Demons

The phrase "jump the shark" came into existence in 1977.  For those of you unfamiliar with this phrase, it is used to explain when something goes beyond the normative of the story line by adding unrealistic events or plot lines and is usually accompanied by a decline in quality.  The phrase is based upon the "Happy Days" episode where cool-guy water-skiing Fonzie jumps a shark while wearing his leather coat.  Seriously?  So bad.

Lots of shows have been categorized by their "jumping the shark" moments.  Often, you’ll notice the decline based upon set changes, character additions or subtractions, character job changes, etc.  A common approach is when an unexpected birth or addition of a child occurs in an effort to add years to a show.  As a kid, a string of this thinking occurred: Oliver from "The Brady Bunch", Sam from "Diff'rent Strokes", Andy from "Family Ties", Chrissy from "Growing Pains"...need I go on?  You would be hard-pressed to find a time when this has worked well for a show.

Similarly, you would be hard-pressed to find it working for companies.  For example, when companies decide that their products need to have a "smart" feature, is it just so that it connects to our phones and therefore is relevant?  Why do I need to check my phone to see if the pan I've placed on the stove is hot enough? Seriously, that's a thing.  In an effort to seem relevant, companies will sometimes gravitate blindly towards trends.  This does not make a company viable.  In fact, it might lead to the opposite (and often does).

And within some of our companies, we’ve jumped the shark.  The life support has been turned on for a department within your organization.  How did we get to this place?  HR, for example, often lives in fear that their department will be cut in some way.  And while it is not uncommon for HR to be one of the departments to experience a RIF if the time comes, does it happen because of a self-fulfilling prophecy?  If I think no one will ask me to the prom, I am likely walking around as if no one will ask me to the prom.  Those sad people will end up home on prom night sulking and eating a half gallon of ice cream while watching The Notebook on demand (this is what I’ve heard happens…I did not experience this, I swear).  HR can suffer from such an esteem issue.

Perhaps our department is trying to add more to what we do out of desperation for our leadership to see us as relevant.  We don’t sit home and eat ice cream, but rather, we explode into employee engagement – incentivizing, surveying, programizing.  We believe that this is the level of visible relevance we need to show.  See, we’re busy and we matter.  Can we get a contract for another 12 episodes, please?  Longevity does not mean impact.  This is a hard reality.  We believe, deep down, that if we last, we’re relevant.

That is not true.   

Our relevance comes from true, measurable impact in our organizations.  What is it we actually offer and fulfill?  What is the business bottom line that we're impacting?  What's been our effect on process, service or sales?  And while the latest and greatest may not be the route to go, how do you know?  Study the trends.  Understand fit.  Consider philosophy.  Take action.  

The challenge of knowing our people well - skills, aptitudes - is a vital offering that we can bring.  Proactively look for ways to make that priority happen.  From there, you can reference those results against the performance outcomes.  Measuring process and results are a universal language that require no posturing.  

Shake off the demons of feigned relevance.  They don't define success, nor do they define you.  Start attacking the work in front of you with passion and use the skills that have been dormant for a bit.  Assess what's working, what's not, develop a plan, gather resources and act out of greatness.

Creep

The challenge of negativity isn’t new.  We fight it everyday.  When we are faced with it, what is our normal response?  Walk away?  Join in?  Yikes.

Kit, the pitcher in A League of Their Own, is negative throughout most of the movie.  Manufacturing sympathy for her is tough.  She is a whiner.  She brings down those around her.  She is frustrated with the sister who seems to have everything.  She is obnoxious to her teammates.  She is negative about her life and wants to bring others down around her.

Think about how critical the pitcher is to the team.  What does it do to the team to have someone like this at the mound?  How many of these people work with or for us?  And while you might want to fight this person, just as happens in one scene of the movie, work policy is likely to prohibit you from doing so. 

Confrontation is appropriate.  You do not need to allow this person to monopolize your time or to jeopardize the flow of the rest of the team due to such negativity.  It is not okay.

Make the business case first.  Log the hours given in support of this negative person, to try to move him/her beyond the perceived issues.  Log the hours given in support of correction of the frustrated team communication.  Log the hours given in conversation with other team members who struggle to work with that negative person.  Those hours have a cost, with very little ROI. 

Often the pattern for a manager is to have all of these conversations, but the functional team dynamic remains the same.  The cycle of engagement is not impacted and the status quo returns a day after addressing the issue.  Management does little usually to course-correct the department.  The symptom gets address – frustration, lack of communication, hurt feelings – but the cause – the negativity of a person – is left because we don’t know what to do.

