HR Talent Management:- ROI of Talent Management

The good news? Your boss apparently knows how important your work as a trainer is. The bad news? Further evidence of what you've known all along: Not enough resources are being devoted to achieving what your boss says he or she wants you to achieve. A study by IBM and the Human Capital Institute (HCI) shows that while 84 percent of organizations know workforce effectiveness is important to achieving business results, only 42 percent of those surveyed say managers devote sufficient time to people management.

The study, "Integrated Talent Management," was based on research with 1,900 individuals from more than 1,000 public and private-sector organizations around the world. It was undertaken by IBM and HCI to identify the return on investment of integrated talent management. Here are some interesting findings:

• Organizations that Apply Talent Management Practices Demonstrate Higher Financial Performance compared to their industry peers. Those specific talent management practices that most distinguished financial out-performers from other organizations are understanding and acting upon employee engagement and aligning recognition and performance management systems.

• While organizations recognize the value of talent management practices, they find it Difficult to Apply Workforce Analytics (only 40 percent accurately forecast skill needs), promote collaboration (49 percent provide the right tools), deploy people effectively (64 percent say they do,) and develop those employees in a timely and effective manner (only 38 percent have the right focus).

• Organizations with Between 1,000 and 10,000 Employees are Less likely to Apply Leading Talent Management Practices compared to other organizations. These "corporate adolescents" appear to be too large to manage informally and too small to have the necessary managerial focus or human capital infrastructure.

• Knowledge and service-intensive industries, such as electronics, technology, and professional services, are More likely to Apply Talent Management Practices, while the public sector significantly lags in their use.

• "The IBM/HCI Study Clearly Calls for the Same Rigor In Talent Analytics and Management that CEOs and CIOs Require to Make the Strategic Decisions their companies depend on," says Tim Ringo, vice president, Human Capital Management, IBM. "The challenge laid out for IBM's clients is to treat their most valuable asset—their people—as their most competitive edge."

• "The Long-term Payoffs of Strong Talent Management Far Outweigh the Costs and complexities associated with upfront investments," says Allan Schweyer, executive director of HCI. "This research proves that in today's increasingly globalized, technology-driven economy, a strategic and integrated focus on talent can, in fact, help your organization prepare for corporate adolescence and financially outperform competitors, no matter the size or industry."

HR Leadership:- The Influencers: Change How You Change Minds

To improve results and solve the most pervasive, persistent and resistant problems, leaders must influence others to behave differently. In most cases, to get people to do things differently leaders must get them to think differently. Consequently, changing minds is one of the most important leadership challenges.

The challenge is not a difficult task if the change of mind is minor or not a strongly held belief. To change people's minds around some issues, you only need a clever advertisement or a clearly worded e-mail. However, other changes of mind are very difficult indeed—like convincing the union leader that cutting jobs is the best course to follow or getting a hardened criminal to choose a different lifestyle.

When it comes to the toughest problems, there are three methods employed by leaders to change minds.

No. 1: Verbal Persuasion.
This is the method used by most leaders most of the time. And, ironically, it's also the least effective method. Verbal persuasion is using reason, logic, data and information to tell people why they should want to care. This tactic works when the change of mind is unimportant or insignificant. But when the change is profound, difficult or important, this approach doesn't perform. In fact, it usually creates boredom and indifference or worse, distance and defensiveness. It seldom changes minds.

No. 2: Actual Experience.
This is by far the most effective way to change minds. Let people learn for themselves the value of the change you are advocating. If you want to create a high-performance empowered change, send each person to work for a month on a high-performance empowered team. Let them see how an effective team works. Let them feel the excitement of achievement. Let them experience support and teamwork from their motivated co-workers. When they return, their minds will be changed about what's possible and what they desire.

But the challenge with actual experience is the cost, the time and the difficulty of arranging these experiences for everyone who should have them. For example, the best way to change the minds of healthcare workers about patient service is to put them in a hospital bed for two weeks and experience the world of a patient. They return to their job with a complete understanding of common patient frustrations and a desire to provide much better service. Of course, logistically it's just not possible to give every hospital worker that two-week experience.

No. 3: Vicarious Experience.
Sometimes you can't give folks an actual experience and you don't want to default to verbal persuasion. Can you choose an in-between strategy that's still effective? Sure. Let them have an experience with the change or the need to change vicariously through someone else.

There is a wide range of possibilities for creating vicarious experiences. Send several union leaders to visit a company using self-managing teams (Actual Experience) and have them return and report to their peers about what they learned (Vicarious Experience). Bring a customer to the manufacturing team meeting to talk about how they experienced benefit or difficulty by using the product manufactured by the team. Or, instead of dumping data and reports on your employees, share a well-told story about someone's experience to illustrate the point you're trying to make and to connect to human consequences and the personal values of the participants.

Consider a final example of the power of experience. The daughter of a close and personal friend of mine was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes. The disease required her to take four finger pricks a day to monitor and modify her condition. The parents and the doctor explained to her the importance of these tests in managing her disease (Verbal Persuasion). After two weeks of four needle pricks a day, her fingers were covered with band-aids and she found it very difficult to play the piano, a favorite activity. The parents assumed everything was going fine when six months into the routine, their daughter's friend confided that the daughter had quit doing the tests.

What are the parent's options? They could sit her on a kitchen stool and lecture her on the necessity of the four-a-day needle pricks (Verbal Persuasion). They could not give her an actual experience with the effects of the unmanaged disease, which would not manifest themselves until 40 years down the road. However, they could design a vicarious experience to help change her mind.

One Saturday morning, the parents woke their daughter and announced, "We volunteered you to be a nurse's aid today." Over her mild protests they drove her to a dialysis center. She spent the day helping the nurses treat patients in the advanced stages of diabetes. She saw patients with wounds that would not heal. She saw patients who had become blind. She saw the pain and discomfort of dialysis. She talked to patients who expressed their regret that they had not managed their disease earlier. On the long ride home the daughter said nothing. But that evening she recommitted to the regimen of four blood tests a day and has seldom missed one since.

