Category: General

We had a fun time at #ALSHRM16 learning from some HR thought leaders. In keeping with our tradition to learn more, not only from the conference presenters but also from attendees at the conference, we asked people to respond to the question, “What are your biggest HR pain points?”

 

Although in no way a scientific study, here is what we got:

First of all, as a comparison to last year’s pain points gathered at  #ALSHRM15 we see:

• Compliance training lost the number one spot by a landslide to one of last year’s number two contenders- Employee Development (thank goodness, employee development as we call at Horizon Point, is “fun HR” instead of legalistic HR)
• A rise in concern over Benefits (ACA issues anyone?)
• Other categories seemed to remain consistent, with leadership training continuing to be high on the list and a slight uptick seen in challenges related to talent sourcing/acquisition AKA- recruiting

 

How do we address these pain points? 

The list of challenges and the list of potential solutions in any field, not just HR, could be endless, but one theme emerged from the conference that could potentially help address all areas, in particular the top two pain points of employee benefits and employee development. And this is to FOCUS ON STORY. Help tell your company’s story and get your employees to tell theirs. 

Whether it was the “Black Guy in the C Suite”(Marlin Smith) talking about diversity challenges, the hysterical Kristin Scroggins talking about addressing generational issues in the workplace, Laurie Ruettimann talking about what HR should measure or Cord Sachs discussing recruiting, all emphasized the human side of HUMAN resources, which starts with story.

• Want to address benefit issues, do you know what benefits your employees find valuable? This is found in their story. Who are they? What do the need and want for themselves and their family? You’ll be likely to find a variety of responses if you have a diverse workforce. So, design an al a carte benefits plan where employees can self-select what they want and need, but select benefits that are in keeping with your company’s culture in that list of options (see the recruiting challenge bullet). This can help you save on benefit costs and definitely control rising costs.  Give employees a pre-defined amount they can spend on benefits and let them self-select. A good podcast on this concept can be found at HR Happy Hour.
• Want to develop employees, it goes back to the same point, find out who they are through the solicitation of their story. For resources on how to do this, see below. When you know the answer to “who” you can then better design the “what” and “how”.
• Having trouble with talent acquisition? Define your company’s story and focus on relational recruitment by sharing this story at the beginning of the recruitment process and getting the candidate to share theirs.  Is there a fit? For example, job postings at Kenetix tell a story- case in point, this one.
• Make sure your numbers/analytics tell a clear story. Measure and address the numbers that can be predictive, not backward looking. This helps shape your company’s story by letting numbers give credibility to that story. Numbers can tell a story about what benefits you should and shouldn’t offer as well as what type of employee development needs to take place.

Here are some tools that help you convey the importance of story and/or solicit your company and employee’s story. We suggest you incorporate some of these into any employee development, teambuilding and/or leadership training you utilize:

Story and Empathy

The Privilege Walk

Wildsparq Leadership Development Platform The first module of this platform starts with STORY.

Project Implicit

Carrots and Sticks Don’t Work The appendix of this book has great questions designed to engage people in a discussion of their story.

 

What’s your story? What’s your company’s? Are you allowed to tell it?

As I wrote about earlier, I took a week long vacation, and vowed for the first time in five years to completely disengage from anything and everything work related. As we know, in our hyper-connected society, many of us have the ability and flexibility to work from anywhere in the world at anytime, and this can be a good and bad thing.  In fact, while on my unplugging venture, reading this article about work/life imbalance and the workplace flexibility paradox stood out like a sore thumb.

After staying true to that promise, here are some lessons I learned:

1. The people you work with support you unplugging. The aren’t angry, resentful or frustrated that you are taking time away, they are glad for you and are willing to support and even hold you accountable for doing so. Case in point, one email I got from a client when I got back said, “You better not be reading this until you get back from vacation!”

2. Unplugging helps you reconnect with what you truly enjoy doing; realize these enjoyments need to be incorporated into your daily life.  I took time to read, run, cook and most importantly just play with my family while gone. I do all these things at home, but not as regularly as I should. Making time to do them while in the throws of the routine of work and home is important and helps with not hitting burnout mode.

3. Leaving the temptations at home helps. I left my laptop at home, and this kept me from feeling like I needed to check email or work on something. Had I had it with me, I’m not sure if I would have stayed true to the commitment. Find a time, even if it is not a vacation in the true sense, to leave your work temptations someplace else and regroup.

4. Email is not that important.  I returned to almost 500 emails. I was surprised to see that only about 1-2% of the emails I received while gone were all that important. Also relevant to this fact was the lesson I learned- if you send fewer emails, you receive fewer.   I’m working now to not be ruled by my email. I’m only checking it once or twice a day and thinking before I send one. Is it really necessary?

Have you unplugged lately? What did you learn?

I was in the gym the other day, trying to mind my own business while doing sit-ups (well attempting to do them), when I overheard a conversation between a personal trainer and the trainee. It went something like this:

Trainee:  “Has your husband found a job yet?”…as she pulls on some ropes doing some exercise that made no sense.

Trainer:  “No, he’s still looking.”

Trainee: “What is it that he does?”  She stops her workout.