Sit with Mr./Ms. Negative and share the logged hours.  Show him/her how much time has been spent because of him/her.  Let the time be a factual example that the behavior has caused.  You’re not saying the classic, “I spend so much time dealing with your stuff.”  That’s too general and will likely cause the negative employee to be remorseful for a moment but with no lasting repercussion.  When management is specific to the time, a line can be drawn in the sand to say enough.

A manager should further make the business case regarding lack of productivity.  In all of the hours spent by the manager in dealing with the situations caused by the negativity, rest assured it’s about the same for the team members involved.  They are not on task because of having to address the related issues of the negativity.  And every member of the team is valuable.  It should be very easy to show the negative employee that the team is not here to deal with these issues; it’s not part of their job description.  The cost of lost productivity is real and can be shared as an amount based upon time, hourly rate, cost of goods, and other operational & production costs.  

Giving the negative person truth and fact is the most respectful way to engage.  It will allow the conversation to move away from feeling, which is the default position, and rest purely on fact.  Management must engage on a level that moves the negative person out of his/her own perspective and into one that includes the company’s purpose.  Often, the negative individual sees his/her role as unappreciated at the company.  By sharing factual information, the negative person is offered a different (and more correct) view of how the company sees him/her.  When confronted with such information, management can be deliberate about the path of engagement moving forward.

Management will need to follow through on this.  If we’re serious that the waste of time is enough, then we must act upon that.  No more resources of time, team members and operational productivity will be wasted on such negativity.  Everything isn’t terrible, everything isn’t against you and everything isn’t about you.  Clearly act on this.

And while management may feel that the negative person is too tough to handle, a better view is to think about the team members that aren’t receiving such attention despite the great work being done.  The squeaky wheel getting the grease isn’t a long-term strategy for success.  Affirm the right behaviors more than the wrong; look at the time you’re spending on the wrong and make corrections.

Keep in mind, too, that this negative person can follow the path that Kit did.  She got traded.  Don’t wait too long to trade your Kit.

Digging Your Scene

Dance, baby, dance.  Get up and move.  Shake your thing.  That’s it, make it groove.  Use your hips.  Get down into the floor.  Arch your back more.  Work it!

Those are various performance phrases used in the dance world to encourage excellence in the performer.  Uncomfortable?  Did it make you think I’d finally snapped?  (Don’t answer that).  A dancer needs to have his/her performance graded early on so that he/she can make corrections to the movement in the dance.  If a choreographer has developed a sequence of movement to tell a story and thoughtfully chosen a piece of music to compliment the story, it’s vital that the dancer perform the movement exactly to match the intention of the story.  Real time performance review is necessary.

In the case of the dancer, the choreographer is there teaching the dance.  He/She can then provide timely feedback, such as listed above, and encourage the dancer to move differently or with more precision when working to execute the story through dance.  Travis Wall, one of the best current choreographers, has to be unyielding in seeing his vision executed and so has to watch his dancers often and provide commentary.  A dancer then adjusts in real time.  And when the performance is shared with an audience, the efforts are displayed, and in Travis’s case, usually without flaw.

Intentionally taking the time to watch the scenes of performance that our employees create is a responsibility of management.  It is not to sit in an office and hope they are doing what they should be.  It’s not just looking at numbers at the end of a day or week, and then make grandiose decisions about staffing and product or service implementation.  The repetition of bad choices made in this context overflows into poor corporate culture, low gross sales, inferior candidates and frustrated management. 

Watch what’s happening in the “dance” scenes you’re creating at work.  Give feedback.  It does not need to be done via the official performance review annual form.  It doesn’t have to be a quarterly review.  It CAN include those things, but that’s not all it is.

As a kid, when I was doing my homework, my mom would look over my shoulder every so often to check.  If the writing was rushed and sloppy, she would tell me to erase it and write it again.  The longer she took to check in on me left open the possibility that I would have more to erase.  If she caught me after only doing a few, it was more manageable to correct the behavior and the remaining work was done neater.  It’s the same for management.  Observe often.

Micromanagement, by the way, is not the same as observing often.  A course correction is the responsibility of the manager by knowing why and how staff are travelling a certain road.  A micromanager is telling staff how to move their left foot forward, and then the right foot, and then the left again, and then the right and so on.  Travis can dance the choreography he creates himself, but the point is to take that vision and entrust it to the skill sets demonstrated in the dancers he works with regularly.  The cause is spread to a wider circle and therefore a wider impact.