The Persuasion of Experience

Changing minds is one of the most important leadership challenges. Where possible, give people an actual experience with the advocated change or with the negative consequences of not making that change. When actual experience is not practical or possible, use vicarious experiences to help people understand the importance of changing behavior through the experiences of others. And above all else, never resort to the old, tired, ineffective strategy of verbal persuasion.

By Ron McMillan

Motivational:- It's the Little Things

In life, the "little things" make all the difference. We like to pretend that at least the "big things" in life, like choosing a spouse or career or teaching our children, are the result of well-thought-out decisions, but it never works that way.

Careers grow out of conversations over coffee or lunch. They happen because we need a job or because a friend has a friend in the business. Marriages grow out of casual flirtations at a party or because a friend set us up. The BIG stuff never starts with a bang; it starts as something small and later we look back in astonishment at what mighty oaks grow from tiny acorns.

Both achievement and failure are like that.

Getting rich almost never requires "big" drama. It starts with the small decision to save a few dollars every week. Most people who end up "doing well" invest in safe, boring mutual funds, let compound interest work in their favor, and over time, it works out well. Unfortunately, going broke is just as easy. Make a few small decisions to buy one of those, and one of that, and pay the bill next month. Over time, there you go.

To gain weight, eat a few extra calories every day. A scoop of ice cream or an extra sandwich should do it. Fortunately, losing weight (for most people) is just as simple: Run or bike or hike a few minutes every day, skip desert, have a salad for lunch and there you go.

The keys to success are almost NEVER dramatic. High achievers might get up a few minutes earlier or make one more phone call every day, but that hardly qualifies as "dramatic," does it? Winners train slightly harder or slightly longer, but not so that anyone would notice.

Unfortunately, the path to mediocrity is just as ordinary. Henry Thoreau observed that "most people live lives of quiet desperation" not because they made big mistakes or fail any great test. They simply make the same small mistakes, over and over, day after day.

Here are some suggestions for small steps that create huge pay-offs over time:

1. Eliminate the Little Annoyances. Everyone has their personal list, and we tolerate them precisely because they seem so "little", but they rob us of energy, passion and confidence. It if annoys you, fix it.

2. Do One Good Thing for Yourself, Every Day. Read a good book or watch a video. Soak in the bath, or go for a run, but do something enriching and fulfilling, just for you, every day. It'll make you strong.

3. Take One Extra Step In the Direction You Want to Go. Rarely does "the good life" require courage or drama, but it does require that we move in the direction we want to go. Make one more sale, write a letter, make a call. Exercise or read or play with the kids. Every day, do one "little thing" that moves you toward success.

4. Invest In Your Relationships. "We get by with a little help from our friends," and the love of family and friends makes all the difference. And, once again, it's the little things! Give her a call, write him a note. Invite a friend to lunch, keep the friendship alive. These "little things" make life more fun!

Success and failure are the result of small steps, taken over time, one after another. Magnificent mansions are built of small, ordinary bricks, piled one on top of another. Marathons are completed one step at a time. What do you want? What sort of life would you prefer? You can have it, one day at a time. But you must walk in the direction you want to go.

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Quotes

"Inch by inch, anything's a cinch. Yard by yard, everything is hard."
                                               -- Unknown

"The way we live our days, is the way we live our lives."
                                               -- Annie Dillard

"A day will never be anymore than what you make of it. Practice being a 'doer'!"
                                               -- Josh S. Hinds

"If you can DREAM it, you can DO it."
                                               -- Walt Disney

What's Your Birthday Tell About You

What's Your Birthday Tell About You

If You Were Born On the 1st,  10th, 19th,  28th Of Any Month You're Number 1 .
If You Were Born On the 2nd, 11th, 20th,  29th Of Any Month You're Number 2 .
If You Were Born On the 3rd,  12th, 21st,  30th Of Any Month You're Number 3 .
If You Were Born On the 4th,  13th, 22nd, 31st Of Any Month You're Number 4 .
If You Were Born On the 5th,  14th, 23rd           Of Any Month You're Number 5 .
If You Were Born On the 6th,  15th, 24th           Of Any Month You're Number 6 .
If You Were Born On the 7th,  16th, 25th           Of Any Month You're Number 7 .
If You Were Born On the 8th,  17th, 26th           Of Any Month You're Number 8 .
If You Were Born On the 9th,  18th, 27th           Of Any Month You're Number 9 .

Number 1
You are smart, a straight talker, funny, stubborn, hardworking, honest, jealous on a competitive basis, kind hearted, temperamental, friendly, and popular. You always want to be on the top and most likely to be independent. You are most likely to fall in love at a young age, but will marry once you mature! You are likely to have problems with people who have opposite views and you are most likely to take revenge over your enemies on a long time basis. You are a spender, but you will have a good profession in the future. If you are guy you will be very popular. You can go anywhere from the local shop to the heart of the parliament because you are positive and talented in numerous areas. But in your life you will always have some people who will work hard to bring you & your name down. Because of your intelligence, some might hate you. You are a pioneer, independent & original your best match is 4,6,8 while a good match would be with 3,5,7

Number 2
No matter what, every one will love you because you are ruled by the Moon. You day dream a lot, you have a very low-self esteem, you need to have a back up for every move in your life, you are very unpredictable. You tend to change according to time and circumstances, selfish, have a very strong sense of musical and artistic talent and powerful verbal communication. You can be sweet as an angel and can be ruthless when double-crossed. Some might say you have a sixth sense. You will become a poet, writer, an artist or a business person. You are not strong in love, so your relationship will be in disarray until you settle down. If you are a girl, you will be responsible for your family. If you are a man, you tend to get involve in fights & arguments in the family. You will sacrifice your life for your family. You are gentle, intuitive with a broad vision. You make a well-balanced person. Your best match is 2, 5, and 9 no other people can put up with you!!!

