10 HR Lessons we can learn from the Olympics


Posted Under Employers, Human Resources, Leadership - Tags: , , , , , ;

While watching the Winter Olympics, it occurred to me that there are several parallels between the Olympics and the workplace.

 

1.      Coaching – Most of the competitors at the Olympics have at least one coach.  Someone to monitor their performance and give them feedback on how they might improve, or to provide suggestions on how they might change their style or approach.  I believe everyone in the workforce could use a coach who is dedicated to giving feedback on how to improve performance.  Further, great performers often become coaches.  Do you have a coach or are you coaching a future star?

 

2.      Perseverance and persistence – If you fall down, get up and keep trying.  In the figure skating competition, many of the competitors fell down, but got up and completed their routine and received a score.  In other events – snowboarding, for example – if you fall, you receive no score for that event.  However, there are several examples in these Olympic games where competitors fell down four years ago, but came back this time to win a medal.   If you make a mistake, learn from it and move on.

 

3.      Play to the strengths – There are numerous Olympic events with similarities.  For example, in skiing you have alpine, freestyle moguls, cross country, jumping, etc.  Based on skills, competencies and passion, athletes compete in the event that takes best advantage of their strengths, and doesn’t promote areas of weakness.  How can we design jobs in the workplace that allow employees to focus on their strengths?  Too frequently, we spend too much time trying to turn an employee’s weaknesses into strengths rather than playing up the strengths and designing the job to allow the employee to be successful.

4.      Everyone has a story to tell – NBC has done a commendable job trying to highlight the human element of these incredible athletes.  The boy who was abandoned on the streets as a baby, the young man raised by a single immigrant father, or the figure skater who lost her mother that week and still went on to compete.  Too often we try to keep the personal element out of the workplace.  It’s just a job, get it done.  We have very diverse workplaces, with people of different backgrounds and cultures, which all comes together to create a variety of expectations and values.  Treat everyone fairly, but treat them as individuals.  Do not paint everyone with the same brush.  Frequently, when an employer has an employee who is a poor performer, or who shows up late or not at all, the employer may create a blanket policy dictating, for example, that any employee who shows up late will be terminated.  You owe it to yourself and your employees to hear their stories.

 5.      Sometimes the difference between winning and losing is very small – There are several Olympic events that the difference between a medal and no medal is a hundredth of a second or fraction of a point.  Not everyone can win a medal.  However, this does not diminish the effort, skills or abilities of those who tried and came up short.  In addition, there are numerous examples of athletes who came up short in the last Olympics, only to win a medal this year.  Often employers create a narrow definition of what it means to successfully complete a job, with no allowance for a bad day or a mishap.  I will be the first to tell you that many employers wait too long to terminate a problem employee.  However, what do we do to help those who are close to succeed in the future?  We need to be sure we have a positive performance appraisal process in place, with plans for improvement by the next appraisal.  Or create a mentorship program to help those who want to reach the next level. 

 

6.      Potential for an award inspires performance – Much has been written on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.  However, the potential for an Olympic medal can certainly cause the competitors to go beyond their personal best.  Do we create opportunities for our employees to want to perform beyond their personal best?  Do we know what motivates our employees?  Do we reward performance?

7.      Where you start does not determine where you end – I watched competitors in several events come from last place only to win in the end.  In fact, it seemed some athletes used it as a strategy.  They allowed their competitors to set the pace, only to cruise by them in the final lap or stretch.  Just because an employee starts his or her career on the loading dock, he or she is not precluded from someday becoming the CEO.  Do we have systems that allow and even encourage our employees to grow within our organizations?  I’ve seen too many organizations with barriers or roadblocks that prevent and even discourage employees from growing.

 

8.      Competition makes us try harder – Many athletes achieved beyond what they thought was possible because a competitor earned a higher score or set a faster pace.  Competition at work can be good, but it can also be destructive.  If you pit employees against each other it will certainly eliminate any potential teamwork.  Focus their competitiveness against the company’s competition: it is us against XYZ Company, we need to have better quality, products, customer service, or price than they have.

