new social media “policy” used by a very cool company, Daxko.  Yes.  I work for Daxko.  OK…I am the VP of People for Daxko.  And yes, I wrote the policy (with love from my CEO, Dave Gray).   But when something is good and different then it should be shared.

Here it is:

Daxko Social Media Guidelines

have fun

use common sense

don’t be hurtful; reflect Daxko’s core values

 problem? talking to a team lead solves problems better than posts

think you shouldn’t post something? don’t

respect proprietary information and confidentiality

when in doubt, ask

Last year Daxko’s headcount grew 100%.  So some social media guidelines were necessary.  So there they are.  I researched about 20 different policies and I tried to encapsulate the best of them.

And:

• It didn’t take a 4-volume tome to do it
• It doesn’t insult the intelligence of our team members 
• It encourages use of social media
• It covers confidentiality
• It doesn’t make mountains out of molehills
• It fits our culture
• It gives our team members the freedom to use common sense

And it doesn’t make HR look like grizzled, fear-mongering, stereotypically lame nuts.

Feel free to steal it if you want. 

Hey Gang FYI:  my post also ran on the blog Fistful of Talent but accidentally didn’t get pushed out to the masses.  Figured I’d get it out on my own blog as well.  But definately check out Fistful as well.  

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