HR Archives - Talent Remix

Go it alone, it’s okay

You know those awkward moments at a party when the food is ready but no one wants to be the first in line? Or when a public speaker at an event asks for volunteers and no one raises their hand because the speaker wouldn’t reveal what you are volunteering for? Or in school when the teacher asks who wants to present first and everyone, all of a sudden, looks down at their feet like they didn’t hear the question?

These are just a few of life’s very simple day-to-day examples of when a leader arises by being willing to stand alone or being the first to do something. Life gets a little more complicated than this though. Regardless, to be a leader, to be successful and to create real change, you have to be willing to stand alone. You have to believe so deeply in what you are doing that you are willing to go all in even when it feels like the entire world is against you.

My proudest moments in life are the ones that were the hardest to accomplish because I had to go it alone. Everyone else was telling me not to bother, that I was wasting my time or that I was not capable. Don’t let fear or other’s nonsense stop you from facing the hardest challenges in your life because in the end, pushing yourself to something greater is worth it all.

Eventually, people will also follow or at least support you whether it is the people who doubted you before or new, wonderful people you meet along the way. When you’re willing to stand alone, you rarely end up doing so.

What have you done or do you want to do but were/are afraid to go it alone?

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Lead to Win: Lessons from a Chicago Cubs’ World Series Champ

I’m a die hard Chicago Cubs fan. As much as I love all Chicago sports, baseball is what I grew up watching. I am by no means the longest living Cubs fan, not even close! However, I, like many others, grew up watching them lose a lot, hanging onto every inch of hope that they might just win it all one day. So, when they finally did it this year, I was literally ecstatic. I cried; I admit it; I have no shame about it.

The thing about this current Cubs team though that makes me such a proud fan is its leadership. Being a leadership and HR fanatic myself, its one of the first things I notice in teams. The Chicago Cubs has a lot of great leaders from Theo Epstein to Jed Hoyer to the Ricketts family. However, I am consistently impressed by the great Joe Maddon.

So, here’s what I’ve learned about how to “lead to win” from Joe, manager of the World Series’ Champs, the Chicago Cubs. I’ve titled each lesson after my favorites of Joe’s “Maddonisms.”

“That’s outcome bias.”

Joe often responds with this statement when the media questions a decision he made, claiming that the opposite decision or a different decision could have had a better outcome. In leadership, we often play it safe and if something goes wrong, we constantly waste time questioning “what if” scenarios, attempting to breakdown what went wrong. There is a false assumption that another decision or action would have resulted in a different outcome, when in reality, no one really knows. It could have been the same outcome either way.

The lesson is that just because one decision or risk does not work out, it doesn’t mean that we need to play it safe the next time. We must keep taking chances and pushing boundaries.

“Do simple better.”

Joe is questioned a lot for his way of leading and managing the Cubs. He cancels batting practices and doesn’t hold team meetings. Instead, he believes that he has adults and professionals on his team and thus, he should treat them as such. Therefore, he puts his trust in his team and doesn’t micromanage them. Guess what? They chose to practice anyway and took the World Series in style, coming back from 3-1 games down to win it all. He also prides himself in having one-on-one conversations rather than team meetings.

The lesson for leaders is to stop overcomplicating our roles. If we do the simple things better, we will already have better results. One piece of advice from Joe is to not micromanage every detail of how employees should do their jobs. Be clear with expectations and let them achieve the results on their own. The other relevant lesson is that when someone isn’t performing, have a real, honest conversation with that person rather than holding a team meeting every time to reset expectations in a passive-aggressive manner where everyone feels like they did something wrong but aren’t really sure.

“Don’t ever permit the pressure to exceed the pleasure.”

This is my favorite maddonism! Every Cubs fan knows about the team’s themed road trips. This year, they did eccentric suits day and a pajama party day. Joe also throws little parties in the clubhouse like when he brought zoo animals in for spring training or brought in a mariachi band to serenade his team before a game. The lesson here is to have fun with our teams and let them have fun with each other. Fun brings people together and takes the pressure off.

This maddonism also gets to the heart of success which is that people who love what they do will achieve the best results. Why? It’s not likely that people love doing something they are not good at. People with real passions live and breathe whatever it is that they are passionate about. Leaders hire A players and let those A players enjoy what they do because the pleasure of what we do everyday should exceed the pressure we are under.

