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All Employee Development is Relevant – Friday Distraction

April 14, 2017 by Sharlyn Lauby Leave a Comment

(Editor’s Note: Today’s post is brought to you by our friends at Kronos, a leading provider of workforce management and human capital management cloud solutions. The Workforce Institute at Kronos reveals that more than half of the U.S. workforce has experienced a problem with their paychecks in their study “Engaging Employees through Payroll”. Enjoy the post!)

I remember years ago hearing Dan Pink speak at a Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Annual Conference about his (then) new book, “A Whole New Mind”. One of the things he talked about was developing a creativity mindset. Specifically, how human resources professionals should expand their thinking and read design and creative journals or magazines to get a different perspective.

That’s why I wanted to share with you this Time Well Spent cartoon from our friends at Kronos. Sometimes organizations need to realize that, when it comes to employee development, the “needs of the business” can be served in more ways than one.

Employees can learn valuable business skills in a variety of ways. I’ve learned a few business lessons playing Fantasy Football, watching television, and even from getting lost driving in Miami. The question becomes, when the company supports what might seem like, on the surface, a totally fun activity, is there a way to bring a business lesson into the conversation so employee development can take place?

One of the hotels I worked at used to create an annual management scavenger hunt. We had several programs for employees and decided to have a dedicated one for managers. The managers looked forward to it every year. Yes, it was fun. But after the fun portion was over, we found a way to tie it to the business. Fun and business aren’t mutually exclusive. I think it’s one of the reasons that gamification is still around.

Fun and business are not mutually exclusive.Click To Tweet

When we talk about employee development, fun can be part of the mix. In fact, so can music. Just look at Cirrus Logic’s School of Rock. It might take a few minutes to figure out the connection. And there’s nothing wrong with asking employees what they expect to learn. If organizations expand their thinking where employee development is concerned, it’s possible the return-on-investment (ROI) will be significant.

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Objectives and Key Results (OKR) – The New Goals

April 9, 2017 by Sharlyn Lauby 1 Comment

I think it’s pretty safe to say that I’m a goal-driven person. I like setting goals and always having something that I’m working toward. In fact, I’ve written a few posts here on HR Bartender about goals. One of my favorites is “Use Gumby to Keep Employees Focused on Goals”.

One of the things that I’ve come to realize is that setting the wrong goal can really set you back. Obviously, setting the right goals moves you forward. But, setting the wrong goals isn’t a neutral activity. If not done correctly, it can cause us to take a step backward. Not just individuals. This applies to organizations as well. So, we need to place some dedicated thought, energy, and resources toward proper goal setting.

Over the past few months, I’ve been working with my friends at BetterWorks on the topic of OKR (Objectives and Key Results). OKR is a management methodology that connects work to strategic plans in a very specific way. So, within an organization, objectives and key results connect an employee’s work to the company’s strategic plans. Here’s an example from an article I wrote over on the BetterWorks blog titled, “Why OKRs are Going Mainstream in Business”.

Objective: Improve customer service scores

Key Results:

Have 100% of employees attend “How to Deal with Difficult Customers” training by the end of Q2 2017
Track customer compliment and complaint letters (goal: 2 to 1 ratio)

Organizations that feel their goal setting processes are getting stale or that employees are just going through the motions where goal setting is concerned, might want to look at OKR as a way to breathe new life into their processes. Companies can start small by working with employees to align their personal development with the company’s OKRs. The results – both in terms of accomplishing the OKR and creating team engagement – can be huge.

If you want to learn more about OKRs and how they can help your organization, BetterWorks has a downloadable eBook on the topic. Even better, join us at BetterWorks Goal Summit in San Francisco on April 20, 2017. I’m really excited to be attending this year. One of the speakers is John Doerr, who has worked with companies like Google, Intuit, and Amazon using the OKR concept. HR Bartender readers get a FREE registration using the discount code HRBARTENDER. Hope to see you there!

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Customer Service Engages Employees With Their Job

April 4, 2017 by Sharlyn Lauby 1 Comment

(Editor’s Note: Today’s post is brought to you by our friends at Kronos, a leading provider of workforce management and human capital management cloud solutions. To learn more about designing and managing a company culture that drives bottom line success, check out The Workforce Institute’s latest anthology, It’s All About Bob(bie): Strategies for Winning with Your Employees. Enjoy the post!)