Number 3
You are hard hearted and selfish most of the time. You always tend to have lots of problems within your family in the early stages but you will be able to cope with everything. You seem to have your way in everything. And from birth you would always have to work hard to achieve anything you want. You always make a point to set examples on others, especially the younger ones. Generally you are not a cool person. It's not easy dealing with you. A tough player you are! But once you are comfortable with someone, it will be a lasting friendship. You always earn respect from others. You seem to have lots of worries and problems but they won't be for long. You will have brilliant kids! You love money a bit too much so temptation will push you to try endlessly. You will look after your family and help friends, so you will spend a life time just being generous and kind (except for men born on the 21st). You love your freedom, creative and ambitious, a person who brings beauty, hope & ample joy to this world!!! Your best match 6 and 9. Good match 1, 3, and 5.

Number 4
You are very stubborn, very hard working but unlucky in important matters in life, very cool and helpful. You might repel people away from you, you may cause nuisance to others if you are a man, as you gifted are with understanding other people's problems. If you are a girl, you excel in your studies and arts. If you are a guy you spend most of your time with girlfriends and you tend to have too much fun with your mates & girls. Your friends will spend your time & money and get on with their life and you will be left empty handed. So be careful! You love to spend. Your positive side is that you are always around to help family and friends. You always fall in love with those younger than you. You often live with disappointments but you will take good care of your family. You need to be careful of people who will take advantage of your kind heart. And beware of your relationships too. You are radical, patient, persistent, and a hit old-fashioned; you live with found ation &
order. Your best match 1, 8. Good match 5, 6, and 7

Number 5
You are very popular and you can get things done only by talking. Even to your enemies! You are business-minded and like to do things spontaneously. You will be famous if you get involved in any business. Your friends and families will always ask for your help, and you are the one actually with the money to help your friends. You will have more than one relationship, but when you settle down you tend to be selfish. You tend to go for other relationships - even if you are married at times because of your popularity. You tend to get along easily with anyone because the numbers is a middle number. You love freedom and changes. You learn your life through your personal experiences. Your best match 1, 2, Good match 6, 8.

Number 6
Ooopppss.. you were born to enjoy! You don't care about others. I mean you always wanted to have a lifetime of enjoyment. You will excel in either education or business management! You are talented, kind (but with only people who you think are nice), and popular. All good things come easily to you. Your mind and body is just made perfect for love. You are loveable by any number. But if you are a number 6 men, you will be involved in more than a few relationships until you get married. If you are a girl, most of you will get married/engaged early. You are a caring person towards your family and friends. You are a person of compassion, comfort & fairness, domestic responsibility, good judgment, and after all you can heal this world wounds to make peace for everyone because you have the great power and caring talent to take the world of love one step further.. Your best match 1, 3, 6, and 9. Good match 4, 5

Number 7
You are realistic, confident, happy, and talented in education, music, art, singing, and most importantly in acting. You also have a bad temper! You value your family status a lot; you will be in the top rank when you reach a certain age. If you are a guy, you are popular with girls. Most of the number 7s face lots of problems with their married life. Only a few are happy. You have everything in your life but with worries throughout your life time. You need to get ready looking for a partner rather than waiting. If you don't, then you might end-up being single. You are born to contribute to everyone's joy. Your best match is 2. Good matches are 1,4

Number 8
You have a very strong personality and people will find it hard to understand you. You are more likely to suffer in your younger years. You might be also the one responsible to look out for your family. You often suffer all the way through life. You will learn life in a very practical way. You are the one who will fight for justice and may even die in the war too. You are normally very reserved with a handful of friends and most of the time, live life alone and always prepared to help others. However, once you settle down, (which is often late), then your hard lucks will disappear. You will face unexpected problems such as encountering poisonous animals, and accidents. You are highly- disciplined, persistence, and courageous, and it is your strength that will take you to success. You area great part of a family team. You are a fighter! Your Best match 1. 4,and 8. Good match 5

Number 9
You guys are the most incompatible people in the world. You are so strong, physically and mentally. You often have big-aims. You will work hard and will think it's still hard to get there, even if you already have gotten there! Normally you suffer in the early age from family problems and generally you will have to fight in life. You are respected by others. You were however very naughty in your childhood, and often got beaten up by your parents and had been involved in fights and you seemed to have suffered lots of injuries. But when you grow older you become calm and will fall into the quiet and dignified macho type. Love is not an easy matter for you. You are however good in engineering or banking jobs because people always trust you. Your family life is very good, but you will always worry over your children. Your finer qualities are that you are humanitarian, patient, very wise & compassionate. You are born to achieve targets and serve every one equally without a ny prejudice. You are a role model for everyone. Your best match 3, 5,6, and 9

Quote:- Environment & Friends You Choose

Be Careful the Environment You Choose for It Will Shape You;

Be Careful the Friends You Choose For You Will become Like Them.

W. Clement Stone

Psychology:- How to Fight Depression and Anxiety

What's the best way to deal with depression and anxiety? Quickly and definitively. Whatever kicks them off, depression and anxiety both are maintained by styles of thinking that magnify the initial insult and alter the workings of the brain in such a way that the longer an episode exists, the less it takes to set off future episodes.

Anxiety and depression are probably two faces of the same coin. Surveys have long shown that 60 to 70 percent of people with major depression also have an anxiety disorder, while half of those suffering anxiety also have symptoms of clinical depression.

The stress response system is overactive in both disorders. Excess activity of the stress response system sends emotional centers of the brain into overdrive so that negative events make a disproportionate impact and hijack rational response systems. You literally can't think straight. You ruminate over and over about the difficulties and disappointments you encounter until that's all you can focus on.

Researchers believe that some people react with anxiety to stressful life events, seeing danger lurking ahead everywhere—in applying for a job, asking for a favor, asking for a date. And some go beyond anxiety to become depressed, a kind of shutdown in response to anticipated danger.