What stands out for you and what might you try doing with your teams? I’ve been pondering the “no team meetings” idea. Here’s to the Chicago Cubs, to Joe Maddon, to leadership and to all of you winning with your teams!

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Leaders Execute

I had the privilege of hearing Chip Madera, renowned speaker and organizational development expert, speak again for the second time in one month. This past week, he talked to us about leadership and execution and his message really stuck with me. We were a bunch of healthcare leaders in the audience and if you know healthcare, you know that the industry is going through a boat-load of changes.

But, going through change is not a good excuse for not executing. Leaders need to be the example. As Chip puts it, we are the “keepers of the culture.” It starts with us and it is up to us to lead it. If we don’t get this right, we will not survive because “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” If we don’t keep the culture, our employees will create it anyway and it won’t be the culture we want because if we’re not part of it, they will know that pretty quickly.

We cannot continue blaming employees and trying to hold them accountable without first holding ourselves accountable. I constantly run into leaders who complain about their employees not performing but they never actually do anything about these employees. If we want A players, we need to pick A players, we need to grow A players and we need to be A players. Only when we start looking within ourselves can we start leading and executing for our teams and our organizations.

To lead a culture that people will follow and buy into, we need to connect with them. We need to be able to relate to them and to meet them where they are. As the workplace gets more chaotic and stress levels rise, leaders are challenged with channeling their emotions while maintaining operations and leading people. This is no small task but where leaders often fail is the people part. They begin to drown themselves in the day-to-day and neglect their teams.

Chip challenged us to “fall in love with our people again.” He didn’t mean this literally, of course, but we need to take a step back and remember that we chose to accept leadership positions and that decision comes with specific responsibilities to our people.

So, have you reflected about your leadership lately? What are you going to do to reignite your passion for people and execute, particularly the culture?

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Want to succeed? Ask questions!

Ask questions! That is my one piece of advice to all new employees. Heck, start asking questions before you get the job. The traditional interview process is no longer relevant. It’s not a one-way Q&A session anymore. The Q&A goes both ways now. Ask your new employer questions that are meaningful to your decision process. This will help both you and your potential employer make a better decision about whether or not you would do well in the job, in the organization and on the team.

Once you start a job, it is just as important to continue asking questions. No one knows everything even if they tell you they do! I’ve heard all the excuses and assumptions:

I’m scared I’ll sound stupid.
I’m afraid they think I should know the answer to that already.
I don’t know who to ask.
I don’t want to bother them.
They’re so busy. They don’t have time to answer my questions.
I probably don’t really need to know that right now. I’ll ask if I ever have to know.
If I needed to know that, they would tell me so I don’t need to ask.
I’m sure someone else will ask my question.
I’m sure I’ll figure it out eventually.

Well, guess what? These are all actually very valid concerns and feelings. But, guess what else? They don’t need to stop you from asking questions and growing yourself and your career.

So, someone thinks you sound stupid. Who cares? You still gain something out of getting the answer. Who’s problem is it that they think you sound stupid? It’s not your problem.
Maybe you should know the answer but if you don’t, keeping quiet isn’t going to get you the answer.
If you don’t know who to ask, ask everyone until you find out who the right person is to ask.
If people are bothered by you asking a question, that is their burden to carry, not yours.
Everyone is busy, including you, I’m sure. You’ll be more productive if you ask and so will they because they know you’re getting your work done.
Growth is about learning as much as you can so even if you don’t need to know it, ask questions about things you want to know.
Never assume that someone is going to look out for you. You need to ask questions proactively rather than waiting for people to give you all the information you need to do your job.
Again, you’re going down a very uncertain path if you’re waiting for someone else to ask the question you have. What if they do it when you’re not there and now you don’t have the answer?
Maybe you will figure it out eventually but wouldn’t it be nice to get the answer and figure it out now?

I instill this in my team and in all the employees I work with every single day. The ones who ask a lot of questions have become the go-to people in the organization. They always seem to have the answers because they always ask the questions.

So, let me ask you a question: are you going to start asking questions?

