Shift in Priorities Calls for Refocus

© 2013 AR_HRCom _TedPic_ Engagement

Have you ever seen negative people? They are not fun-loving.  I LOVE positive people. They make me feel good, they enlighten my day, and they bring me some fresh air. I just love them! I admire the inspiration that they are able to instill, just because they are beautifully positive! They find ways of bringing warmth out of cold days.
Positive people are beautiful. There is something about them that is different, special. I have met a few of them. And its seems that, more and more, quite a few of us, older and younger, have redefined what matters most to us. 


The latest Gallup survey shows that out of all employees, the category of service workers is the only one that shows a drop in engagement from 2009 to 2012. This marks a 3%  decrease versus a 6% increase for manufacturing and production workers. Interesting enough however, transportation and manufacturing workers are the most "actively disengaged" at 28% and 26% respectively, whereas service workers rate at 22%. Compare this to the best ranking for professionals and physicians who show an active disengagement of 9% and managers, executives and officials being at a 13% mark, and you get the idea. Impressive results with a +/- 1% margin of error according to the survey method used!

There is no surprise that the research points to the positive linkage between engagement and wellbeing. Clearly, the better your lifestyle and your outlook on life, the better your workplace engagement. This could be mostly related to the working environment. There are also reasons to believe that it is a combination of learned experience, knowledge, and environment. It could be simply put as situation awareness that one exhibits in a personalized fashion, that is, in lifestyle, working practices and attitudes among other factors, and that translate in unavoidable impacts in the overall economy, health situation, and sadly cascading in education, creating a vicious circle. To limit ourselves to one main subject, there is a "proven strong relationship between employees' workplace engagement and their respective companies' overall performance." This implies that scorecard goals are pointless if no work is done toward lingering or existing issues in employees' engagement.

A Labyrinth of Opportunities

 

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Interesting enough, the more I think about this subject, the deeper I could go into my analysis. And I have no doubt that so could you. We all could have our own theories and hypotheses. It is a labyrinth of thoughts. But it could also be a labyrinth of opportunities. It is a matter of finding which way is the fastest and brings the best outcome for your organization. 

The latest SHRM findings on hiring expectations show a positive 6% increase in 2013 vs. 2012 in both manufacturing and service sectors while an overall -1.2% decrease in new hire compensation is observed. Combined with rising recruiting difficulty of 13.6%  in the above sectors, it is no surprise that the engagement is at the slowest point in manufacture and service jobs.

Source: SHRM Leading Indicators of National Employment (LINE), shrm.org/line.

Add to the overall picture that voluntary turnover is on its rise and you get the gloomy side of Human Resource Management. Where did we fail? When did we drift away?

Globally, according to Towers Watson 2012 – 2013 Global Talent Management and Rewards Study, we do have considerable attraction, retention and sustainable engagement issues in critical-skill employees.

Sustainable engagement seems to derive from overall well-being. Organizations need to adjust not only to market changes and needs, but also and mostly to its internal clients changes: employees. There is a serious shift in employees' priorities. That is the simple explanation of absenteeism, voluntary turnover, short tenures, low morale. Aggressively or defensively addressing the issue is not a viable solution.

Organizations need to align their priorities to their workforce priorities. It is a matter of balance. Maybe it is just a matter of simple common sense. How about seeing things positively and  attacking the issue at its root causes? Are you positive and infusing that positive outlook to your employees and co-workers without hidden agenda? Are you bringing your thoughts to the table?

© 2013 AR_HRCom _TedPic - Engagement

As employees shift their priorities, let's stay in focus. HR needs to learn to look at the big picture, more often. It is now a must in the new partnership.

Complaints? No! Insights

Why is it that any time somebody presents a situation you think that they are complaining and are upset? Why on earth does the word "upset" come to you so easily?

