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.

Bag Lady

(A post by +Victorio Milian) 

As a New Yorker, I use public transportation to get where I'm going. It's generally fast and relatively cost effective (especially when compared to the cost of owning and maintaining a car here).

It also provides a snapshot into how human beings act. Whether as individuals or in groups, commuters here speak quite clearly--through their behavior, dress, and other means--even as they avoid eye contact. One observation I've made over time is this: New York City commuters carry lots of bags. Now this is unscientific, but I can say on my normal commute to and from work most passengers carry more than one with them. The vast majority of multi-bag carriers are women. Based (again) on personal observation, most carriers seem to carry one bag for personal effects, and another contains essentials for the commute, such as gym clothes or work items (e.g., laptop, paperwork). 

For me, people carrying multiple bags present a challenge. They take up more room on the subway, which my main form of transportation. When you consider that close to millions of people take the subway on a daily basis, every available inch counts! In addition, I can't help but think that lugging that much stuff around consistently will have an impact on the carrier's health. If nothing else, it probably puts a lot of stress on one's back, shoulders, arms, and legs. I imagine that there's an enterprising chiropractor out there that specifically targets people impacted in this fashion. I know of one that has a sub-practice centered around clients who are in need, due to poor posture related to how they utilize their cellphones! 

With all of this, I strive to carry one bag with me when I'm out and about. Sometimes this presents difficult choices, but for the most part I can successfully balance my needs with my ability. I have bags of various sizes and shapes, and I also try to take care of myself so that, in the event of having to carry a particularly heavy load, I don't overdo it. I also try to carry items that perform multiple functions. For example, utilizing cloud based services such as Evernote, Google Drive, or Dropbox allows me to carry less paper files around. Because they able to be used across multiple devices, I can mix-and-match which ones I carry with me. Most days, this helps me to avoid carrying around my laptop, by far the biggest and heaviest of my work related devices. That being said, I'm overloaded in other ways. It doesn't necessarily manifest itself physically, yet it still can be exhausting. My issue is communication overload. Here's a snapshot of the various communication devices or channels I manage:

• Two smart phones (one for work, one for me)
• Several emails (roughly 1/2 dozen)
• Fax machine (don't ask)
• Two physical work mailboxes
• Two phone landlines 
• Social media outlets

There's a multitude of methods to reach me. And while it doesn't weigh much physically, mentally it can be a lot to manage and maintain. It demands that I check all these different methods, to insure I don't miss anything important. From a security perspective, the different programs and electronic devices I use means multiple access codes. It's a lot! With that, it's time to start thinking realistically around assessing, consolidating, and/or eliminating these items from my life. Wherever possible, as Erykah Badu would say, it's time to let it go...

How do you keep yourself from being overloaded?

4 Minutes

Dynamic, collaborative relationships are desired.  Most companies that I get to work with are often eager to find professionals who understand how to make an impact with the skill set they have while being respectful of the authorities in place already.  Smart employers often seek to find these exceptional people with vigor.

So, where are these people?  Do they exist?  After speaking with some of the ones we get to work with at Humareso, I would say 9 out of 10 have become discouraged about the talent pool.  Whether it’s a non-committal attitude, a desire for a list of all benefits offered by the company prior to the first interview or an awareness that the depth of work ethic displayed falls short of what’s actually needed in the workplace, these employers have dejection written on their metaphorical faces.

People, let’s display what should be displayed, not just as an appearance, but as a true picture of the qualities we possess.  Do I think that all candidates fall into the descriptors above?  No.  However, do I think that these employers are wrong?  No.  They are responding to what they see.  And remember, what they "see" is not always viewable.

I sometimes wish that everyone’s skill sets could be viewed, such as what a model has to do for his/her interviews.  Show me what you can do.  You can sit all day and tell me how great you are, but it’s better when I see you get up and walk the catwalk.  The tangibles are visible.  How do you move?  What does your face do when you walk?  Do you capture the look we want?  It takes about 4 minutes to know.  So, theoretically, can you show what you must in 4 minutes?

Most potential employers conducting interviews say they can tell within a few minutes if you have what it takes.  So, if the interview is a half an hour or longer, what is happening in the interviewer's mind?  You’ve got to make a quick, competent impression as an applicant.  The shortfall here is part of the reason that these potential employers feel that there is a lack in the talent pool.  They struggle to know what you know because it’s not presented in a coherent way.  If you have four minutes, what do you want to share?  Practice.