People who have either condition typically overestimate the risk in a situation and underestimate their own resources for coping. Sufferers avoid what they fear instead of developing the skills to handle the kinds of situations that make them uncomfortable. Often enough, a lack of social skills is at the root. Some types of anxiety—obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, and social phobia—are particularly associated with depression.

The fact that anxiety usually precedes the development of depression presents a huge opportunity for the prevention of depression. Young people especially are not likely to outgrow anxiety on their own; they need to be taught specific mental skills.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) gets at response patterns central to both conditions. And the drugs most commonly used against depression have also been proved effective against an array of anxiety disorders.

Although medication and CBT are equally effective in reducing anxiety/depression, CBT is better at preventing return of the disorder. Patients like it better, too, because it allows them to feel responsible for their own success. What's more, the active coping that CBT encourages creates new brain circuits that circumvent the dysfunctional response pathways.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy teaches people to monitor the environment for the troubling emotional landmines that seem to set them off. That actually changes metabolic activity in the cortex, the thinking brain, to modulate mood states. It works from the top down. Drugs, by contrast, work from the bottom up, modulating neurotransmitters in the brainstem, which drive basic emotional behaviors.

Treatment with CBT averages 12 to 15 weeks, and patients can expect to see significant improvement by six weeks. Drug therapy is typically recommended for months, if not years.

Exercise is an important adjunct to any therapy. Exercise directly alters levels of neurohormones involved in circuits of emotion. It calms the hyperactivity of the nervous system and improves function of the brain's emotion-sensing network. It also improves the ability of the body to tolerate stress. What's more, it changes people's perception of themselves, providing a sense of personal mastery and positive self-regard. It also reduces negative thinking.

However, just telling a distressed person to exercise is futile, as depression destroys initiative. The best thing a loved one can do is to  simply announce: "Let's go for a walk." Then accompany the person out the door.

WebMD Feature from "Psychology Today" Magazine

Originally published on July 9, 2007

HR Policy:- What’s the Difference between Policies and Procedures?

We talk about policies and procedures all the time but what really is a policy and how does it differ from a procedure?

 

What's a Policy?

 

A policy is a guiding principle used to set direction in an organization. It can be a course of action to guide and influence decisions. It should be used as a guide to decision making under a given set of circumstances within the framework of objectives, goals and management philosophies as determined by senior management. But is it?

 

There are really two types of policies. The first are rules frequently used as employee policies. The second are mini-mission statements frequently associated with procedures. Think rules versus missions.

 

Employee Policies

 

An employee policy is a business rule you put in your Employee Handbook. This includes things like no smoking, no drinking, and other business practices like dress codes, vacation policy, or your company's codes of conduct. Clearly, employee policies are human resource policies about your office rules used to support your management philosophies.

 

Employee policies are used to set a standard for projecting your company image or to communicate regulations that apply to all personnel. What kind of image are you projecting as a company? They typically come from top management as a result of interpreting the company mission and vision statements, laws and regulations, or industry standards and practices.

 

Procedure Policies

 

Think of your procedure policy as a mini-mission statement. A mission statement contains the target user, the stated purpose, and some type of effectiveness measure to communicate how users know the procedure is working.

An example Inventory Counting Procedure Policy:

 

Warehouse personnel shall count physical inventory on a frequent basis to ensure the accuracy of the general ledger balance.

In the inventory counting policy you see the target user is the warehouse personnel. The stated purpose is to count inventory and the effectiveness measures are frequency and accuracy. The procedures will need to define the actual frequency and accuracy amounts. In fact, the amounts could be objectives for process improvement if there are inventory issues.

 

What's a Procedure?

 

A procedure is a particular way of accomplishing something. It should be designed as a series of steps to be followed as a consistent and repetitive approach or cycle to accomplish an end result. Once complete, you will have a set of established methods for conducting the affairs of your organization, which will come in handy for training, process auditing, process improvement, or compliance initiatives.

 

Procedures provide a platform for implementing the consistency needed to decrease process variation, which increases procedure control. Decreasing process variation is how we eliminate waste and increase performance.

 

The Difference between Policies and Procedure

 

A policy is a guiding principle used to set direction in an organization. A procedure is a series of steps to be followed as a consistent and repetitive approach to accomplish an end result. Together they are used to empower a process with the direction and consistency necessary for successful process improvement.

HR Policy:- What Is Your Policy?

 

Comedian Dimitri Martin repeats the old adage "People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones." Then he adds "My policy is: No stone throwing regardless of housing situation."

 

That's a good policy. But as Dimitri points out, even the best of polices should have an exception. "If you are trapped in a glass house and you have a stone - throw it," he explains.

 

You Know Not to Throw Stones…

 

It would be nice if policy setting was as easy as this example, but setting good policies is difficult. They are also important, serving as guideposts that can help keep your organization on track. You can learn a lot about an organization's culture by reading its policies. How it feels about its employees, its customers, and where its priorities lie.

 

A quick reminder, though, that most organizations actually have two types of policies. The first are the employee rules maintained by the Human Resources department. These are necessary to ensure rules are applied fairly across the board so certain employees are not treated more favorably, in terms of attendance, discipline, or reimbursement, for example.

 

Policy as a Goal

 

The second type of policy, the one we are more interested in for our discussion, involves creating statements that serve as guidelines for executing the organizations strategies and priorities. If customer service is a priority, then company policies should state high-level customer service goals, such as answering calls promptly and resolving issues in a timely way. Then these high-level goal statements should then be fleshed out by department managers with specific objectives that fulfill the goals. For example, 95% of incoming customer service calls answered by the fourth ring, all customer questions or issues completely resolved within 1 business day, or same day shipping.

 

Good policies are usually developed by reflecting on how to operationalize strategies, set priorities, and address existing risks. An overlooked step in some organizations is clearly communicating the policies to the team members. Too frequently it is assumed that the meanings and motives behind a policy are obvious, but such assumptions are a mistake. Clear communication about the logic and importance (in terms of success) of policies is a key to creating buy-in, which obviously leads to better compliance.

