Dec 31, 2011
Nose Rings, Frayed Cuffs, and Breasts
Seven months ago you hired a cracker-jack marketer who quickly proved herself indispensible. “Jackie” had a way of connecting with people, accessing the media and describing the value of your organization in ways that lead to a dramatic increase in revenue. You don’t want to lose Jackie, but she’s just started wearing a nose ring. She thinks it’s attractive, but you consider it off-putting to a sizeable number of potential clients. You encouraged one of your long-term employees to use his annual leave because you worried he was...
read moreMove the Needle Towards Results with One Word
The pressure is on. It’s a do or die for many businesses. Businesses must push forward regardless of a sluggish economy. Efficiency, productivity, profitability, competitive advantage, quality, or customer satisfaction are all critical objectives. To achieve those results we create plans that use action phrases such as: Manage by walking around, planning, presenting, cascading information down, holding managers accountable, training, communicating, implementing, rolling out, analytic reporting, evaluating, visibility, holding meetings,...
read moreThree Little Pigs: Not Just A Children’s Story
This is a great and timeless story. You know, the three pigs, each of whom builds a house of different materials, straw, sticks and bricks. And, of course, the big, bad wolf blows down the straw house and the stick house, but, is not able to blow down the brick house. The third pig who built the brick house invested more time and planning into building his house and his brother pigs spent as little time as possible to toss up their flimsy homes. The moral is pretty straight forward. It takes time and effort to do something of quality. The same...
read moreDiscipline or Talent? Which is More Important?
Talent is sexy; discipline can be a bit boring. Which of these characteristics would you rather have in an employee? Which makes a better employee or manager? In nearly 30 years of martial arts I’ve seen hundreds of talented people who simply lacked the discipline to do anything useful with it. For my money, I’ll take a disciplined person over someone with talent any day; except… …many of the most talented people got there through discipline. I don’t believe in natural talent. Sure,...
read moreBest Resolutions for HR
Here’s the first understatement of the year: 2012 is shaping up to be a doozy – especially for HR. Is there anything that touches the headlines that won’t directly impact the way you do your work? As I write this, Congress is wrestling with payroll tax negotiations – kicking the can two more months down the road. Our returning vets need to rebuild their lives – preferably employed in the civilian sector. Immigration. Healthcare. Unemployment, of course. The fact that the country has never been so divided in an election...
read moreHow the OWS Crowd Could Change Recruiting Forever
There is plenty to say about the Occupy Wall Street movement – most of which is uncharitable. But out of the noise, confusion and general sense of being appalled, one point has emerged to knock, knock, knock me on the head to say, “Something worth considering.” The broadening gap between the rising cost of higher education (which is outpacing every other economic trend, including healthcare) and its ROI in terms of releasing employable new grads into the economic bloodstream. Don’t get me wrong, as a middling brainiac myself,...
read moreHow to Build Passion Literacy at Work
I just had a fantastic experience with a call center rep! I had to call American Express this morning. After going through the dreaded automated menu of multiple options, I heard a cheerful voice saying, “May I help you?” I could go on forever about how fabulous this person was. No script, patient listening while I ranted in a somewhat disorganized way, she gave me more information than I thought I wanted. When I thanked her profusely for her wonderful service, she rhapsodized about how much she loves taking care of customers’ needs. But...
read moreHow Dreams Can Ignite the Magic in a Flat Job Interview
You really have to feel sorry for that person sitting in front of you in a job interview. You know how excruciating it can be, especially when there’s so much at stake. Mortgage. Family. Food. Job interviews are so hard to come by these days for most people. Depending on the type of job this person is qualified for, this could be one of only a handful of interviews after sending out hundreds of applications. Talk about pressure. Is it any wonder that the candidate might be nervous beyond all tolerance? Some people just freeze. This can...
read moreWhat Facebook Can Teach HR About Foisting Change Upon the Peeps
Can you stand another article about the Facebook change fiasco last week? I hope so, because this might be one of the few pieces you’ll read about the HR side of things. I don’t know about you, but I liked Facebook, circa September 1, just fine. I knew my way around. My FB friends knew their way around. We knew how to find each other and look for the latest postings of people whose opinions either matter or set our hair on fire (or both). Suddenly, for no apparent reason at all, kablaam! One more universe as we know it – gone. ...
read moreDon’t Fear the Beefer
There’s this guy I know who had what can only be best described as a Jerry Maguire moment. In a fit of pique he unburdened himself about his job in a blog (but had the presence of mind to show it to his wife first for some serious vetting). I wasn’t there myself, mind you, but I’ve heard from several reliable sources that people actually stood up at their cubes the next morning and applauded. Sounds a little Hollywood to me, maybe it happened. Maybe it didn’t. But it definitely seemed to have happened in...
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