OK, naysayers, I hear you.  “Yeah, but John, when I walk into an interview, I don’t get to dictate the questions.”  After years of witnessing interviews, I would have to say that more than half of those times begin with a potential employer asking one of the following questions to start out:

• Can you tell me a little about yourself?
• Why are you leaving your current employer?/Why did you leave your last employer?
• Why did you decide to apply for this position?
• Why should we hire you?

Think about what you can do with the answer to any one of these questions.  Can you give them a great snapshot of your competencies, personality and work ethic in four minutes by answering one of these first questions?  Heck, yeah (Sorry, I will tone down the language moving forward).  Practice what that response is.  Look in the mirror and work it out.

However, I have to address those who do practice the answer.  Can you act like you believe what you’re saying?  The words are not the only important part, but the facial expressions, body language, inflection and lilt in your voice, etc., too.  Robots are not attractive and will not communicate who you really are (unless you really are a robot, and in that case, please be sure to check “other” in the Self-Identification section of the application).  Being believable is done when you are believable.  Crazy, right?

Authenticity begins with a belief in who you are and a confidence in it.  You might not be a fit for every company, but you are a fit for a company.  Your disillusionment with the process of finding a job can be seen clearly in the first four minutes, even if you’ve practiced your answer.  The spark in your eyes is dim, the life in your voice is weak and the enthused body language is replaced by a slouch.  Be prepared, yes, but be engaged, too.

I do believe that the talent pool needs to get stronger in certain skill sets (technology, written communication and mathematics) and in presenting those aptitudes.  I believe it takes work to get the job you want to get.  I don’t believe that you should just hope it works out.  Rather, work it out.  Do what you have to do to be enthusiastically ready for an interview.  Share with those potential employers why it would be great to have you as an employee based upon a clear and vibrant expression of your competencies.  Believe in who you are.  You’ve only got four minutes.  

I Wear My Sunglasses at Night

Tear in my eye for another end to another summer.  Kids are heading back to school, traffic increases again, school supplies will cost me $10,000 (OK, I exaggerate but pretzels, tissues and disinfectant wipes...really?).  Weekends will be full of soccer, baseball and football games.  And of course, we move into Pumpkin Spice season where everything produced now must have that flavor for two months.  There's no way around the transition; we've got to embrace that time marches on.

Within our organizations, we should find such transitions.  Business has a life to it.  There's an ebb and flow.  It doesn't mean, necessarily, just in terms of profits, but also in terms of talent, creativity, ingenuity, design and development.  We have watched great talent come and go.  We have had peaks of incredible and energetic design and then valleys of "writer's block."  Those of us in the trenches have witnessed these seasons, especially the longer we've been with a company.

What we may have also witnessed is denial.  Denial that this can occur.  Denial that the company needs to change and to evolve in order to keep up with the changing seasons, let alone lead the charge in the change.  Some of us have experienced our companies putting their shades on and hoping for the best.  Hope is a valuable commodity and it sets a tone, but hope does not pay the bills.  Action is needed and a plan must be developed.

Avoiding a reality does not make it go away.  As people, we may struggle with this.  Our personal lives may contain areas that we don't like; instead of addressing the problem and creating a solution, we may stick our heads in the sand and hope it goes away.  How's that plan been working for ya?

Companies are no different.  They are run by people.  People who in their personal lives may use avoidance as a coping mechanism.  Those people then use similar techniques as they lead organizations or manage departments and teams.  They do what they are used to doing.  Someone has to jolt those people back to true reality.

When companies like Singer, Brother and Kodak kept their heads in the sand too long, they missed the boat.  Technology and business development moved on without them.  How sad would it be for Samsung, Apple or Google to find themselves in similar straits in ten to twenty years?  I know that seems unlikely, but I am sure those admirers of Singer, Brother and Kodak would have felt the same.

HR professionals should be able to have the honest conversation with their leadership.  If you cannot, then you might want to start with that dialogue.  How can I represent the company effectively in managing talent without having an outlet to debrief, discuss and correct?  You've got to have a voice.  If you've got that voice, then your company needs you to use it.  Examine what can be done better, differently.  Look to see what the competition is doing, what the market is doing.  Look to see where those things are going.  Study your piece of the pie and the pie as a whole.