Give staff the opportunity to perform.  Tell them the objectives and watch what they do.   And along the way, affirm what’s working and advise on what should look or be different.  Keep coming back to the mission or purpose of the work.  Managers have to be involved in what their teams are doing, with consistency and investment.  Come up alongside those employees who are working to make the mission happen and encourage them.  Praise and critique are encouraging, if it comes from an involved, invested perspective.  Do your staff see you that way?

The surprise in good performance review is that it seems very much like conversation.  It feels very much like smart people sitting together to get better at the responsibilities they have.  It opens the door for a deeper understanding of the support, tools and practice needed.  And it also allows for honest dialogue, due to the consistency of review, regarding who can do what’s needed.  Sometimes staff will even call themselves out to say that they don’t have the full skill set required.  And those are employees you want to keep for a long time, even if it means a role change.

Like me, for instance.  I know that in my mind, I dance with as much passion and skill as Alex Wong and could absolutely handle the choreography of Travis Wall.  And though I have been known to “get down”, the vision in my mind won’t make it a reality.  When I leap around the house with my daughters, they remind me, too, that I might not quite have the skills to dance or to choreograph.  Seriously? Have you seen me do the Cha-Cha Slide? Breathtaking. 

Trouble

Tuesday nights at 8:30, you would find me on the living room floor, eating a bowl of cereal, watching “Laverne & Shirley.”  That was my routine for years as a kid.  That show would crack me up.  These two women would find themselves in all sorts of situations, that were often caused by them.  The remainder of the show would be about how they would unravel the trouble.  The classic misunderstandings, assumptions, over-promising and poorly defined expectations filled most of the plotlines. 

Sound a bit like work?  Think of the trouble caused by misunderstanding, to start.  Often, I hear the following:

• I didn’t know that was what he was asking me to do
• Wait, you meant for me to do that this week?
• I think my boss is trying to make me look bad on purpose
• How can I be expected to do anything more? No one knows all of what I do

Lack of clarity around process, personnel and results often find themselves into our daily  “issue board.”  You know, that growing list of concerns or problems brought up by misunderstanding.  Think of the extra meetings you’ve had to bridge the gaps towards understanding.  Lots, right?

I recall one particular time where I calculated 15 hours of my 40-hour work week spent on meetings I had not planned on having in order to mediate the trouble that was brewing surrounding misunderstanding, unrealized expectations and a general lack of grace towards each other.  That was 37.5% of my work week.  Productive?  Maybe.  Could it have been avoided to begin with?  Much of it could have been.

I know that there is much to learn through situations like this.  The “a-ha” moments usually come when someone, who has worked himself/herself into a tizzy, finds out that the “facts” he/she thought were off and it causes a reconsideration of how information is gathered and processed.  It’s a beautiful thing to watch.  And yet, if you find yourself in multiple situations like that, doesn’t that show more of a systemic issue?

Trouble is a difficult culture to break through.  There are some companies that love it.  They thrive on unhealthy relationships, difficult processes and a sloppy organizational design.  That’s not a dramatic statement.  Considering the amount of books, articles and workshops on dealing with toxic co-workers, difficult bosses and a separatist board of directors, it’s very reasonable to see that many companies must swim in this description and many of us deal with this on a regular basis.

As leaders, we ought to be proactive to thwart trouble before it begins.  We can offer direction on process, wisdom in relational dealings and passion behind seeking resolution directly.  It’s not meant to be emotionless, but it’s often the case that a culture allowed to be too emotional can end up being crippled by those emotions and fall short of the mission.  We can encourage folks to move beyond such short-sightedness.  The feeling is not where the prize is found; it’s in reaching the goal.

Consider marriage.  The wedding itself is a fun day.  It’s a party!  There is much to love and feel good about; however, the marriage itself is the goal.  Emotions won’t be in the same sphere each day as compared to the wedding.  If the marriage is based on the desire to feel the way they did on the wedding day, the marriage is doomed.  And so it is with business.  Not every day is the first day of work; not every day is the first sale made; not every day is the holiday party.  In between are days where a lack of clarity, issues around process and general trouble can occur.  Taking a proactive stance to thwart such problems and to add value to the communicative process so that others can perform it without you is our job.

Open the dialogue, call others to a higher standard and bring issues out into the open with the purpose of educating, diffusing and moving on.  Trouble festers if left unattended.  Don’t let it happen.  You can make such an impact.  I mean, if Laverne and Shirley were able to do it in a 30-minute time slot, I have faith that you can get it done in a timely manner.  Sclemeel, schlemazel, hasenfeffer incorporated to all!