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Plan a fun but productive in-service day

I feel like I’ve planned hundreds of in-service days but the truth is that it never gets any easier. It only gets harder every time especially if it’s with the same team. I don’t want them to be bored so I need to make sure that every time I plan one, it is going to add value to their work, their careers or their lives.

Let’s take a step back. What do I even mean by an in-service day? This could mean a lot of things. When I talk about an in-service day, I’m referring to a day set aside at least a few times per year where a team gets together, preferably off-site (not at work), to reflect, reenergize and strategize. There are so many reasons why having in-service days is so important:

It’s time to do team building, for us to get to know each other better and for us to work better together.
It’s time to recharge and get excited about our work again, or maybe more excited than we were before.
It’s time to engage in some reflection, remember why we do what we do (mission and vision) and get refocused on our core values.
It’s time to plan for the future (strategy) without interruptions from our day-to-day work in the office.
It’s time to learn and grow as individuals and as a team, to gain new knowledge and skills and to make improvements to products, services or processes.
It’s a time to clarify expectations and get everyone on the same page.

So, how do I plan a fun and productive in-service day? It’s just like planning any event. It takes committing time to it and depending on the goal, some resources.

Venue and Food

It’s important to pick a venue away from work. If an organization has a big budget, these in-service days could be more extravagant but it can also be done for a very low cost. I plan most of mine at free venues like the local library, park district or village hall.

Be sure to serve breakfast, lunch and snacks. Depending on the agenda, these days can feel very long. If budget is tight, do it potluck style and have everyone bring in their favorite things to share.

Agenda and Presenters

Prepare an agenda and communicate it ahead of time. Determine estimated times for each topic as well as presenters or facilitators. Give the presenters and facilitators ample time to prepare their content and return it to be organized appropriately.

Be sure the agenda includes a good mix of fun activities and productive discussions and that these are alternating on the agenda throughout the day. If all the fun happens in the morning, the audience will be bored by lunch time.

Technology

Of course, ensure that all technology works appropriately. Confirm that a laptop, projector and all cords are available for use.

Be sure to incorporate technology into the day too, when possible. This can be in the form of polls, quizzes or games on a mobile phone, videos or interactive iPad activities. Don’t set “no cell phone” rules, please! It’s almost 2017! Use their phones to your advantage to engage them!

Learning and Activities

Plan learning opportunities and activities into the day. There should always be some sort of professional development to help the team gain new insights, knowledge, skills or experiences.

Be sure that learning opportunities are interactive, not one-way. Don’t lecture!

Celebrate

Don’t forget to celebrate! Not only is it a long day but if it is productive as planned, the team deserves some down time. Take them out for a happy hour. Informal team building is just as good as formal team building!

Be sure to thank the team for their participation and engagement throughout the day.

It’s planning time! Dive in and plan a first or next in-service day to increase employee engagement and team building.

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Satisfaction is overrated

Don’t get me wrong; satisfaction is great. It’s comfortable. It’s rewarding. It’s bliss, really. Satisfaction is the ultimate goal in many cases. If I’m satisfied with my meal at a restaurant, I’ll become a loyal customer and go there all the time. If I have the best doctor in the world, I’ve hit satisfaction and there’s no reason to keep looking for a new doctor.

But, what about work, if that’s what we want to call it? I don’t just mean the job we do everyday. I’m talking about our work environment, our leadership and the culture at our organizations. I challenge the notion of simply getting to satisfaction in this realm. In this case, I believe that satisfaction is way overrated.

In the past six years, I’ve changed jobs six times and departments twice. I reached satisfaction in all of my previous five roles, achieving a state of total comfort. There wasn’t much left for me to learn and almost nothing that was challenging me in my career. So, I moved on. It would have been easy for me to stay in the same role and department forever. I might have been perfectly happy but I knew that the only way to grow was to take a risk and make that next move into the scary unknown.

I wouldn’t be where I am today if I settled for satisfaction. There are plenty of reasons to be satisfied but not if someone is trying to grow their career. I hear people complain about their jobs and their situations all day, every day. Yet, I never see most of them do anything about it because even though they have complaints, they’re comfortable and satisfied to an extent. It can be terrifying to push ourselves out of our comfort zones but it is necessary in order to grow ourselves.