Avoiding the necessary changes and the seasons of development will not set you or your company up for success.  Wearing sunglasses at night will not change reality once the glasses are removed and the lights are turned on.  Speak with passionate intensity around where the company is to go.  Have a plan, not a complaint list.  Have data, not just a feeling.  Have solutions, not just problems.

And if wearing sunglasses for those conversations makes you feel a little bit cooler, tougher and stronger, then go for it.  I have my Wayfarers on right now...

She Works Hard for the Money

With all of the talk of the Yahoo flexible staffing changes, much conversation has been had about measuring productivity.  Some have argued that working from home means that there is no supervision and therefore less work is really being done.  Some have said quite the opposite - freedom in flexibility drives people to work harder.  Both sides have presented stats to support their position.  So how do you decide?

In some ways, I'm a bit old school.  I believe in hard work for great results.  I believe in an honest day's wages for an honest day's work.  I believe no one owes you anything.  Most of this perspective comes from my family.  I was raised with a work ethic that was without excuse.  My dad was out of work for over a year in the mid to late 70's and he tried to find a job in his field while he was remodeling kitchens and hanging Sheetrock/drywall on the side.  He worked weekends and evenings.  He knew he had a family to provide for and that was his mission.  He wasn't too proud to lift a phone, a frying pan, a hammer.

Now, I understand that nostalgia is just that.  It's a sentimental remembrance of a time gone by.  Time moves on and things change.  I know that there are numerous people in an unemployment line today that feel that same passion to provide.  I am heartbroken for the families that are struggling today and searching diligently for work.  What I, also, know is that each week, I hear from a different person who brings up the feel of the workplace today and the air of entitlement that is pervasive throughout.  Nostalgia aside, somewhere we've lost drive.

Where did it go?  Are we lazier?  More tired?  Stretched too thin?  Burned out?  Disenfranchised?  No longer hungry?  You tell me.  I have read the "experts"; I have read books by some smart people.  I have read countless blogs telling me what's wrong.  So what do we do?  I am practical in my business sense.  In human resources, I don't believe in programs for programs-sake.  Everything that HR does should point to the business bottom line.  If it doesn't, then stop it.  Time and resources are too precious.  We've got to create an action plan to get motivated and get working again.

As some of you have learned, you can only control what you can control.  I didn't learn that from a fortune cookie (although, I should look into starting a business making them...side note!).  I learned this from experience.  When I was in my 20's, I was going to change the world.  In my 30's, the world crapped on me.  And now in my 40's (man, that's still hard to write), I have become laser-focused in the ways I can make change happen.  I do have control over behaviors and actions; I don't have control over the world or all of life.  The action plan we can create to conquer should be based on behavioral and attitudinal change along with clarity in mission.

We should be on a mission to get back to hard work.  The turn-around is not going to be easy.  We are living in a country that is falling down the list as measured against other countries.  We're 12th in GDP, 6th in innovation and technology and 7th in overall global competitiveness http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GlobalCompetitivenessReport_2012-13.pdf.  (And if you're in HR and you don't know what some of these measurements or terms are, then you had better get an education quickly.)  It was not that long ago that the US was 1st in everything.  To lose this much ground is unsettling and it should cause us to want to roll up our sleeves and work hard.  

We're in a war for talent.  Yahoo is implementing the changes to flexible staffing and schedules because they want to know that the talent they are investing in is returning a profit for the company.  Measurement is telling them otherwise, hence the changes.  I would argue, though, that we're not in a war for talent...we're in a war for GREAT talent.  The pool of people who really fit the bill for what an employer is looking for has shrunk. Companies wind up settling in hiring because they just cannot find the superstars needed.

Some of this can be remedied by expectation from the employer.  Not everyone can be the verbose sales manager that wins over a room with his/her personality and charisma.  Not having those traits does not make someone a less desirable candidate.  Can you imagine an office full of Michael Scotts or Chris Varicks or Joe Isuzus? (Google them if you don't know).  It would be way too much.  Superstars run the gamut of personality and approach, but can still produce results.  Dig deeper in interviews; be situational and behavioral in questioning.  This is where the work should happen in bringing the right people on board.