 

© 2013 AR_HRCom Insights

You - any lucky, blessed manager or leader who escaped any upheaval of any sort despite low morale -  have not lived what the word "upset" would mean to employees. By the way, they are too scared of retaliation to show you that they are upset. Sad thing. And, no, you have not seen a large group of employees coming to your office to complaint about the leadership style in the organization. You have not lived one single meeting with unhappy union representatives. You have not seen one single senior executive walking out of the board meeting. You have neither seen nor heard some of your employees telling a corporate leader that your favorite partner is "worthless." You have always defused any attempts of complaints by giving empty promises and counting on fear of retaliation. That is unfortunately your overwhelming power.  You are lucky that you do not really know the meaning of the word "upset". And you are very lucky to benefit of the coaching of an extraordinary Corporate Employee Relations Director.

Things are not perfect. It is the nature of situations, correct? It only means that processes can be improved. A static organization would not survive. As a matter of fact, an organization that consistently dismisses employees' inputs would not survive.

2008 SHRM Foundation

A Blind Eye on HR Metrics?

Granted that there is a vast difference between the controlling  power of a divisional and that of a corporate leader; the issue at stake remains that communication needs to be open and transparent. If employees cannot bring their insights or inputs to their leader at the divisional level, what would their next option be? Logically, pick up the phone and address the issues to the concerned corporate leader? But, in worse case scenario, if employees in a divisional organization have no access to any contact information how would they do that? Very few would dare going to "higher hierarchy". Some would call DOL or OSHA. The fact is that the major difference between a divisional and corporate leader is the ability of the later to think strategically. Some divisional leaders seem to be unable to move beyond tactical viewpoints despite their promotions with impressive titles.

So, there we are. Some distressed employees make a call. Some call corporate leadership. Some others call government agencies. The results? Employees are fired. "Free-minded" executives are called to resign. Responses are posted. Correctional steps are taken regarding OSHA violations. But divisional leaders would steadily be staying in their positions. Why? Because they get the needed results . KPI? Sometimes, all is about metrics, with a blind eye turned on HR metrics.  Unique situation? Doubtfully so. Linkages and correlations between factors are often conveniently overlooked.

Insights are not complaints. Take them into consideration. Have an open mind. Pass the message. Embrace true leadership.

X? The Human Factor

I love sleek designs. I love Apple. So I couldn’t help but notice the changes at JC Penney, even without mention of its then new CEO. That is now old news.

They were exciting changes! JCP looked cleaner, more avant-garde should I say, definitely closer to my taste of design. Then I got excited about the new check-out system. I was a little bit concerned about the idea that by 2014 all human check-out points were to disappear…but I could have been totally misinformed.

However, I am no unconditional JC Penney customer who defected to a less favored store. In fact, I am not what one would call a loyal customer of any store in particular. I am just an “observer”. So I could tell that as the aisles got neater and wider, signs clearer, prices more defined, customers made themselves less visible. Products didn’t seem to have changed drastically however, beside the new Martha Steward addition. (that is also old news by now). But again, I probably missed something and traditional JC Penney customers might have a different opinion…well, streamlining was somehow everywhere, no doubt about it.

I am not going into length about product lines of any retailer. One thing is sure: what you see in one store, you will soon see in another. What would make the customer choose yours in particular? Well, various elements come into play of course. Let’s just talk about the human element.

The major human element is corporate thinking first of all: strategies, of course. They are planned and designed by humans. That is a defining factor. No matter the mission and the vision, strategies will lead you to success or failure. This is at least a strong assumption...

Is there a "BUT" coming ahead? In business such as services, the consumer leads if not dictates the direction of your business. That is not to say that marketing principles cannot be applied. In fact, old practices have spoiled consumers and back-fired on retailers. Stakeholders react sometimes negatively to changes. We can change brand, give a brand a new value, bring in many changes, and yet, feel that we are stumbling. What is that X that we cannot define? Do we ever think that above all it is the human, sometimes impalpable, factor that we miss or undermine? So, what is that X factor exactly?