 

But even more importantly, making sure employees understand policies thoroughly will also help them recognize when a situation calls for an exception. Being able to empower front line employees (especially those interacting with customers) is always a good thing, and the greatest impediment to good decision making is a lack of information. Training and communication on policies and policy development is one way to help alleviate this problem.

 

A Policy for Creating Policies?

 

So good policies are created by clearly stated company goals, and recall that our discussion of policy involves standards for achievement - not rules. Bad policies, on the other hand, can be a result of knee jerk reactions to a specific incident or occurrence. They are not well-thought out and are not based on fulfilling an over-arching strategy or priority. Some bad policies, however, are created because of misguided goals.

 

I read about a gourmet coffee chain recently, describing their policy of when the line of customers grew too long a staff member would take an order pad and pen out to the line and begin collecting orders from those in line and those queuing up. The odd thing about this policy was that it really didn't get drinks to customers any faster. There were still the same number of cashiers ringing up sales, and the same number of baristas making the drinks. In fact, one could argue it actually slowed the process down.

 

But it turns out the goal of this policy was not to reduce the wait for drinks. The real goal of the policy was to make customers coming in and getting in line to feel obligated to stay and purchase the drink. Having placed an order, customers were much less likely to ditch the long line and go somewhere else. How is that for a customer focus?

 

A useful policy here should be to serve drinks fast enough to satisfy customers, not to lay a guilt trip on customers to keep them from leaving (happy or unhappy). I can't help but think that if as much thought and effort was put into to creating the proper policy (backed by processes) to deliver drinks satisfactorily during a rush as was put into playing mind games with customers, a win-win situation would be created for customer and company. As is, this policy only benefited the company at the expense of the customer. While such policies might create a short term benefit, over the long haul it alienates customers and creates cynical employees.

 

So the question isn't really just "what is your policy," but "why is it your policy" as well. What is being accomplished? Who benefits? Who suffers? What message does it send? What direction does it take the organization? What does it say about your organization?

When it comes to understanding why, Dimitri Martin might say, "Because throwing stones isn't nice and someone could get hurt." Our goal should be to create policies that make as much sense.

 

Good Fences Make Us Rich

I've been thinking about the line from Robert Frost that "good fences make good neighbors." I'm convinced that the most over-looked essential for success is the skill of "good boundaries."

High achievers do one thing at a time. They are focused, determined and persistent (a polite word for stubborn). But more than anything else, success requires that we are not distracted, that we don't waste our time and energy chasing non-essentials. Most of us do too much of that and wonder why we don't achieve more in life.

This week I've had several conversations that brought this home to me. One friend laughed out loud when I asked him to set limits on his work and "just say no" to outrageous demands. He argued that he would lose customers, that he prides himself on responding to his clients and that, "I just couldn't do that." As a result, he works long hours doing trivial things that are "urgent" for other people! He's often exhausted and, of course, he is not building his own business.

I was reminded of Michael Gerber's famous dictum to "work on your business rather than in your business." In my friend's case, my fear is that neither his business nor his life will flourish because he spends so much time and energy on his clients' petty interruptions.

Highly successful people build tight fences around their work. They define what they do, decide what you won't do, and then stick to it.

A second essential is to "fence out" new opportunities. Yes, you read that right. We live in a world of endless opportunities. You can go to school, start a new business, go to China for the Olympics, or buy another house while they're on sale this year. Opportunities abound! Television may be our most common distraction, but I'm convinced having too many opportunities may be our most expensive distraction.

The key to success is to do one thing well. And do a lot of it. And sell it at a price that is a "bargain" for your customers and profitable for you. Failures are always chasing the "next big thing." They are experts at "starting over." Successful people are narrow-minded and they persist. They put good fences around "opportunity."

A final boundary is to put boundaries around our friends and loved ones. This is tough! And, obviously, I'm not talking about putting limits on the quality of our relationships. Love and friendship is what life is all about! But, I don't answer my phone every time it rings.

One of the toughest things in life is to be disciplined about how we balance our relationships and our work. "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." We all know tragic stories of people who spent their lives working and ended up alone and bitter. Don't do that! In my work, however, I see more instances of people who are so caught up in their friends and family, their community or their hobbies that they fail to focus on their work. That, too, is a failure of boundaries.

We want to be "nice." We value our relationships, and our friends and family are wonderful people. No wonder we want to "put them first." That's a good thing! But so is doing your work, pursuing your passion and building your business. Balance and boundaries are the key.

Robert Frost observed that "good fences make good neighbors" and I would add that good boundaries make us rich, in every sense of the word. Boundaries are essential to build your business, to create and maintain healthy relationships, and to enjoy the life you truly want. Maintain your boundaries.

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Quotes

"If you are clear about what you want, the world responds with clarity."
                                              -- Loretta Staples

"It only takes one person to change your life - you."
                                              -- Ruth Casey

"Enthusiasm finds the opportunities, and energy makes the most of them."
                                              -- Henry Hoskins"

"I couldn't wait for success, so I went ahead without it."
                                              -- Jonathan Winters

Celebrate the Good

Are you tired of the conflict in your life and in your workplace? While conflict may be a "normal" part of our lives, it can be tiring. Conflict can happen anywhere and occurs among even the most "spiritual" of people with challenging results. What is a person to do???? The answer may lie in the following story.

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The head of a cloistered monastery became very frustrated with the bickering and conflict among the monks who were in his charge. He felt helpless in finding a solution to this ongoing problem. One day, he was brilliantly inspired with the right and perfect solution. Knowing that behaviors can change if there is a compelling reason to do so, he called all of the monks together.

He said, "I am so pleased to share this wonderfully exciting news with you today. I have learned that one among you is a divinely chosen and blessed being who is one of God's specially selected ministers. We are so fortunate to have this person among us. I know that each of you shares this excitement with me." With no further word, he turned and left the monks alone.