The two top drivers of employee engagement are recognition (72 percent) and understanding how work contributes to the bottom-line (70 percent), according to a Harvard Business Review report titled “The Impact of Employee Engagement on Performance”. Using these two drivers, my takeaway is that engagement is the result of connection, meaning the employee feels a connection to the company and their work.

It recently occurred to me that customer service is a key factor in creating that connection (and subsequently, employee engagement). We know that businesses need customers and employees are the ones who deliver service to those customers. We also know that delivering excellent customer service improves the business and the bottom-line.

We know that, many times, the recognition employees receive is either directly from customers or because of an interaction they had with a customer. As a result, organizations have an opportunity to use customer service as a way for employees to understand and increase their connection to their work and the organization.

I came to this realization during the annual Workforce Institute board meeting where Joyce Maroney, senior director of customer marketing at Kronos, was sharing some information about the rollout of Kronos’ new customer community. “Kronos launched a new customer community on the Salesforce.com platform as part of our overall transformation as a SaaS provider. The community connects customers, partners, and Kronos employees with each other, and with the content they need to derive the maximum value from their investment in Kronos technology.”

During the conversation I had last month with Dave Almeda, chief people officer at Kronos, we talked about how they create an engaging candidate and employee experience. What really connected the dots for me was, after being a part of both conversations, I could see how customer service is an engagement driver. The principles of the customer community applied to both external as well as internal customers (i.e. employees).

4 Key Principles to Creating a Customer Community

Whether you’re focused on internal or external customers, there are core principles that apply in creating a successful community. Here are the four key principles to focus on:

1. Knowing the business. For employees to feel engaged with the company, they need to understand how the organization operates. In addition, employees need to understand the company’s customers: what are they looking for in a product or service, how do they use the product or service, and what do they like/dislike about the product or service the company offers.

2. Making connections. Employees need to work with others to get things done. That applies even to individual contributors. Joyce shared with us how members in the customer community are working together to help each other. “Members can pose and answer each other’s questions in the community. The member doing the asking can identify an answer as a ‘best answer’, making it that much easier for a future query to be resolved quickly.”

3. Leading the way. Employees want to control their work. That being said, they’re also open to hearing about proven best practices they can use or adapt to make their jobs easier. Joyce explained in the new Kronos customer community, members can do the same thing. “They can enter ideas for new functionality they’d like Kronos to develop and vote on these ideas. Members are providing Kronos product managers with insight about how popular a particular enhancement might be with the broader community.”

4. Empowering people. Employees do not necessarily need every question answered by a manager. They just want answers. Organizations can facilitate this by giving employees the tools and systems to solve their own problems. Examples includes collaborative technology and employee self-service. The same applies to customers. Many are very willing to search for their own answers provided the organization creates a system that will facilitate this level of service.

This video from Kronos is a great example of the connection between employee engagement and customer connection. Check out the quote from Todd in Indianapolis around the 1:00 minute mark:

In each of these principles, the employee and customer views are similar. To become engaged, you need to know the product, listen to how others successfully use the product, find proven strategies that work for you, and take advantage of the technology solutions available to you.

Customer Service Drives Engagement

Businesses know that customer service drives customer engagement. That philosophy applies both inside and outside the organization. The reverse is also true. According to an article in Harvard Business Review, companies with high levels of engagement realize higher levels of customer service.

Stepping up the company’s customer service game isn’t only a win for external customers. It can engage internal customers as well.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby after speaking at KronosWorks 2016 in Orlando, FL

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7 Reasons HR Needs to Learn About Unretirement

April 2, 2017 by Sharlyn Lauby 5 Comments

Years ago, people just retired. They announced to their boss that they were going to retire. The company threw them a party, gave them a gold watch, and wished them well. Then, they spent their time traveling, working on their hobbies, etc. I don’t know that those days exist anymore. And if they do, it’s only for a small handful of people.

There’s an emerging conversation about unretirement. It’s the idea that you don’t have to retire. You can work on the things you want and do more of the things you enjoy. And it’s not necessarily age-based. Professionals of all ages are planning for it. Human resources needs to take note of this trend. It’s one that could benefit HR and organizations in many ways.

