Make an HR Difference

An introvert and a commitment walk into an HR conference . . . .

and make it all the way to lunch when - scanning the swag bags and sensible shoes - I get the cold sweats. Heart starts racing, fight or flight kicks in and I depart the area for the nearest coffee shop wondering, "What the heck?"

It was suffocating.

Hands on the wheel, sun on the face and open road ahead - I drove. It was too much. Too much drinking the same Kool-Aid, accepting the same ideas and morphing into one indistinguishable HR mass.

I can't morph. I won't morph. And you can't make me.

You can come talk with me, but you can't talk with me about HR. Ok, you can talk about HR but not the way you usually talk about HR. Don't talk with me about FMLA, benefit programs, award calculations or market based-compensation.

Talk with me about reenergizing a wall-flower incentive awards program, linking everything workforce development to the strategic plan or responding to changes in leadership styles. Talk with me about LPN to RN upward mobility and whether tuition programs are a benefit of employment, a talent management tool with expectations or something completely else.

Talk dirty to me <no, not that kind of dirty - remember the brand> but the kind of dirty that really messes with the HR status quo.

Talk with me about relationships. Talk with me about how we are not in the HR business but how we are in the relationship business.

Listen to me when I tell you that my job satisfaction, my view of HR as a profession or my assessment of my own abilities can be so utterly dependent on the state of my relationships at the time. My boss has my back and I am unstoppable. Leaders (union included) question my motives and I am temporarily stalled.

Relationship is how work really gets done. And credibility is the key that unlocks the door, the coin of the realm, the thing that makes this whole thing work.

If I were to hop onto the stage to talk about credibility, would you come and listen to me?

An introvert and a commitment walk into a conference . . . and walk out with purpose and direction.

Photo credit iStockphoto

Panera and Change: A Day in the Life Sunday

Driving to Kinkos with the kid, I caught a glimpse of Panera, one of our favorite places in town. You could say we are regular customers: Fuji apple chicken salad and apple puff pastry for me, mac and cheese and iced green tea for her and our orders rarely change - but I digress.

Panera is on our left and I catch a glimpse, turn my head quickly for a double take and then the conversation went something like this:

"It's green and yellow. Panera wasn't always green and yellow, was it Tarah?"

"It was red, Mom."

"Really? Red? Are you sure?"

"I think so, Mom. You never really know what you don't know until it changes."

And there you have it. Another day in the life of me as mother to my daughter who out-insighted me again . . . and over nothing more than a color change on a building. The freakiest thing for me is that she was on to something.

How often do you go through the day doing what we always do, thinking what we always think, seeing what we always see - yet not really seeing anything at all?

I am sure there is an amazing leadership lesson in here but it's Sunday and in my life, a perfect Sunday includes not much more (if I can help it) than tinkering, eating and leaving the intellection behind.

But since I can't completely let the thought go let's not take it too deep this morning and consider this . . . what item would you miss if your favorite breakfast spot changed their menu?

Photo credit iStockphoto

Ideas Wanted: Integrating New HR Staff

What goes around comes around.

Flashing back to when I was living in Germany, on active duty, working with National Guard officers on a (now defunct) theater-wide  exercise. They came for 2 weeks with their "remember when's" and "how it used to be's" and relived the days gone by. I listened while thinking, "times they are a changing, let's get with the program buddy, that was then, this is now and we have work to do." (Did I mention I was a bit high strung at the time?)

Times were changing then - and they are now - right before my very HR eyes every day at the office. 7 of my 14 HR staff members were not with me this time last year and only 5 are in the same position now as they were then. 

We've said good-bye to sounding boards and expertise as they sailed into well deserved retirement or other opportunities. We've said hello to change and all that it brings: new eyes, questions, ideas, and perspectives. And we're putting the pieces in place a little each day.  

I have the pleasure of coming to work each day with 14 professionals who rock - and we have our work cut out for us. Top of my list is bringing everyone together to develop technical expertise and a shared context for what we do, how we do it and why we do it.

So many times we learn by making mistakes and vowing to never do that again. My goal is to short-circuit that cycle for new staff by bringing the details out of the shadows and to discuss and share  past practices,  processes, and procedures  - without getting entrenched in them.

We don't have a lot of "remember when's" and "how it used to be's" within the department yet I don't want wake up one day and realize that I am the one who has to "get with the program."

So, help a girl out. 

What fun and relevant things have you done to bring new staff into the flow of your departments or, if you were a new staff member, what did your supervisor or colleagues do that helped you?

Photo credit iStockphoto

HREs Don't Run HR Departments

They don't - they can't. There's just too much shiz going on.

"HR as a profession is in need of a radical transformation." No one can address the Future of HR quite like Mark Stelzner can so take a moment and flip through his presentation below. . .  

The Future of HR

View more presentations from Mark Stelzner.

What do you think? What path are you on (slide 10) - are you stuck at do nothing, breaking things apart, or radically transforming?

Radical transformation is hard work. The status quo is hard to change. I know - my forehead is bruised from running into longstanding hierarchies, cultural resistance and old habits.

But I continue.

Like Mark, I am encouraged. I am encouraged when I see federal hiring reform, our 2011 MN SHRM State Conference theme develop around Unconventional HR, and I can speak with colleagues about change without getting "pshawed." 

Yes, changing a profession is hard work (sort of like an ant pushing a baseball up a hill) but get this - it can be done. It can't be done by one person (or by one ant). It takes many but it starts with one individual HR pro working in one HR department in one organization whio is willing to make one change. 

My one change? I am changing the perception, actually the reality, of what it takes (skills, gumption, vision) to be a successful and impactful HR professional and hearts are breaking all around. 

I am starting from a great place with an amazing HR staff, national support for hiring reform . . . .

Oh wait, what's that <phone rings> "Who did what to whom? What did they say? What info do you have? Facts please . . ." 

Duty calls and I have to go. But before I do, I leave you with one question - what will you change tomorrow?

A Step in the Right Direction

I have a new friend and I am on mission. My new friend is a  Physical Therapist and my mission is to transform my gait.

Yes, I have to change the way I run. You see, my feet sort of cross in front of each other when I run. And yes, that's a problem. Mr. PT says it's not the reason I can't roller blade but it is the very reason my knees are achy. I'm not so sure about this NOT negatively impacting my roller blading inabilities but I'll buy that it's taking a toll on my knees.

How does one change the way they've been moving for 30 (ahem) plus plus years? Mr. PT had a few suggestions: I could have someone run behind me and yell at me whenever my feet cross over the mid line or I could lay a cord about ankle high across the backyard, run along it and have it trip me up if my feet cross over it. Not funny. So, we talked some more and at the end of the session, I bought new running shoes and opted for treadmill work. 

This morning, the change began. I went to the gym and hopped on the treadmill. I slowed it down a few points, scaled back on the time and concentrated on how I was running. It felt a bit odd but, before long, I was able to feel the difference between the old and the new. Day 1 was a success.

I am in the midst of change, literally, one step at at time. On the treadmill I am changing the way I run. Off the treadmill, I feel another change coming. I am in a funny place right now and I can't quite get my head around it - yet - but I am in the inquiry. Inquiry can be a messy place for me, yet this "mess" always bring insight and change. And, I am taking this one step at a time.

One step at a time. Is there really any other way to make a change? No matter how big or how small of a change you have in mind, it always starts with the first step headed in the right direction. 

So, where are you headed today?

If you are in St. Cloud on November 21, head on over to the Jingle Bell 5K and join me. I'll be the one watching her feet as she runs!

When I'm Done

I am not content to have the job no one else would want.

When I'm done, I will have a role others wish they had.