All Together Now

(by +Victorio Milian) 

A few months ago I went out and invested in myself--I bought a Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera. It had been something that I wanted for a while, and I was finally in a position to take the plunge, so to speak.

My new camera.

I'm enjoying it. This camera is a big leap forward from snapping pictures using my phone. It's also more sophisticated than any camera I ever had. While fairly simple to use, the options available (to control and manipulate various settings, for example), make it an item that will test my abilities, in addition to my patience. It makes me excited and nervous to own. My wife points out that I need to "grow into it." How do I do that? Learning how to use this camera reminds me of a number of job roles I've taken on throughout my career as a Human Resources professional. Some were newly created, others were such where I replaced a previous HR practitioner with the understanding that I revamp or enhance the function. In all cases I started as someone who needed to "grow into" the role. I had to quickly assess the function's strengths and weaknesses, as well as its allies and resources. I was important to gain a clear understanding of priorities--what institutional "fires" that needed to be put out, what goals needed to be met, and when--so that I could organize my time and energy as effectively as possible. At its core, to fully embrace the challenge of being in a new and unfamiliar position I had to be willing to commit to doing the work necessary, to literally and figuratively rolling up my sleeves. Without that it would have been easy to become overwhelmed. Here are a few more tips on how a person can grow into a job role:

• Humble yourself. Be realistic about your capabilities, commitment levels, and your goals. Come to terms with the idea that you will fall on your ass. Going back to my recently purchased camera, I'm doing my best not to get flustered when I take a bad shot (and I've been taking plenty of them!). I use them as examples of what's not working, and I adjust.

An example of an awful picture taken with my camera.

• Take note of your successes and failures. With my camera, I've been taking notes of the different settings I've tried, paying attention to which ones are resulting in good photos. In my professional work, I purchase a notebook whenever I start a new role or work with a client. I write everything in it, allowing me a place to store (in one place) all relevant information and thoughts. Not only does this method help me to stay organized, it allows me to note progress over time. This is important, because it helps to provide perspective, particularly when you (or clients) may believe that adequate progress isn't being made.
• Pace yourself. The temptation to work long hours in order to get acclimated to your new role is not uncommon. Be careful; something that was expected to be a temporary solution (working extra hours, taking work home, etc.) can turn into the norm if you're not mindful. My advice--create an action plan, one that factors in when and how long you may need to put in extra time and effort in order to accomplish a particular goal.
• Use your resources--digital, human, and other--to figure out how to get the most out of the role. To better learn how to use my DSLR camera, I'm turning to a variety of resources, which includes:
• YouTube
• Friends
• Family
• Classes (e.g., YMCA)
• Pinterest
• Discussion forums
• the camera's User's Manual

This can be applied to learning a new job role, also. From a workplace point of view, you have colleagues, subject matter experts (SMEs), and groups (such as professional associations) which represent sources of information and support. Use them--that's what they're there for!
• Celebrate your successes. In spite your best efforts, it may seem as if progress isn't being made. Perhaps you're not making headway on a particular project. Or colleagues are frustrating. Whatever the case, when something does go right, acknowledge it! Sometimes it's the small wins that help to highlight progress, or that your work is having an impact. When it comes to my new camera, when I take a decent picture utilizing the manual settings, I get very excited!

A photo I'm proud of.

At one point or another, a person is faced with a job that they will seem new, unfamiliar, or bigger than they've previously encountered. Understanding the challenges and opportunities in that scenario will help increase the odds of success in that role. Humble yourself, be organized, pace yourself, use your resources, and celebrate success--these are some ways in which to grow into a job role.

You Gotta Be

Success.  Love that word.  Fraught with meaning.  Many a dream has been realized or demolished against the measure of success.  It’s what everyone CEO wants to deliver to his/her board of directors.  It’s what every publicly traded company wants to deliver to its stockholders.  Success.

We spend millions trying to find it or create it.  We reinvent wheels.  We look to find secrets  that will help to shorten the time it takes to achieve it.  We look for quick results.  We want to have an impact that will generate revenue. 

Having been able to sit with many CEO’s over my years, I have heard variations on the pursuit of success, but all of it basically boiling down to these points.  And what I have often considered is that success is like dieting or getting into shape.