Some may have noticed that I didn’t say I changed organizations in the past six years. That is not necessary in order to step out of my comfort zone. I’ve been extremely fortunate that I’ve had the opportunities to challenge myself and push myself out of my comfort zone within my current organization. I’m still not satisfied or comfortable and that’s the best feeling in the world. It means I’m being challenged both personally and professionally.

To really find our passion and really make an impact in the world, we have to keep striving for better. It’s not just about a job role change. It’s about everything we do – every project we’re on, every committee we participate in and every change we’re trying to make in our organizations or maybe, in the world.

Don’t settle for satisfaction. It could possibly mean settling for less.

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Four requirements of internal branding and why it all matters

There’s a reason that every business degree requires a Marketing class. It doesn’t matter what your job is anymore, you better be a marketer too. In Daniel Pink’s book, To Sell is Human, he discusses the importance of being able to sell in every profession. He argues that we all need to be sales people in order to be successful. I would argue the same thing about marketing. We have to be able to market everything that we do even when our customers are internal to the organization. Examples include support departments such as Human Resources, Finance and IT.

I believe that branding is of the utmost importance when it comes to internal marketing. It’s where everything starts. If you don’t have a good brand, you can’t sell your product, service or value. There are four key requirements to achieving this brand.

Consistency

A strong internal brand requires consistency. My team jokes that consistency is my favorite word in the dictionary. They get it though. Consistency in branding says so many things to our customers, end users or stakeholders.

It says we’re credible. Consistency allows people to actually understand our brand and if they can understand it, they can buy into it. They can appreciate it and believe in it. They can trust it.
It says we’re predictable. Customers want to know what they can expect. Consistency gives them comfort in knowing that there is quality in everything we offer, regardless of the day or time or who on our team or in our organization they encounter when they have a need.
It says we’re confident and if we’re confident, everyone who comes in contact with us and our product or service will be confident too. Consistency means we know what we’re doing, we know what we’re offering is exceptional and we’ll produce the same high quality time after time.

Sophistication and Simplicity

A strong brand must be sophisticated, yet simple. Wait what? I’m contradicting myself, right? How can we be both at the same time? I’m not going to say this is easy. It’s actually extremely difficult to find the right balance between sophistication and simplicity when it comes to our brand.

Our brand has to be smart. It has to meet every criteria our stakeholders are looking for – personalization, versatility, relevancy, wit and much more! Yet, it also has to be simple – consistent (check!), understandable, quick and to the point.

The best way I have found to do this is to keep simplicity at the core throughout the planning process while considering options for incorporating the sophistication. Apple is a great example of this. The company’s brand is always simple, an apple. Yet, they add flares of sophistication and complication by offering different color options for user personalization. They keep it consistent in that every computer operates the exact same way with a dock of icons and every iPhone works by clicking on any icon to open an application. It’s smart and innovative but it’s so simple that users will be able to use Apple products for years and decades (maybe their entire lives) without learning new ways to operate the products.

This is very different than Windows products which requires a slightly more tech-savvy user to be able to operate it without instruction. As a trainer, I’ve witnessed this thousands of times. It used to be a start button with a menu. Then, with Windows 8, there was an entire start screen, not just a button. Now, Windows 10 is a combination of the two. My mother cannot operate her Windows computers if her life depended on it but she’s had three different iPhones and she used all of them like a pro. She asked me just the other day if I knew that she could do everything on an iPhone and there’s really no reason she needs a computer anymore.

Yes, how customers interact with a product or service is part of branding.

Appearance

I hate to say it but looks matter…a lot! Our brand can be consistent and we can win the sophistication/simplicity balance but if our brand is not appealing, neither is our product, in the eyes of our stakeholders at least. We must consider all design elements such as contrasting colors, white space and appropriate font sizes when designing any outward facing elements of an actual product or when designing promotional (or other) materials.

Impression

A strong brand leaves a lasting impression. It elicits emotion and retention. This requires all of the previous three requirements. It’s the wow factor when all is said and done. Do all of the elements of our brand come together cohesively?

It’s important to do a check, a double check and a triple check test before we launch our brand. It is also necessary to pilot our brand, ask for feedback, whatever it takes to make sure it will hit home for our audiences.

Our business, our value and our reputation rely on a strong internal brand and the four requirements of that brand. That should be reason enough to pay more attention to our internal brand!