The monks sat for a moment and looked around at each other. The puzzlement and then the wonder in their eyes were evident as they looked to each other for some sign of the "blessed one." There was outer silence, but each monk experienced similar inner dialog. "I wonder who it is? Who among us seems most likely to be God's special being? I wonder if I have insulted the blessed one?..." On and on went the inner dialog.

The bickering among the monks seem to cease almost immediately as they did their best not to insult or antagonize the one who was held in special esteem by God. Since there was no indication of who the special monk was, all of the monks treated each other with respect, courtesy, and great fondness.

Weeks went by. The excitement and curiosity abated and the monks settled down into their usual routine. However, the habit of bickering had been replaced with the habit of respect, courtesy, and a willingness to explore solutions to their problems. There was peace in the monastery.

# # # # # # # # # # # # #

This wonderful story reflects what actually takes place every day in the workplace. What if we treated our co-workers as though they are "divinely special beings" with our motive not being one of fear, but simply wanting peace in the workplace more than we want anything else?

When we begin to look at others with compassionate eyes, speak words of kindness, and think of others with a desire to understand them, we will begin to change. And, interestingly enough so will they. What goes around, comes around.

Affirmation:
"Just for this moment, this day, this week, I will look for the goodness in others, as I look for and celebrate the goodness in myself."

10 Strangest Résumé Lies

It doesn't take a genius to know that lying on a résumé about being a member of Mensa, the international high-IQ society, is a bad idea. Yet, this is one of the résumé lies that a recent survey uncovered. Can you beat it?

CareerBuilder.com conducted a survey that found 49 percent of hiring managers say they have caught a candidate lying on their résumé. The most common lies hiring managers found involved embellished responsibilities (38 percent), skill set (18 percent), dates of employment (12 percent), and academic degree (10 percent).

However, some candidates took the fibbing to another level. While the candidates probably believed they were including information that would give them a leg up on the competition, you may be left wondering why they bothered.

One survey respondent, for example, said a candidate claimed to be a member of the Kennedy family. Another candidate submitted a résumé with a photo of someone else.

Survey respondents reported these other strange résumé lies:

• Included samples of work, which the interviewer actually did
• Falsely claimed to be Hispanic
• Claimed to have been a professional baseball player
• Listed military experience dating back to before he was born
• Claimed to be the CEO of a company when the candidate was an hourly employee
• Claimed to have worked for the hiring manager before but never had
• Invented a school that did not exist

The survey included 3,169 hiring managers and human resources professionals. CareerBuilder.com also conducted a survey among 8,785 employees. How many admit they have stretched the truth on a résumé? Only 8 percent. Do you think those 8 percent are submitting all of those résumés in which 49 percent of hiring managers have found a lie?

'Mr. Unstable' Becomes Mr. Unemployed

Personal hygiene is important, but taking a bath in the sink at work isn't the best way to go about it. An Ohio Burger King employee is learning that hard lesson after taking a dip in the industrial sink at the restaurant after work.

Timothy Tackett, 25, reportedly posted a video on his Myspace page featuring him enjoying a soapy bath in the sink to celebrate his birthday, WTHI.com reports . Tackett referred to himself only as "Mr. Unstable" in the video and later told reporters he wasn't naked, as some had thought, and said he was wearing a black Speedo. The video has since been taken down, although many sites have stills of the video showing Tackett playing in the soapy sink.

Tackett, who says he was fired after the incident, told reporters he regrets his actions because two other employers were eventually terminated--the one who allegedly filmed the bath and the manager on duty.

While the sink was sanitized after the bath, Burger King Corp. has ordered all utensils and kitchen tools be discarded, and is retraining the staff of the restaurant on health and sanitation procedures, WTHI.com reports.

Tackett, an aspiring musician, says that he is thankful for all the hits to his Myspace page. The page highlights his music as well as an upcoming performance with a national recording artist.

He also reassured customers of the Burger King that it is a clean restaurant, "It's totally a safe place to eat," Tackett told WTHI.com . "I would eat there still, but I'm not allowed."

Top 10 HR Documentation Killers

You've been sued by a former employee and now you're facing the music in court. You're not worried, though. You've documented why you fired the guy, and you're sure that once the judge sees it, he'll be singing your tune.

Shock of shocks! Your documentation is found wanting, and now you are ... wanting $20,000 to pay the judgment against you!

What went wrong? Recently, our sister newsletter, HR Manager's Legal Reporter, published a list of items that sink HR documentation. Here are the top 10:

1. Unsigned Or Undated Documents. This is the number one failure in documentation. Sign and date everything! Have the employee do the same.

2. Illegibility. You didn't go to med school, so leave the scrawl to the doctors. In court, neatness counts!

3. Late Documentation. Judges and juries look askance at disciplinary or other reports written weeks or months after the incident they describe.

4. Inaccuracy. That document looks perfect, but the facts are wrong. Even one error makes the entire document suspect.

5. Unsupported Conclusions. Don't write, "Worker X was drunk" without documenting the reasons you think so, e.g. "liquor on breath, slurred speech." Statements by objective witnesses will buttress your conclusion even more.

6. Waffling. If Mike isn't making 200 widgets per hour, don't just write, "Mike's performance must improve." The judge will ask, "Improve from what to what?" Be specific.

7. Don't Make Excuses. Statements such as "You failed-but I know we've all been pushing hard lately," may win you a nice guy award, but it won't win your case.

8. Don't Lie ... Even To Be Nice! Saying someone was let go due in a layoff rather than for cause, if there was cause, can backfire big time in a wrongful termination suit.

9. Be Consistent. If you've written up Sally for an infraction, you'd better have written up everyone who did it. Otherwise you're open to a charge of discrimination.

10. Don't Over Or Under Focus. Writing up every tiny infraction makes you seem petty. But writing only the job-ending incident makes you appear emotion-driven.