Recruiting: Having a contingent workforce is a must. Unretirement provides organizations will access to labor. These are individuals who don’t want to work full-time but do find occasional work a nice option. They are also someone the organization knows. So, you understand their strengths and weaknesses.

Employee Referrals: Freelancers and contractors can be a source of employee (and customer) referrals. It wouldn’t take much to revise the employee referral program to include non-employees. Referrals are still the best quality and lowest cost per hire.

Employee Engagement: While people do work to support themselves, they also work for the sense of fulfillment. In fact, many workers are staying in the workplace longer because they simply like working.

Knowledge Management: Retaining workers, even in a part-time or contingent status, allows the organization to retain knowledge. Organizational history, information about processes, and background about key clients is essential to the business.

Learning and Development: Speaking of knowledge management, organizations might find it beneficial to create short peer based training programs as a way to pass along skills and knowledge. If an employee announces their “retirement”, see if they’re willing to stop by once a month to be a lunch and learn speaker.

Performance Management: Another way that “retiring” employees can help the organization is by being a mentor or coach. Again, doesn’t need to be full-time work. Maybe they stop by once or twice a month. They have BOTH knowledge of the organization and they’re an outsider. Just be sure to give them the training to be an excellent coach and mentor.

Replacement and Succession Planning: Pew Research says that 10,000 people each day turn retirement age. For organizations concerned about a large number of employees leaving the workforce, allowing employees to openly discuss an exit strategy could be advantageous.

It’s time for organizations to have a discussion about retirement – what it is and isn’t. And how unretirement fits into the picture. I’m so convinced that unretirement is a trend that will be taking off in the near future that I’ve started another blog dedicated to the topic. It’s called “The Unretirement Project”. Mr. Bartender and I will be sharing our perspective and journey toward unretirement. I hope you’ll check it out and subscribe.

Unretirement has the ability to help organizations find and retain great talent. It has the potential to keep workers engaged and excited about their contributions. Unretirement can help organizations and individuals prosper.

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3 Ways to Stay On Top of #HR Compliance – Friday Distraction

March 10, 2017 by Sharlyn Lauby 1 Comment

I know human resources compliance issues aren’t the sexiest thing to talk about but, they’re a necessary part of HR. In fact, compliance is a part of any business. Even if a compliance issue decreases, we need to know details so we can stop devoting resources to it. And chances are all compliance won’t be eliminated. The sooner we realize that the goal isn’t to make compliance go away – it’s to learn the best way to manage it – the better off we will be.

Our friends over at Kronos offer us one way to manage compliance in today’s Time Well Spent.

All joking aside, there are some things we can do to stay on top of human resources compliance matters in our organization. Thankfully, we don’t have to cite the Federal Register to be knowledgeable about labor law.

Find a handful of excellent resources. The Society for Human Resources Management’s (SHRM) express request service provides links and information about a wide variety of topics including state laws, seasonal topics like OSHA 300 postings, IRS Retirement Plan Limits, etc. HR service providers, like Kronos, offer resources by industry (i.e. banking, hospitality, retail, etc.) There are lots of great resources and many of them are free or low-cost.

Attend webinars and conferences. We are so fortunate to have employment and labor law attorneys who are willing to give their time and knowledge. They write books and blog posts, speak at local association meetings and national conferences, …and they help us with reader questions here on HR Bartender. Granted, it’s not the same as paying for an hour of legal time but it helps us understand the big picture and we learn how to ask good questions.

Know what’s pending in Congress. Even if you have no desire to contact your legislator (of which I hope you’ll change your mind), resources such as SHRM’s Advocacy Team (aka A-Team for short) let you know what government is considering and what it means for business. The SHRM Public Policy Guide is one of my go-to resources.

Here are 3 proven ways for #HR to stay on top of changing labor laws.Click To Tweet

As HR professionals, we don’t always need to know everything off the top. We do need to know where to find it. And that ought to help anyone breathe easy.

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March is Women’s History Month

March 9, 2017 by Sharlyn Lauby Leave a Comment

In the U.S., March is recognized as Women’s History Month. The theme this year is women in labor and business, so I wanted to share a few interesting statistics I found, courtesy of the U.S. Census Bureau.