 

9.      Alliances can change quickly – In men’s hockey, teammates on the same NHL teams are now competitors in the Olympics.  The teammate an athlete would normally assist and celebrate with in scoring will now do everything in his power to prevent that goal.  Check this out: Sabres coach Lindy Ruff is on the coaching staff for the Canadian Olympic team, and Sabres goalie Ryan Miller is starting goalie for the US team.  Most commentators believe Ruff would provide insight to the Canadian players regarding Miller’s weaknesses to help them beat Team USA, even though it could be detrimental when those same players go back to their NHL team and play against Miller.  Likewise, if an employee goes to our competitor, he or she will quickly become part of that new organization, and will do what it takes to help the new employer succeed, even if it is detrimental to your company.

10.    Vision and Focus – Just about every medal winner has talked about vision.  I often describe vision as a dream with an action plan.  Are we providing an organizational vision for our employees?  Are we helping employees create and successfully accomplish their personal vision?  How do we help them stay focused on shared goals?

 I’m certain there are many more parallels between the Olympics and the workplace, and would enjoy hearing your observations.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Published By admin on Feb 24 - Comments (0)

All Human Resource Professionals are………


Posted Under Employers, Human Resource Professionals, Human Resources, Uncategorized - Tags: , , , , , , , ;

How many stereotypes are there about HR professionals? 

 

  • They are touchy feely – what does that mean anyway? Are we all supposed to go around touching and feeling everyone?  I don’t think so!  Or does it refer to our vast understanding of the soft skills? Yeah right! This also brings into play the “I’m a people person,” but that is the subject for another blog.
  • They aren’t very good with numbers.  I don’t know about anyone else – but I love numbers.  Especially when they are big ones and they are in my paycheck.  I got straight A’s in math and would much rather use a spreadsheet than a word processor.
  • It’s a women’s profession – this probably stems from another stereotype that women are more touchy feely than men.
  • I was recently at a social gathering with some HR practitioners as well as some other folks. (I was about to say normal folk)  Then the jokes started.  The non HR person looked at one of the HR people and said I probably shouldn’t be telling these in mixed company (sexual jokes). The HR person without asking blurted out – oh no – we are HR people we can take it.

 My point is stereotypes may be a way for humans to simplify complex things by grouping similar people into the same mold.  However, if there is one thing all HR people should know is that this can be a very dangerous practice.

 I believe we need to continue to work on developing the positive image of the Human Resource profession and start eliminating some of these stereotypes.  We also need to be cognizant of this bad habit when we refer to other professions or groups of people.

 Fill in the blanks – all engineers are____________, all computer people are ___________, all accountants are____________, all lawyers are___________, or all bosses are____________.  This may make for funny jokes or laughs in conversations – but are at the expense of a person.  It certainly doesn’t take a great leap to go to all Blacks are_________, all Hispanics are__________, and all Blondes are__________.  Not!!!!!

 We really need to be careful with that thought combination All (fill in the blank)___________  are__________.

 

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Published By admin on Jan 22 - Comments (0)

Managers often attract exactly what they manage for


Posted Under Employees, Employers, Human Resources, Management - Tags: , , , , , , ;

interviewJust as moths are attracted to a light bulb, employees are equally attracted to the management style that best suits them.

I frequently find managers who lament that their employees show no initiative, do not pay attention to details, or won’t solve problems.  Sadly, in almost every case, the manager has caused this problem.  Peter Drucker said: “The productivity of work is not the responsibility of the worker but of the manager.”

Here are several ways managers often cause their own problems.

 They recruit them: 

I had a conversation today with a manager (it was this conversation that prompted me to write this) and I asked her what her greatest joy was as a manager.  She told me she really enjoyed finding people she could help grow and develop.  On the surface this sounds okay.  However, I happen to know that the last four people she hired left the company within four months.  She is a fixer.  She sees opportunities in candidates to help them turn their lives around, and although this is admirable, it is also time consuming and has a low success rate.  Because of the low success rate, successes are that much sweeter, yet we still complain about how much time it took to get there.  There are numerous variations on this theme.  Here’s another one: I need someone right now, and I don’t have time to go through an extensive selection process, so I end up with a candidate that wastes more of my time.  I think you get the picture.