Of course, all of the above should not be practiced just by you but by everyone in your organization. That's especially critical if you are in a one-person or very small HR department, as you can't be watching everyone at once. For this, and other HR matters, you need a resource that does the watching for you.

Plain Talk Makes Sales, Fancy Talk Makes You Sound Lame

How does your prospect perceive your words?

New? Engaging? Valuable? Exciting? Compelling? Or are they boring, time-worn clichés that have your prospect mentally yawning and turned off?

You may think your industry buzzwords, sales jargon, and catchy phrases make you look "hip," even smart. Wrong, paradigm breath. In fact, they put you in a deficit position. When you wax worn out words, your prospect is downsizing your order.

In her book, The Voice of Authority, Dianna Booher covers ten communication strategies every leader needs to know. These strategies are so transferable to salespeople it's scary.

Here's what Dianna has to say about the way you speak:

"If a phrase starts to roll off your tongue, shut your mouth; consider it a cliché--probably a phrase so overused that the meaning has long since been lost." Dianna writes, "Instead, aim for originality and specificity. For starters, here's a list of bureaucratic buzzwords that muddy messages and mar your image as a clear communicator and straight shooter:

- No Brainer (meaning if you don't see it as clearly as I do, you're off your rocker)
- Enhancement (an improvement too insignificant to charge for but worth touting; often confused with body parts)
- Value-added (anything you can't charge for because the client doesn't value it enough to pay for it)
- Incent (prodding people with money, freebies, coupons--whatever it takes to get them to do something they're not inclined to do on their own)
- Core competencies (as opposed to core incompetencies?)
- Initiatives (long, long ago, they were called goals and plans)
- Thought leaders (as opposed to those who lead the unthinking morons?)
- Optimization (the process of making things better and better--as in cooking, flying, making love, making stealth missiles, making movies, building skyscrapers, counting votes, applying makeup, charting sea turtles)
- Solution (solid dissolved in a liquid or a mathematical proof hidden inside all products and services now offered by all corporations around the world)
- Alignment (identifying where the rubber doesn't meet the road in goals that are supposed to be running parallel to yours)

- Deliverables (paperboys and girls used to ride bikes and carry these)
- Rightsizing (Nordstrom does this free of charge if the clothes are pricey enough)
- Moral clarity (when you decide you can't get away with something without being fined or jailed)
- Impactful (newly coined term meaning packed full of potential to be hard-hitting--in the mind, heart, pocketbook, gut, mouth)
- Robust (fat, wealthy, expensive, complex, healthy, meaningful, deep, feisty; can be applied to people, philosophy, technology, equipment, training, strategy, food, religion, research, vegetation, medicine, light bulbs, laughter, beer)
- Branding (making livestock so it doesn't get lost or stolen; marking dead stock in inventory that hasn't sold in years with a new "look and feel" so that it finds its way to market again)
- Methodologies (in more primitive times, this was methods or the way you do something)
- Technologies (yet undiscovered wizardry from the netherworld)
- Bandwidth (refers to anything you want to limit, as in "that's outside our bandwidth")
- Seamless (meaning, I don't know where the heck my job ends and yours starts, so we can pass the buck if necessary)
- Platform (horizontal structure that supports all systems, people, brands, and philosophies)
 
And it's not just speaking. Stringing these terms together in paragraph after paragraph from document to document makes written communication as bland and meaningless as verbal communication. Take a look at this excerpt from an annual report of a Fortune 10 company to see if you find anything thought provoking:
 
Our industry is constantly evolving. The industry has globalized as the world's economies have expanded. Partners and competitions change. New opportunities are larger, more capital intensive, and often in remote areas or difficult physical environments. Business cycles fluctuate, but our long-term view provides us with consistent direction. Finally, technology has improved the methods we employ and the results we achieve in meeting the world's energy challenges.
 
Any great revelation here? Nothing specific. Could have come from any energy company in the market--or remove the word energy and you could insert it in just about any annual report. "Bland. Boring."

Not only does someone in corporate America write drivel like this – someone else reads it, likes it, and approves it. Pathetic.

by Jeffrey Gitomer

4 Common Sense Ways to turn BAD Engagement into GOOD Engagement

Who can argue with the value of engagement?  The primary issue, as Fay undoubtedly experienced in her research, is that while lots of people talk about engagement, they have a hard time defining what they do to improve engagement in their organizations.

Which begs the question - Can your front line managers really drive employee engagement in your organization?

 

The easy answer is yes, but as with many obvious easy answers.... the question is how? or what next?

The dilemma is especially true if you have a wide range of talents and capabilities among your most entry-level supervisors, which most of us do.  Some managers naturally have the gift that comes with instincts and experience, while others struggle.  In other words, they might be in over their heads a little bit initially, which means you get that cute "deer in the headlights" look when you try and talk about "employee engagement."

That's OK - check yourself and understand that every time you say "employee engagement" to an entry level manager, you sound like a consultant who's never managed people....

So, how do you help maximize employee engagement (and the resulting productivity and retention) with your group of front-line supervisors? 

Try these four simple concepts your managers can get their heads around:

1.    Don't Hire Clock Watchers. As simple as it sounds, if having employees who are truly engaged is important to you (and it should be), you need to start with your hiring process. If you simply look for skills and experience, you'll often miss the behavioral cues that identify a candidate with a high probability of being fully engaged (or fully disengaged). To beef up your selection process to screen for engagement probability, include behavioral interview questions ("Tell me about a time ...") that ask for clear examples of when the candidate has displayed the behaviors and traits listed in the Gallup research (the standard of engagement measurement, listing 12 traits of engaged employees).

If a candidate struggles to give you relevant examples related to those traits, there's no reason to think they'll be fully engaged as a part of your company. You're not Houdini. Move on and find someone who has displayed engagement traits in other workplaces.