As of July 2014, women outnumber men in the U.S. – 162M to 157M.
The percentage of social scientists who are women is 63 percent.
Of the firms in the U.S., women own 35.8 percent of them.

Women have been instrumental in developing today’s workplace environment. If you want to learn more about the accomplishments of women in labor and business, check out this Women’s Day video from our friends at Kronos.

In fact, you might have noticed that yesterday was International Women’s Day. It’s been observed since the early 1900’s to inspire women and celebrate their achievements. Originally called International Working Women’s Day, it focuses on respect and appreciation toward women to celebrate their economic, political, and social achievements. The United Nations encourages its members to recognize the day for women’s rights and world peace. This year’s theme was #BeBoldForChange and asks people to help create a better working world – a more gender inclusive world. I think it’s a challenge we should take on all year around.

As part of last year’s Women in Technology event during the HR Technology Conference, I had the opportunity to interview Dr. Tacy Byham, CEO of DDI, a global leadership consultancy with more than 42 offices in 26 countries. She made this comment about diversity programs in today’s organizations. “if organizations want diversity, they need process change. Organizations have to remove unconscious bias to create high potential talent pools. Women must have equal access to the same opportunities for coaching, mentoring, work experiences, etc.”

If organizations want to truly be diverse and inclusive, they need to create cultures that allow for diversity of thought, ideas, innovation, and creativity. Days like International Women’s Day are great for reminding us that we need to promote and celebrate diversity every day, not just one day a year. That might involve being bold for change. Organizations that embrace diversity are better in every way because they hire the best talent and it shows in their bottom-line results.

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A Bad Idea (When Perfectly Executed) Is Still a Bad Idea

February 28, 2017 by Sharlyn Lauby Leave a Comment

Execution is essential to the success of any idea or project. It’s the most visible part of launching a new program. Do it well and you’re a hero. Do it badly and there will be questions. Frankly, the questions would be well deserved. It makes no sense to spend weeks or months doing an analysis, pitching the idea to senior management, asking for resources, etc. only to fail during the rollout.

I’ve written before on this blog about the importance of execution. There are books dedicated to the topic like Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan’s “Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done”. In fact, I just learned of a software platform called GlitchPath that will help organizations do a project “premortem” to reduce the chance of failure.

But here’s the thing: the idea or process or project that you are implementing has to be a good one. A bad idea, even if you implement it flawlessly, is still a bad idea. And a bad idea implemented poorly, well…that’s a disaster. All the good implementation in the world will not turn a bad idea into a good one.

The goal is always to come up with good ideas and implement them well. But that’s not as easy as it looks. At least if you have a good idea and it’s not implemented well, there might be an opportunity to recover. Take Listerine for example. In the book “Freakonomics”, the authors say that Listerine was originally invented as a surgical antiseptic. It was also sold as a floor cleaner. But it didn’t reach success until it was pitched as a cure for “chronic halitosis.” Listerine was a good idea that wasn’t executed well (a couple of times) but eventually found success.

While I will admit that sometimes you can’t tell if an idea is good or not until it goes to market, there are a few things you can do to get some initial feedback about the idea or plan. It can help the organization decide if they want to make the investment into development. Here are four questions to get you started:

Does it solve a problem? If so, what is the problem?
Is it easy to explain – without charts/graphs/PowerPoint?
How many other companies are offering the same thing?
Will people spend money for it? Enough to support the idea?

Once organizations have decided to start turning an idea into reality, they must spend dedicated time discussing execution. This doesn’t need to be a lengthy process. It does need to be thorough.

WHEN will the process start? Are there milestones that must be accomplished?
WHO will be responsible?
WHERE will implementation take place?
HOW will the idea be implemented?
WHAT should we communicate? To whom? When?

Sometimes thinking about execution can expose vulnerabilities in the project. That’s a good thing. I understand that some organizations today aren’t looking to launch products when they are perfect. They just need to be good enough. But the organization needs to be conscious that this is what they are doing. They are still striving to introduce a good product in the best way possible.

The competitive nature of business tends to create a race to be first to market. Organizations must decide if first is where they want to be. It is possible that perfectly executed second to market is a more desirable position.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby after speaking at the 2016 MBTI Users Conference in San Francisco, CA

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