The trainer said something about some obscure field of physics that made no sense to me.   (There is a theme developing here….)

Trainee: “Really? We have a need for people with those skills and training where I work.”   (Who knew anyone needed someone in this field??)  “Can you get him to send me his resume?”

Trainer:  “Sure! That would be great.”

This eavesdropping led me to some insights on networking and  job searches that I think are pretty valuable. Everywhere you go, there is someone who might have a job or know about a job you are looking for. If you aren’t looking for a job, everywhere you go there are people that one day may connect you to an awesome opportunity. In addition, everywhere your spouse, kids, parents, best friend, etc. goes, there is someone there who might know about a job or an awesome opportunity.

To capitalize on this:

1. Go places. The gym is a good place to start.
2. Talk to people in those places about life and work. See where your conversation leads you that might result in some mutual gains.
3. Get your spouse, kids, parents, best friend, etc. to go places. The gym may be a good place to start for them too.
4. Make all of these people close to you aware of what you want out of your career.
5. Get them talking about opportunities and mutual gain.

We make networking harder than it really needs to be.  It isn’t some speed dating game, it is simply:

1. Going places.
2. Talking
3. Identifying mutual gain.
4. Acting on those areas of opportunities.

Now go get a workout in- our better yet, send your spouse to the gym. It might lead to some great results….in more ways than one.

It’s that time of year again. As you prepare to do your holiday shopping, don’t forget about the wonderful teachers in your life! With that being said, where do you begin? What do teachers really want for Christmas?

My sister is a teacher and I recall her saying once that teachers like to receive gifts that can be used up not items that sit around (think candy or other food items, lotion or hand soap, or candles).

In preparation for writing this blog, I surveyed a few of my teacher friends and got some great insight. Consider these 3 top picks while you’re making a list and checking it twice:

1. Gift cards (restaurants especially!)  Darden gift cards can be used at several restaurants.
2. Movie tickets (You can’t go wrong with a Fandango gift card!)
3. Handmade gifts from students (Check out Teacher Gift Ideas on Pinterest for handmade & other ideas.)

Having been a homeroom mom more than once for my children’s classes, I remember always receiving a “favorites list” from PTO about the teacher. I always sent that out to all the parents so they were in the know on what the teacher liked if we weren’t planning a group gift. So, you might also consider contacting your homeroom mom if you have elementary/middle age kiddos. If not, just ask! Create your own “favorites form” to be completed by the teacher you are shopping for. Knowing what the teachers like always makes the job easier.

Happy shopping!

Have you already started to think about your 2014 New Year’s resolutions? Before you do, consider how you can be most productive is a good way to frame those resolutions before you attempt to define them and then tackle them with the onset of 2014.

Fast Company devoted much of its latest issue to productivity by highlighting productive people. These people all found their productivity sweet spot in a variety of ways. I could find no consistency in the activities or routines each person established, but there were several insights gleaned from the ways these highly productive and successful people in all walks of life found their sweet spots:

1. Find what time of day you are most productive and maximize it. Find yourself getting the most done before lunch but waning by the time 2 pm rolls around? Get up early and maximize that time. Tackle your most important tasks in the morning. Hit your stride and motivation after dinner? Set aside your big tasks or activities that require the most thinking for that time of day.
2. Eliminate distractions during your most productive times. You are definitely a morning person, but the first thing you do in the morning is check your email and you start your day bogged down before it even really begins. Don’t open your inbox until you’ve tackled what’s most important. Find yourself feeling inspired around 9 pm but your habit is just to sit in front of the TV? Turn it off. Distractions could be as simple as spending too much time making decisions that are simply distractions. For example, one person highlighted in Fast Company said she eats the same thing for lunch everyday. It eliminates the time it takes to get the lunch together and to think about what to eat. Supposedly college football’s most sought after coach does this too.
3. Find what inspires you to be productive and engage in those Activities. Are you fueled by a good workout; a good conversation with certain people who stimulate your thinking or a good read that gets your creativity flowing? Set aside time to do these things. These activities are just as important if not more than getting to those tasks that demand your productivity.
4. Use productivity “tools” to help you maximize your productivity, not as solution to lack of motivation. I’m intrigued by the productivity app Carrot. Apparently (I don’t use it) it lets you load your to-do list, and when you check things off the list, you earn points to get things for being productive. There are also apps and websites allowing people to earn money for losing weight. You pay for the service, and hedge your bets. But guess what? These sites make money. Why? Because most people don’t see their goals through to the end. People don’t lose weight not because the tool doesn’t work, but because the tool doesn’t generate the motivation needed to be successful. So vet your tools wisely. Use them because they help you manage your productivity not motivate it.
5. Be passionate. It’s hard to sustain productivity if you aren’t passionate about what you spend most of your doing. As Joe Berkowitz stated in his feature in Fast Company, “If you love what you do, it’s easy to be productive.” Being productive for the sake of productivity isn’t actually productive. It’s just spinning on a wheel that leads to nowhere and helps no one. Find what cranks your tractor and spend more time on it.

 

What tips do you have for maximizing productivity as we approach a new year with new resolutions?