2.    Start With the Chiefs, Not the Indians. You won't be able to hire a team totally made up of engaged employees, and you can't just throw a banner up that says "Employee Engagement Month" and think that can be your engagement strategy. Employee engagement starts at the top. You need managers and supervisors who understand the keys to engagement and who can help you create a work environment that fosters the engagement traits listed above. In short, your managers have to be coaches. Invest your first engagement dollars in training for your leadership team.
 

3.    Offer Involvement & Choice to Draw Out the Fence-Sitters. Read the reams of data on engagement, and you'll find that common ways to engage employees include offering involvement in decision-making and providing autonomy and choice when possible. Not rocket science, but most organizations aren't set up to offer a lot of that. You'll have to be OK with change and also OK with losing some control. That's the cost of engagement.
 

4.    Coffee's for Closers. Last, but not least, if you want to create an environment that fosters employee engagement, reward the engaged with all the premium projects and cool work your shop has to offer. Don't send mixed messages and give grumpy loners the sweet gigs because they have the skills and it's the easy thing for you to do. Take the time, be patient with the results, and reward the engaged with the available project perks. Over time, you'll be glad you did.

Remember!! Be gentle when talking to managers about engagement - they've got a lot on their plates, and you sound like Tony Robbins when you talk about engagement without giving them ideas of what they can do to maximize the concept. 

Changing Lives

Some years ago I attended a self-improvement seminar and the speaker was Jim Rohn. He said, "Everything matters in life, some things a little and some things a lot, we just don't know which is which." And I believed him.

Now if I may, I would like to relate a personal experience which occurred when I was a motorcycle officer that strengthened this belief and taught a young man that everything in life does indeed matter.

I was a motorcycle officer with the Los Angeles Police Department and I was working speed complaints out of West Traffic Division. On the 6th of January, 1986, I was working a speed complaint on one of the streets in the hills of Bel Air. It was around 9:30 in the morning. I was stopped at the base of a hill and had set up my radar on the handlebar of my motorcycle and was watching the traffic coming down the hill.

This was a residential area and the road was narrow with numerous curves and was posted at 25 miles per hour. I had just finished writing a couple of tickets when I heard the audio on the radar, looked up the road and saw a small sports car coming down the hill. I glanced at the digital readout on the radar unit and saw that the car was traveling close to 50 miles per hour. I stepped out into the street and waved the driver over to the curb.

The driver was a young man in his early 20's on his way to UCLA for a morning class. I told him why I had stopped him and started to write him a ticket. He, of course, didn't want the ticket and tried to talk me out of it. His name was Christopher and he was a good kid. But he was trying his best to get me to not write him a ticket. Never rude, always polite, but determined to convince me to let him go.

We bantered back and forth, he would raise his voice in support of his position, but I calmly explained why he should get the ticket. When he saw I was still going to write him the ticket, he asked me, "What If I had not stopped, you were not on your motorcycle, would you have chased me?" I replied, "Most likely not".

About this time, I heard the audio on the radar and noticed that the digital readout registered 52 miles per hour. I looked up and saw a young man coming down the hill on a motorcycle. I stepped out in front of him and waved him into the curb. He was going too fast and passed us, but he was slowing down. I walked towards the motorcycle rider and my back was to Christopher.

The motorcyclist had turned around and was coming back to me. The he suddenly made a quick U-turn and sped down the hill. I turned around and walked back to Christopher and said, "Well, one got away."

He said, "I waved him on".

I said, "What?"

He said, "I waved him on."

I replied, "Oh, no! You should not have done that."

He had a puzzled look on his face and asked, "Why not, it won't matter?"

I told him everything in life matters, some things a little and some things a lot. We just don't know which is which. The look on Christopher's face clearly indicated to me that he did not believe me. I finished the ticket and we talked a little more about life and philosophy, then Christopher went to class and I went to court.

Three days later, I was back working that same area and had three cars stopped. While I was writing the tickets, I noticed that a car coming up the hill had stopped across from me. There were three or four guys in the car. It was obvious to me that they were waiting to talk to me.

I finished the last ticket and the driver of the car got out and walked over to me. He had a very sad look about him. I could tell something was bothering him. As he approached me, he asked, "Do you remember me?"

"Yes," I replied, "you are Christopher."

He then said, "You taught me a valuable lesson the other day when you told me that everything in life matters. I didn't believe you then, but now I do."

"How do you mean?" I asked.

"Do you remember the boy on the motorcycle?" he asked.

"Yes," I replied, "I do remember him."

"Well," he said, "he was my roommate and that is why I waved him on. I thought I was helping him. After he turned around he made a wrong turn and went down a street, which ended in a cul-de-sac and hit a large planter in the center of the cul-de-sac. He died instantly. You were right when you said everything in life matters."

I was shocked and found it hard to believe, even though I had been with LAPD for 18 ½ years. We talked for a few more minutes. I expressed my sorrow, we shook hands and then we both left.

I rode to the station in Venice and looked up the traffic reports for the 6th of January and sure enough there it was. I still could not believe it. I mentioned what had happened to another officer whose was in the station at the time. His response was that the kid deserved to die for fleeing the scene; I thought this cannot be happening; I don't want to be like him.

As police officers and especially motor officers we are suppose to be saving lives, not pleased because some kid made a bad decision and died. Over the next several days I gave a lot of thought to this situation and my life in general. I decided I didn't want to be a police officer anymore and I needed a change. So I resigned in February 1986 after 18 ½ years with LAPD to pursue my passion, network marketing.

I thought that I should listen to my own advice about how everything matters and look at this situation as an opportunity to make some serious changes in my life. I've never regretted leaving LAPD even though my business plans didn't quite work the way I had hoped back in 1986. But over the years they have and I have had a successful network marketing business since 1995.

Could now be the time for you to make a life change? If it is, I would encourage you to do so. Based on my experience you will not be sorry. I will be 65 in September 2008, I'm in great health and could not be happier.

By Duane Spears