 They do it for them: 

I have watched too many managers do this.  An employee comes to the manager with a problem, any problem.  The manager then solves the problem for the employee.  Then the manager complains that the employees are not able to solve problems.  Can you see the self-defeating cycle here?  Instead of taking the time to coach the employees and instruct them to come up with potential solutions to problems, it is quicker and easier to provide the solution.  (It also allows the managers to show how smart they are!)  

 Managers have to learn how to let go.  Delegation is always a struggle – we all believe no one can do it as well as we can do it ourselves.  However, the reason the manager has a job managing others is that the job is now too big for just one person to handle.  As a manager, you need to let your employees learn to do for themselves, and in some cases they will make mistakes, which are also learning experiences.  If you want employees to show initiative, give them the opportunity to take the lead and in some cases fail.

 They Micromanage them: 

This is closely linked to the previous subject – a primary reason manager’s micromanage is they do not trust their employees to do it right.  Unfortunately, managers who micromanage will attract employees who like to be micromanaged – those are the employees who need close supervision and interaction to complete tasks.  Some employees like this because they are told exactly what to do and when to do it and do not have to accept any responsibility.  Successful managers train, coach and put systems in place so that employees learn how to do it right, and then trust their employees and let go. 

Summary

If you are having problems with the employees you manage, you might want to see if your management style is attracting a certain type of employee.  The flip side of this is looking at what type of employee you might be pushing away.  I do a lot of exit interviews and a large percentage of employees cite their manager as their reason for leaving.  I can often evaluate a company’s health by reviewing the caliber of employees that have left in the past six months.  The good employees are the ones leaving – they have the skills, confidence, and résumé to find work elsewhere.

And so if you find you are attracting moths, don’t look at the moths, check out the light bulb.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Published By admin on Jan 15 - Comments (0)

How will you compete for employees?


Posted Under Employees, Employers, Human Resources - Tags: , , , , , ;

EmployeesBenefits are a primary tool employers use to attract and retain employees.  However, current legislation passing through congress may take some of that competitive advantage away.  If this happens, what will employers do and how will they compete?

The first concern is health care reform

The various versions of the bills (as they are currently written) will mandate to some degree that all employers provide health insurance and dictates how much employers must contribute toward that health insurance.  Another bill being considered is seven days of mandatory sick leave per year for all employees.

I’m not making a judgment about either of these bills, and we certainly don’t know what the final language will look like.  I do think that employers should be considering what their compensation and benefit strategy will be if they lose the ability to use these benefits as recruiting and retention tools.

On first blush it would seem this would put more pressure on using wages to compete, likely resulting in bidding wars.  So what other things can an employer use to gain competitive advantage with recruiting and retaining employees?

Reputation

The employer’s reputation is probably the biggest tool to consider.  Reputations are rarely ever in sync with reality, and it takes a long time and a lot of effort to turn around a bad reputation.  Boost your reputation by treating your employees, applicants and candidates better than the competition.  Strive to become recognized as one of the best places to work.

Another opportunity to improve your competitiveness is to have career development plans for all employees, including a formal mentorship program.

Finally, something that is mandatory, especially for retention of employees, is the development of your supervisory/management team.  Surveys continually indicate that one of the primary reasons employees’ leave an organization is because of their supervisor.  So if we want to retain more employees, we need to get our supervisors and managers involved in the solution.

Summary

All of these would be good things to do regardless of what happens in congress with the mandating of benefits.  These are also great strategies to employ if you are currently non-union and want to stay that way.  Once the final version of the Employee Free Choice Act (otherwise known as the Card Check Act) passes, you can be assured there will a lot of union organizing activity.  What is your strategy to deal with that?

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Published By admin on Jan 08 - Comments (0)