Fear and Loathing in HR

From Monday's Lean Blog:

"Many workplaces are effectively crippled by fear, including hospitals (or some might say “especially hospitals”). Hospitals are notorious for having “name, blame, and shame” cultures. Dr. Deming wouldn’t have liked that."

I've been a big fan of Dr. Demming since I first read about him.  He and Peter Drucker shaped my management philosophy more than anyone else I never met.  One of his core beliefs around managing people is that performance reviews are waste, and we should allow those in our organization the freedom to experiment, fail, learn, and experiment some more.  Simple but brilliant.  I think that's how I define genius.

Anyway, this post, centered around the work environment at Facebook, talks about the importance of environment on success.  Taking it back to our world, what is the perception of HR in your organization?  Are you the person to whom others go for help, or are you the bouncer that escorts people out of the building?  Do you help build the business plans and talk about talent development, or do you force managers to fill out performance reviews once a year, just because they should?

HR is in position to impact not just who works in your organization, but how they work, what their support system looks like, and how their career is shaped.  This can't be done if you are wallowing in waste and bloated processes.  You have to lean out your work, eliminate bottlenecks and paperwork, and give people what they need to perform.  Then you can work on changing the environment, the culture, and the future.

Of Engagement Surveys

My organization recently released the results of our annual survey.  Good participation rates, decent scores, though down in some areas.  Given the last year included a lot of internal shuffling, not to mention some position cutting, it shouldn't be a surprise.  The results include a slight dip in overall morale and engagement.  Slight, but nothing drastic.

Survey results are reported out at the highest level, but then drilled down by business leader to create action plans and hold discussion on how to improve scores.  These things are planned regardless of the results.  Overall, I applaud the intent behind this work.

What the survey doesn't reflect is the trauma that people go through in a year of this nature.  I've seen hushed conversations in corners when the leader met. I've seen teammates fighting back tears at their desk after someone else is let go.  I've seen rifts between employees and management that quietly fester, but are never vocalized.  How do we address something like that?  Dr. Demming would point to the respect for people that was at the center of his work, and tell us that must be the center of our work.  Easier said than done in the economic turmoil through which we've come.  Hopefully we've learned from it, and can begin working our way back.

Diversity vs. Inclusion

Worked with a team last week to brainstorm policies that promote inclusion. The discussion went in an unexpected (but very interesting) direction. But the question we first dealt with was the difference between inclusion and diversity.

Diversity is generally seen as compliance with US requirements along the lines of Affirmative Action Planning, or about making sure you recruit and hire people of different backgrounds and ethnicity.

Inclusion, as we discussed it, is more about making sure all those disparate and "diverse" individuals are turned into a truly blended workforce, and are able to work together as a unit. On a macro scale, it is about everyone understanding the direction of the company and how each business unit contributes. At a more micro level, its about how each individual plays a role in getting there.

How does your organization define diversity and/or inclusion? Are you making progress on both fronts, or do regulatory requirements alone drive your actions?