HR Communication - Crucial Conversations for Uncertain Times

There are four behaviors (and resulting conversations) of uncertain times:
1. Denial: Often, employees question the severity of financial crises and resist change. Unable to overturn doubts, leaders make across-the-board cuts or get bogged down in endless discussions.
2. Silence: During financial crises, people often fail to hold teammates accountable to commitments made by the whole group. Companies that encourage people to speak up and hold others accountable to agreed-upon plans experience steady, rapid, and unified action.
3. Protection Of Pet Projects: In many companies, employees half-heartedly engage in cost-cutting decisions. The most obvious and necessary cuts often are the boss’ pet projects, but suggesting cuts there could be politically unwise.
4. Irrational Slashing: Leaders often hastily conclude they can’t trust their team to offer up real reduction opportunities, and consequently, they impose deep, across-the-board cuts. These companies emerge from recessions cynical rather than nimble and vital.
* Some 60 percent of the more than 2,000 managers, leaders, and executives polled for the study say their bosses may offer potential solutions “but genuinely challenge the team to candidly discuss other possible options” when they have to respond to immediate budget constraints.
* Fifty-two percent of respondents say their company tends to make “appropriate and intelligent adjustments in a very short period of time” when the organization’s leaders are required to respond to significant changes in financial outlooks.
* Some 40 percent of respondents say disagreements “rarely” occur among team members and the boss about how severe or urgent a financial issue is. Thirty-four percent say these disagreements arise “occasionally,” and 11 percent say they “never” occur.
* Forty percent of respondents say their peers talked to each other, but not with the person who was failing to act at times when people on the team failed to take the kind of rapid and decisive actions needed.
* Forty percent also say it took their team “somewhat longer than ideal—a few weeks” to respond in an effective way to their financial challenge.
* Twenty-seven percent say they “spoke up in a professional way and shared all of their criticisms of the organization’s norms or practices” when faced with a time when the biggest savings would require taking on an entrenched cultural norm or practice. “Others added their perspectives, and the issue was fully discussed by the team,” these respondents agreed.
* Nearly half of respondents are satisfied with how their organization responded to the financial crisis. Forty-seven percent report: “We miss a few opportunities, but generally do O.K.”

HR Change - Five Barriers To Change

Familiarize Yourself With these Five Common Barriers to Change So You Can Stay On Track:

1. Ownership: It’s easier to pass the buck than to stand up as a leader and take over responsibilities that may not even be yours.

2. Time: Change always takes longer than estimated. Add 50 percent to 100 percent more time to your expectations.

3. Difficulty: When a task appears to be easy, you may set yourself up for disappointment and frustration if you miscalculate the time required to complete it. Anticipate troubles, and give yourself credit for small victories.

4. Distractions: When the going gets tough, as it will, it’s easy to be distracted by competing goals, other interests and priorities. Anticipate how easily you can become distracted; you’ll be amazed at how much easier it is to regain your focus.

5. Maintenance: Once you expend all of the effort needed to achieve a change goal, be willing to face reality. It takes time for the new to become habitual. Give up too soon, and you’re back to square one. Maintenance requires vigilance and perseverance— more than you may think.

HR Decision Making - Dynamics of Decision Making

Making Better and More Consistent Decisions

As a valued team member in your organization, you probably make decisions every day. Some decisions are relatively straightforward and simple: Who should serve on the quality assurance committee? Others are quite complex: To improve quality, should we switch to a new manufacturing process?

The first decision will impact people's workloads, and some people might be disappointed when they aren't chosen. However, you know the strengths of individual members of your team, so you can put together a good committee.

On the other hand, changing a manufacturing process is a very complicated decision. You will have to consider what new processes are available. How much will the change cost? When will you see a return on your investment? How large will that return be? How long will it take to train people to use the new system? What impact will there be on our customers? And how will this affect our supplier relationships?

Simple decisions usually need a simple decision-making process. But difficult decisions typically involve issues like these:

· Uncertainty - Many facts may not be known.
· Complexity - You have to consider many interrelated factors.
· High-risk consequences - The impact of the decision may be significant.
· Alternatives - Each has its own set of uncertainties and consequences.
· Interpersonal issues - It can be difficult to predict how other people will react.

