Why Do We Wander?

At some point in your career (hopefully), you'll get a call from a recruiter for a job that intrigues you.  And you'll listen.

It has little to do with desire to change jobs or engagement.  If you are attractive enough to get a call (and even more, and interview), you're doing something right.  Good work, results, and enough positive press to get attention, even if you generate it yourself.  That generally means the work you are doing is meaningful to you, you are having success at it, and you are being acknowledged for it.

So why do we wander?  Is it that recruiters are so good at their pitch, we have to listen?  Maybe some.  Is it that we are secretly miserable and hoping the next call will ask us to be the new GM of the Padres?  Doubtful.  Are we just too darn polite to hang up the phone?  As likely as anything.

But the reason people listen is because of ego.  It feels good to be wanted.  If feels nice to have someone you don't know call you up and say "I want you on my team!"  Even if you feel engaged and valued in your current job, it's nice to hear it from someone else.

So how do we combat this with our own teams?  An easy answer is to make sure your stars are getting the respect and recognition from someone else besides you.  Another level up is good, but a leader in a different function or location, who has very little contact with them, can make a huge impact just by saying "I've heard about the work you're doing, and it's great!  Glad you are on our side!"

It's ok to let them wander.  Just make sure they are wandering close to home, and they come back at the end.

Technology and Interpersonal Relationships

We've been hearing for a long time that the Internet, social media and email are causing more distance between people, and relationships are suffering because of it.

This story changed my mind...

http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nfl/news/story?id=5410616

Athletes, politicians, celebrities, and even employers are starting to understand that the Internet doesn't forget.  Ever.  Neither does email.  Or Facebook.  Orwell's "memory hole" might be a welcome addition to our lives for some, but the reality is that once something is published, emailed or shared, it's out there.  And you never know when it will come back.

So the safest way to communicate may just be face to face.  That's the one time we know we are secure, and our secrets and thoughts can be shared without fear of them coming back to haunt us.  Assuming, of course, you are sharing them with the right person. 

The number one job...

...of a leader is to keep promises
None of us can accomplish much on our own. Employees, employers,
customers, vendors, investors all rely on us to keep our word. A
sinplistic way to look at it, to be sure, but that doesn't make it
less true.
I have seem great teams fall apart because a leader makes unrealistic
promises (or worse, very realistic ones) upon which they failed to
act. Even failure to deliver can, at least somewhat, be forgiven when
the effort to fulfill those promises are made.
Be candid, be clear, but most of all be committed to delivering on
promises made.

Special Discount to HRPS Global Conference 4/25-4/28

The Human Resource Planning Society (HRPS) is a strong network of more than 3,000 HR thought leaders and executives representing the world's most prominent businesses. As a speaker at the HRPS Global Conference, April 25-28, 2010 in San Diego, I'm pleased to offer you a discounted rate to attend.

I'm excited to present my session, Human Resources Operational Excellence - Leveraging the Opportunities of the New Economy, on April 27th at 1:30pm. I hope you can join me to hear about our work in implementing a structured methodology for improving HR processes and driving hard savings for the business.

If you haven't yet registered, the conference has provided a $150 discount code to attend for connections of speakers. Register online by April 16 and enter SN4 when prompted ($150 discount applies to non-members only).

In addition to my session, keynote headliners include the most influential strategic thinkers and leaders from a variety of global companies:

• John W. Boudreau, PhD, Center for Effective Organizations
• Shannon Deegan, Director of People Operations, Central Staffing & Business Development, Google
• Rich Fante, President, and Lynn Tetrault, EVP, HR & Corporate Affairs, AstraZeneca USA
• Sandy Ogg, CHRO, Unilever
• Satish Pradhan, EVP, Group HR, Tata Sons Limited
• Harold Sirkin, author of Globality
• Karen Stephenson, Business 2.0's "The Organization Woman"
• Dave Ulrich and Wendy Ulrich, co-authors of The Why of Work

For more information, follow @HRPS or download the Global Conference Brochure for session descriptions, networking details and housing/travel resources.

I hope to see you in San Diego!

Globalizing Processes and Documents

We are near the end of a two week swing through France and the UK, reviewing processes and documents for regionalization.  There is no question this work needed to be done, and we have learned much.

The biggest learning, though, hasn't been about the regional needs for process changes.  It has been about the number of changes and improvements to our prime documents that were identified just by reviewing the process with global teams.  They ask not only great questions, but different questions that the ones we get in the US.  And different from each other, as well.  Some are purely terminology ("hourly" vs. "blue collar" vs. "non-exempt").  Some are technical (creating org charts in Visio from an Excel report).  Some are common sense ("Why would you do that?  It makes a lot more sense to do this instead.")

None of these are Earth-shattering concepts or insights.  But many are new, despite months of review in the US.  There is really no substitute for getting the team around a table for a week.

Any great success stories from working through your global teams?

2009 Lessons Learned

Rather than another posting asking what you'll do different in 2010, let's talk about what we learned in 2009.

What's the most valuable thing you learned this year?

What's it worth to you...or them?

We talk a lot about ROI and the value of the work we do the business.  We've recently gotten some data back from our partners in the Finance group on this issue (sorry, nothing we can share at this point), which is the only source you can trust in these issues.  While it obviously doesn't encompass everything we do, it's nice to be able to have a method of quantifying at least some of the work.

Anyone out there getting good, valid feedback on the ROI of your work?