We buy the latest series for weight loss.  We join gyms.  We get up before the crack of dawn to do boot camp in the park.  We bike, hike, take pills and drink shakes.  We’ve worn leg warmers with Jane Fonda, sweat to the oldies with Richard Simmons, Tae Bo’d with Billy Blanks, Pilate’d, P90X’d, Insanity’d.  We cleanse, eat organic, say no to carbs, say no to fats, say no to dairy, say no to red meat.  The exercise, fitness and diet industries are multi-billion dollar industries. 

And yet, in the US, we are the most obese population ever.  Curious.

Success seems to be the same.  We commit to so much to make our companies excel.  We hire consultants, fire consultants, post new mission statements, develop incentive-based compensation plans.  I am not saying this is all for naught.  I will be the first one to tout the values of knowing where you want to get to and leading that team with conviction.

What we ought not to do is join the fitness program at Exhale Spa, buy a new outfit from LuluLemon, workout for a week or two, get tired of it, make excuses, grow fat, be disappointed in our efforts (or lack thereof) and then look for the next quick fix.  Success is built on the pain of consistency and failure. 

Our capabilities are real.  We should encourage the greatness that lies within each of us; the full effect of that will be realized within an organization.  These are not mere words, but rather a call to action.  As leaders we must engage a concept of success that is realistic.  Set the foundation with mission and vision, lay framework with expectations and accountability, add components of structure with trial, collaboration, skills and communication.  These components are refined over time.

Success is rarely overnight.  Success is not a destination but a journey.  Once success is “achieved,” you have to start at it again tomorrow.  Every day, you gotta be ready for what the call to success asks for – consistency, excellence, commitment and sweat!

Everyday I Write the Book

Executives are pressured to be budget-minded while increasing sales and productivity.  “Do more with less” is the banner many are forced to hold high while walking across the customer service area or the down the manufacturing line.  The pressure of expanding territory, managing the brand(s), and keeping talent in the building require complicated maneuvering.  While begging, pleading and groveling tend to be our default posture, we can really choose differently and with a better chance for lasting effect.

A detailed, passionate plan is necessary for a Human Resources professional to be engaged in the business process.  We have to sit down and create an action plan with both pre- and post-process details.  This may very well be a daily process.  There are moving parts and market fluctuations that cannot be depended on to remain static.  The dynamic nature of our commerce requires us to be nimble and adaptable.  Write and review processes everyday.  Grab your coffee (or latte or Oprah Chai Tea or whatever it is you like today).

Pre-Process:

• Where are the pain points of the company?
• How did it get this way?  What has to change?
• What are the expectations for the company as described by the Executive team?
• Who should be handling certain components of the process?  When can I sit with them to review?

Post-Process:

• What elements were accomplished?  What’s working well?
• Where are there still missing pieces? Who is addressing those needs?  How?
• Who is/was unable to handle the responsibilities given?  Time for change?

These questions can be drilled down more, but the general idea is to challenge yourself to answer them.  Sit down ahead of time with the pre-process list of questions and write down answers.  When we answer them in our heads only, it’s often the case that’s where they’ll stay.  Write the answers; from these answers, an action plan is created.  This is not an exercise in accountability only, but also in planning with purpose. 

Our companies are in need of dynamic resources to handle the mandate of “more with less.”  I don’t see this trend changing anytime soon.  The fear of finances around tax increases, ACA compliance and global military activity is real and impacts markets.

Listen, for those of you still holding onto hope that you’ll be allowed to fill that job requisition for additional help in your department…let it go.  Don’t depend on it.  It’s been two years.  The company is not bringing on another HR Generalist for you.  Be creative, be industrious, but don’t be stupid.  If the answer is that next quarter might look better and we’ll see then, give it up.  Work with what you have; just work it stronger and with real expectations.  I have had the opportunity to sit with HR departments who regale me with the plans they have for an additional person they’ll eventually be allowed to have.  In the meantime, though, that list of work and plans sits dormant waiting for that person.  Why?

Meet with the executive team to determine the fiscal expectations of the company for the next 6 months.  Then take that understanding and create the process list for pre-, during and post-.  Assign roles, speak to the cultural leadership needed and provide timelines.  Yes, hold people accountable, including yourself, but do it based upon a clearer understanding of the expectations of the company’s financial strategy. 

Oh yea, for those of you reading this who are saying, “no one on the executive team shares this with HR,” then figure out how to make them.  Give them the business case for HR’s involvement.  Show them what you know how to do.  Let them see the resources you have ready to go once you know where you’re going.  Of all people, HR seems to know how to do more with less.  We’ve done it for decades.