HR Care - Who Packed Your Parachute?

As a leader, do you honor and appreciate the power of WE? Do you stop to thank and recognize the members of your team? Do you consistently show an attitude of gratitude?

I recently read a great story about Captain Charles Plumb, a graduate from the Naval Academy, whose plane, after 74 successful combat missions over North Vietnam, was shot down. He parachuted to safety, but was captured, tortured and spent 2,103 days in a small box-like cell.

After surviving the ordeal, Captain Plumb received the Silver Star, Bronze Star, the Legion of Merit and two Purple Hearts, and returned to America and spoke to many groups about his experience and how it compared to the challenges of every day life.

Shortly after coming home, Charlie and his wife were sitting in a restaurant. A man rose from a nearby table, walked over and said, "You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!"

Surprised that he was recognized, Charlie responded, "How in the world did you know that?" The man replied, "I packed your parachute." Charlie looked up with surprise. The man pumped his hand, gave a thumbs-up, and said, "I guess it worked!"

Charlie stood to shake the man's hand, and assured him, "It most certainly did work. If it had not worked, I would not be here today."

Charlie could not sleep that night, thinking about the man. He wondered if he might have seen him and not even said, "Good morning, how are you?" He thought of the many hours the sailor had spent bending over a long wooden table in the bottom of the ship, carefully folding the silks and weaving the shrouds of each chute, each time holding in his hands the fate of someone he didn't know.

Plumb then began to realize that along with the physical parachute, he needed mental, emotional and spiritual parachutes. He had called on all these supports during his long and painful ordeal.

As a leader, how many times a day, a week, a month, do we pass up the opportunity to thank those people in our organization who are "packing our parachutes?"

10 tips for becoming a Leader..!

1. Everyone wants to lead, but at what cost? A careless approach to leadership can result in major losses for everyone.
   If you are a business leader or thinking about becoming one, here are some mistakes to avoid:
   
   Don't lord it over your staff. No one likes a know-it-all. Assuming a cocky stance or a bullying attitude will strike a similar flint in the hearts of your subordinates.


2. Don't be a softie. Just as a sharp edge can have a cutting effect, a marshmallow can quickly lose its shape. Being a people pleaser means that you will inevitably let someone down, so don't even try. Instead, focus on the job and make it work with everyone's interests as best you can without bending over backwards until you break.


3. Don't put on a over-confident front. If you need information, ask for it rather than pretend you have all the answers. There's nothing wrong with an honest question, but there's plenty wrong with someone who is afraid to ask.


4. Don't misjudge employees' abilities. Take time to read files, interview people, and observe performance before making staffing decisions. Put competent, trustworthy people in charge of important projects so that neither you nor the company will regret it.


5. Don't play favorites. Owing a favor or liking a person are two poor reasons for handing out raises and promotions. Feeling sorry for someone is just as bad. Use good judgment and fair play to make staff decisions.


6. Don't hold a grudge. If you don't get along with someone, stay away from the person; don't try to get even. Leaders who use their position of authority to take punitive action based on personal vendettas are likely to find themselves in trouble.


7. Don't take a casual approach to the budget. Get to know it thoroughly. Understand company growth patterns and long-term projections, as well as how your leadership can play a role. Being careless with money is dangerous and potentially costly in the business world. Careless mistakes take time to fix, and in business, time is money.


8. Don't overlook company shifts, goals, or problems. Study the "big picture" with a view to finding your place in it and growing with the company.


9. Keep an eye on industry trends. Know what's "hot" and what's not; that's how leaders keep leading. Otherwise, someone who is more knowledgeable than you may take your place.


10. Stay human. When mistakes happen, forgive others and yourself. Laugh and be friendly, but don't look foolish doing it. Avoid mechanical responses and a 24/7 mentality toward your job. Do your best, but then leave the rest of your job at work until the next day. It'll be there when you return. At night and on weekends, enjoy your family and have fun. You've earned it.