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Create a Sense of Place for Your Team

A sense of place is actually a fairly common phrase used in geography, landscape design and interior design. It refers to the idea of creating something special and unique where people feel that they belong, perhaps to something greater than themselves. I think of really well planned parks where the design really took into consideration the people who would visit them – meeting places, comfortable spaces to sit, greenery and gardens, convenient walking paths, options for activities and other necessary concepts to create a feeling for visitors that they belong there.

Let’s apply this concept to the workplace. Creating a sense of place for your team does not have to be expensive. It can be but it does not have to be. There are so many ways to make employees feel like they are part of something when they’re at work, like they have a sense of belonging. They should feel meaning when they go to work every day. There is a lot that can play into a sense of place. You don’t have to have all of them to be successful but as many as you can incorporate into your workplace will be beneficial.

Efficiency

Efficiency in this sense is not about how fast you can get a task done. It’s about what makes sense for people at work. Are your workspaces designed so that employees can get to and from their offices with ease? Are they able to move within your organization in a manner that makes sense and does not require a lot of thought? For example, I think of an office space where on one level, there’s a food court in the middle and meetings spaces surrounding it. Then, on the second level, offices surround a community area with games and a patio out to a Zen garden. The two floors are open to each other and you can get to any single point easily and everything is placed logically. It’s easy to grab a bite to eat or a coffee right before or after a meeting when people usually need one of the two. It’s easy to take a break from office work by just stepping outside your door to play a game with a coworker or take a walk in a relaxing atmosphere, the garden.

Life

Workplaces often lack life, green life that is. Studies show that plants, flowers and vegetation can increase energy and focus and lead to a longer life. Purchase plants for your employees’ offices and build a garden together. There are so many benefits to a community garden:

It falls into our category of adding life into the workplace so it can increase productivity by helping your employees focus more.
It gives people something meaningful to do when they just need a break.
It builds on teamwork and can really bring people together for a common cause.
It is a great perk for employees to be able to take home food from the garden.
It encourages employees to cook for each other and share their recipes.
It allows for great conversation in a much safer and comfortable environment, rather than at the water cooler.

Options

People don’t like feeling stuck and if you’re trying to create a sense of belonging, you don’t want them to feel stuck. Build options into your workplace

for where people do their work – offices, open spaces, think pods, couches, etc.
for where people have their meetings – conference rooms, lunch meeting spaces, cafes and fun rooms (exercise balls, stress balls, basketball hoops).
for where people can take a break – gardens, food courts, coffee shops, game rooms or quiet rooms.
for where people can collaborate – training rooms, rooms with smartboards, computer labs and project rooms.

Connectedness

So, it’s great to have work spaces that make sense. What about the human side? Create a sense of place for employees by creating a culture of connectedness. Don’t just build a team; build a community. A community is a group of peers who trust each other, have found commonality despite their differences and feel a bond. They not only work well together but they do everything well together. A great recent example of this is the Chicago Cubs team. Whether you’re a fan or not, you can’t deny the sense of place that Joe Maddon has created for his team. They laugh together, play together, work together, win together and lose together. You never hear the players blame each other for losses or take all the credit for wins. If you watch them in the dugout during games, they are genuinely having fun at work. They’re never as serious as the other team. They goof around with their fans and with each other. They have become something larger, greater and better than themselves.

Celebration

Celebration is not just about throwing a party after a big accomplishment or telling people good job after they complete a project. Celebration is constant, genuine and 360-degrees. If celebration is truly a part of your culture, you sometimes celebrate for no particular reason. Don’t just do payday treats and birthday parties. Those are expected and can feel forced or disingenuous. Some things you can do include surprising your team with treats on totally random days, dropping off little anonymous gifts on their desks before or after they are at work and throwing a thank you party out of nowhere (not when anything important is going on). I’ve done these things for my team and it has paid off ten-fold as they now celebrate constantly. They have fun and do great work. It’s hard to believe sometimes that it’s possible to have both but when you do, it is quite amazing!