Another part of this can be remedied by each and everyone of us.  We've got to work harder.  I'm serious.  There are millions of us who've been infected with the entitlement bug.  Take some antibiotics and move on.  We deserve what we really work for.  One of my favorite business biographies is about Hershey's. Milton Hershey failed seven times in business creation and went bankrupt a couple of times.  And yet, he awoke each day determined to make what he knew would work.  He refined candy making processes, he sought out better ingredients and he went door to door and in every venue he could to showcase his results.  He worked hard for his success.

I know that there are some of you reading this who are already traveling this road and have this perspective.  I see the work you do and I know the results are measurable and real.  Allow me to say "Bravo" for not only your work, but for your example to others.  You are most appreciated and very much needed in our businesses.

For those who will take the time to reflect on this, perhaps it will inspire you to take some action steps.  Have you gotten a bit lazy in your work ethic?  Is there an entitlement issue at the core?  Identify, create a remedy process and seek out accountability in a trusted business friend.  Hold yourself to the highest standard you can; forget about what everyone else is doing or isn't doing.

I believe in working hard.  We work hard to earn a decent living.  We work hard to set an example for future generations so they'll know what it takes to maintain and surpass.  We work hard to influence societal greatness.  We have done it and we can work to do it again. 

Get Into the Groove

What would it mean for you to fire on all cylinders each day?  Have you ever experienced that?  I have and it's a complete rush!  I often wonder why it doesn't happen more often for us.

Usually, there are external factors that distract us from the work at hand.  Annoying managers, complaining customers, broken processes or sub-par technology vie for first place as to why we can't get our jobs done or at least done smoothly.  We tend to work thoroughly with a desire to succeed (statistics back up that fact), but we do usually fall apart in one area.  Power.

We give power to so much outside of us.  Those factors that I mentioned above may not ever change.  Those managers will always be annoying (to a degree), customers will complain, processes will be a work in progress and technology is ever-changing.  Those things, however, do not represent you or what you do.  Too often we settle for those reasons and excuses.  For example, why does technology deserve power in your work process?  If it's not working, then figure out another way to be exceptional for a client.  

When I got my first job, I was thrilled.  I was a dishwasher at Friendly's Restaurants.  It's funny because I loathe emptying the dishwasher at home...I wonder if it's connected.  Anyway, I remember my boss often telling me, "Make it work," whenever there was an issue with the Hobart machine or the rude servers who tossed (literally) dishes at me.  While his lack of compassion is not recommended, I do appreciate his message.

We have to make it work more than we do.  Innovation is born out of problem solving.  Be a problem solver and improve processes.  Figure out how to reduce customer complaints.  What would need to be improved upon?  What experience is the customer having and how could it be better?  If the technology is not working, then grab a pen.  Think about the goals of your position and of the company.

Shake off your old way of thinking and embrace a new mode.  Change the record that's been playing and get into the groove of engagement and enthusiasm.

Call Me Maybe

So, the usage of a cell phone has changed dramatically over the past five years.  It's really unbelievable to consider what a smart phone is capable of.  I remember watching "Hart to Hart" on ABC in the late 70's (no comments, please...I loved Stephanie Powers) and they would talk to each other from a car phone.  I thought that technology was amazing!  And then came the bag phones...

With smart phones being the most popularly used cell phone type today, it's important for companies to make a plan to utilize the apps that these devices have.  For example, the new millennial generation thrives on technology.  Many of those folks use their smart phones and even tablets to apply for jobs.  When companies don't have mobile-ready sites or applications, direct recruiting will be hindered.  CareerBuilder and Monster have those apps in place already, but that may not help an organization with its recruitment strategy if those partners aren't included.

There is no denying the daily reliance on cell phones today.  Grabbing your keys and wallet/purse before you head out the door now means grabbing your phone, too.  My parents and in-laws, who are in their 60's, are texting and updating their status on Facebook using their smart phone app (I mean, it's important to know that Bingo is happening in 10 minutes).  If that generation is attacking the technology this way, imagine what it's like for the up and coming generation.  There is no room for companies to ignore the interfacing that has to be done and done well with the tablet and smart phone app users.

Remember when the phone was used to make calls...that's so 2004.