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It is the HR factor and its ramifications, or its linkages to your business success or failure. It is the way your employees are reacting to the organization and changes, the way they are communicating those changes to your customers, and the way your major stakeholders are reacting to what they see and hear from your employees. To JCPenney's credit, I have to say that employees I have encountered in their stores seemed to have been a great example of ethics: no whispers, no long faces, no insinuations of any sort. Some actually appeared to be really enthused about the technological changes...That is not always the case in all organizations. And it is in those organizations that the X factor enters into play.

The X, impalpable HR factor is your employee engagement. Engaged employees will be enthused about your changes and your products. They will reflect and radiate that enthusiasm. They will communicate it to your customers. That X factor will generate or reduce traffic. That X factor is subject to your internal policy and most importantly to your practices. Ever wondered how schools recruit students who are in charge of welcoming visitors? It is for some good reasons that they are called ambassadors. How do you think you treat yours and communicate with them? Think of this: They ARE the reflection of your communication and HR practices, at many levels.

In Times of Change...

The other day, I had an interesting discussion with a Millennial about change. They give you a different perspective of things and situations, no doubt about it. They can make you reassess your thoughts. They also get irritated because you are not so adept at technology use, or they jokingly make fun of you. They move fast, act fast, change fast.... Some perceive them as a threat. They are just different. But different is not necessarily bad, right? Dare to be different. Sounds familiar?

Well, I like to keep an open mind. Not too long ago, I overheard a conversation among coworkers commenting on "To what extent do we have to accept diversity?" Ha ha!! It was a group of baby boomers and Xers talking about some new hire: a Millennial. Talking about generational conflict. Not always expressed out loud, always present.

As for me, I was having a direct insight on Millennials' approach to business in general. On organizational structure, or restructuring: my argument was who on earth, being in a right mindset, would decide to bring 100% new leadership blood at one -same - given time? No overlap, no apparent seamless transition. My notion of new blood infusion - although theories are debatable - never reached 100%....My Millennial interlocutor to give examples of government changes: "Have you ever noticed that when the Government changes, everybody has to go? They (whoever the decider is) want to bring changes...they are brought to that position to bring change..." Well, I reserve the right to think that decisions are not easily made and require not only strong ethics but also practical notions of the industry or organization. It also calls for common sense from the greatest ethical minds...unless you want to go to war, meaning unless you want aggressive change. My counter-argument was the example of executive boards. Aren't they renewed following certain criteria for specific reasons? A minimum of stability or some sense of transition seems to be necessary to me.

Copyright 2013 AR_HRCom Changes

And then the unavoidable question came: "Have you ever been through changes in organizations?" Ha ha! Ouch! Lesson from a Millennial! Have I ever been through changes? I might just well be called the result of change! Have been there in so many facets: change agent, communicating it, implementing it, breathing it, seeing it in employee's faces and lives and attitudes...yes, I have been there in so many ways..."No, they don't like staggering because the equilibrium could take over. That's why they change all at once." It was stated in a matter-factually way, no bias, no personal involvement. Just stating a fact. Learn from their positive outlook of situations. I can appreciate how Millennials or Yers think. It is somehow refreshing...

And yes, I can embrace change. But most of all, I DO admire people who have the capacity to accept change with humility and almost what could appear as detachment. I know that it does not come easily. In fact, it can be a painful and excruciating experience. Some people cannot recover from changes. Some thrive through changes. And some others, I am sure, not too many, have that inner ability to accept it and still be their own self. Is it courage, humility, integrity, focus? Judge for yourself. I came to the conclusion that those are the great leaders of all times. They "swallow" the change and wherever else they go, whatever else they do, they still will instill confidence in what they are doing, will inspire others, will demonstrate that calm authority that emanates from great leaders. Those are the leaders that we do remember and inspire us. They accept change: they ARE the real change of all times.