Purpose

Give people meaning, not just in the work that they do everyday but at work in general. If people don’t know why they go to work everyday or why they do what they do, you’ve lost the battle. Don’t be confused though. Meaning and purpose looks very different than reason. A good reason to go to work is to get paid. A good purpose for going to work is to serve your team and better the lives of your customers, patients or clients. To really have purpose, your team has to believe in everything: their work, their team, the values of the organization, the people they serve, the physical space they work in, the technology they work with, the product and service they are delivering and the leadership they have supporting them.

Remember these six pillars of creating a sense of place as you look to make positive changes to your teams, organizations and cultures. From my sense of place to yours!

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Don’t beg employees to stay as they leave

Stop begging at work. Quite frankly, it’s really not a good look for you anyway. We’ll get to that. What I’m talking about specifically is when employers beg employees to stay only after they leave, or threaten to.

Whether an employee is asking for a raise or some other work environment change, their supervisors or HR do not usually take them seriously until they are about ready to leave or worse, already left your organization. So, what’s the big deal? Well, it’s actually quite disrespectful.

It’s disrespectful to the employee. When employers don’t consider an employee’s request for something to change to make their work environment better, the employee feels devalued. I’m speaking, of course, about high performers. You may not ever be able to make everyone happy but the worst thing you can do to your highest performers is to make them feel less than what they really are to you. Waiting until they threaten to leave to make a change doesn’t help. It takes a lot of energy for them to look for another job and go through interviewing processes. It is completely disrespectful to them when you make them an offer to stay only when you realize they can go somewhere else.
It’s disrespectful to the other organization that is ready and willing to hire your employee. If you wait until your employee has another offer on the table, you’re wasting the time of the organization that has invested resources in hiring your employee. It takes time, money and other resources – someone to source the applications, a recruiter, a hiring manager, an onboarding staff, trainers, etc. You wouldn’t want this to happen to you so don’t put this burden on others.
It’s disrespectful to your team. Your team is not just going to think that you do not value people but how are they going to feel when they find out you made a higher offer or change for the employee who was leaving? The message you are sending is that the only way someone can get a higher salary or positive change on your team is if they threaten to leave. Everyone will start looking for another job!
It’s disrespectful to yourself. As leaders, you have a responsibility to support your teams and like it or not, you have a reputation to maintain. If you beg employees to stay only after they leave, you look like a fool and that is not a good look for a leader. Respect yourself enough not to do this.

I’m not suggesting you give employees everything they want, not even your highest performers. The point is you need to take off the blurry glasses and at least take a hard look at what’s going on in your workplaces, how you are treating your best employees and consider making meaningful changes before you lose them. Take this as a way to look in the mirror at yourself and do a quick reality check because you often don’t realize the impact of your decisions and actions especially if no one tells you or you’re in the midst of a busy work schedule. Be proactive in making appropriate changes for your team instead of waiting until you feel forced to do it because they are looking for another opportunity.

I get it. Depending on where you are on the hierarchy, you may or may not have as much power as you would like in order to impact change. Before you give up on fighting for your employees though, answer this question honestly: did you even try fighting for them or did you just give up? Ask the right questions to your HR departments. Take the time to put a business case together to present to your senior leaders. Draft a well thought-out proposal for your boss. Use your connections. If you lose the battle, at least you know you went down fighting for what you believe was the right thing.

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Right isn’t always easy

Doing the right thing often means doing the difficult thing. If it was a piece of cake, we would all be doing it. As our work became faster paced and our to-do lists became never-ending, did we forget about ethics in the workplace? Did those values we post around our walls just become blurry pieces of decoration?

We continue to see a lack of ethics training for both front-line staff and leadership. Many of these programs were cut from organizations’ budgets during a recession and have not made an appearance since. We need to invest our resources back into these programs if we want our employees to do the right things.

It goes beyond just ethics training though. It also means having difficult conversations, embracing accountability and developing a culture where people feel comfortable doing the right things.

When we build culture and programs around ethics, morals and values, there are many things to take into consideration. The most common mistake is that organizations focus only on the technical concepts like what’s illegal – sexual harassment training, anti-theft policies and information security protocols.

Helping people to do the right thing requires supporting them to speak up when something is wrong, conduct difficult conversations with others who may not be compliant, and incorporate values into team cultures. Once there is a culture of accountability and ownership, employees will be living out the values of the organization.

Getting companies to do the right thing isn’t always easy. It takes time, energy and genuine buy-in at all levels. But it’s worth it.

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